A TREASURE trove of historic tomes from Nostell Priory’s collection of 7,000 books and manuscripts are to be dusted off for World Book Day.
The library at the National Trust run stately home near Wakefield boasts a fascinating and unique range of reads.
And from 1pm to 4pm on Thursday (March 7), staff and volunteers will be retrieving books from the library’s shelves for visitors to take a closer look and to discover more about Nostell’s history.
Chris Blackburn, house and collections manager at Nostell , said: “The books at Nostell form part of a collection that has been brought together over a period of 500 years.
“In amongst some of the books we’ll have on display are the beautifully illustrated Birds of Europe and Birds of Australia by John Gould; a book of original Hogarth engravings as well as some frankly, quite gruesome medicine books from the nineteenth century.
“On closer inspection of those books, I’m very grateful not to have lived 200 years ago.”
As well as the books being brought out on display, impromptu mini-talks will be given throughout the afternoon.
These could focus on one or two individual books or give more details about the history of the library overall.
And staff will be on hand to answer questions and give more information as to how Nostell’s collection came together.
The volunteer book conservation team will also being demonstrating how to care for and repair old, fragile books.
Mr Blackburn said: “We have such a fascinating collection of books here at Nostell which for most of the year, sadly, sits on the shelves.
“We want to be able to give more access to view this special collection and World Book Day is the start of us doing that in 2013. After Thursday, we’ll also be launching a series of talks under the banner ‘Speaking Volumes’. These talks will be bookable and much more in depth, but definitely one for the bookworms.”
For more information about events at Nostell Priory, call 01924 863892 or visit www.nationaltrust.org.uk/nostell
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