AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Scheme, 2006-2009:
The Foundation and Creation of Chetham's Library

We are happy to be able to announce the inception of an important new study, 'The Acquisition of Books by Chetham's Library 1655-1685: A Case Study in the Distribution and Reception of Texts in the English Provinces in the 17th Century.'
This work is the result of a collaboration between the School of Languages, Linguistics and Cultures, University of Manchester and Chetham's Library, Manchester.

As part of the new Collaborative Doctoral Scheme funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, Chetham's Library has been joined by University of Manchester postgraduate student Matthew Yeo.

Matthew

Matthew studied Modern History at Oxford and Princeton before coming to Manchester to do an MA. He will be undertaking a three-year AHRC-funded doctoral (PhD) project to research the Library's acquisitions policy between its foundation in 1655 and the death of its first supplier, Robert Littlebury, in 1685. It is hoped that this project will not only generate a thesis about the trade in books and ideas between London and Manchester in the 17th century, but also a detailed transcript of the Library's earliest accessions registers.

Although the project is at an early stage, it is possible to identify those books that were acquired during the period in question. They are identified in the OPAC by phrases such as 'Chetham's Library acquisition date chetacq 16550802'; this means it was acquired on August 2nd 1655. Much more information is available on request!

This project is jointly supervised by Chetham's Librarian, Dr Michael Powell, and Professor David Adams of the University of Manchester. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or would like to know more.

Matthew Yeo
January 2007