York Minster

General Collections

Our General Collections are comprised of approximately 100,000 books ranging on topics from Theology, Art History, Stained Glass, History, Literature and Religious texts. We have a large collection of Art History and Literature folios that accompany this collection. The General Collections grow each year as we add new books that reflect our readers' needs and desires. The Library is open to requests for new acquisitions. This collection is housed on the ground floor of the 13th century Archbishops' Chapel and is openly available to the public and can be checked out regularly by our registered users.

Click here to view the catalogue.

Yorkshire Collections

'For many years past, it has been one of the objects of my antiquarian pursuits to make as complete a collection as possible of all histories, local guides and handbooks relating to the many interesting places with which the county abounds.'

-Edward Hailstone, personal journal, 1858.

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The Yorkshire Collections, now totaling some 20,000 books and pamphlets, which incorporates the most comprehensive collections of earlier material on Yorkshire, was initially begun by Mr. Hailstone's donation to the York Minster Library in 1890. Now housed in a temperature and humidity controlled room, the collection includes: Yorkshire towns, countrysides, people, ruins, architecture, history and culture. These collections are highlighted by Civil War Tracts, Yorkshire acts of Parliament, newspapers and theatre playbills. This collection forms the greater part of our Special Collections.

This material is available by request a day in advance. A full catalogue of this material is available online. To request any of these materials please contact the Library or send a request form electronically.

Pre-1801 (Old Library) Collections

The Old Library provides a unique environment for our Pre-1801 collection. The Old Library is housed in the Ante Room and first floor of the Archbishops' Old Chapel, which is highlighted by the 19th century Stained Glass and gallery-style shelving. The Old Library collections house our pre-1801 publications on a wide range of subjects: collections of sermons and tracts dating from the 17th century; 17th and 18th century literature and art works; early atlases, sciences and topographies; and theological texts and pre-1801 liturgical works from the collections of the Reverend Dr. Marmaduke Fothergill (d. 1731) and Canon T. F. Simmons (d. 1884).

Many of the books arrived as gifts or bequests to the Library from Minster clergy, archbishops of York, or important lay donors. A major benefaction was made in 1629, when Frances Matthew, the widow of Tobie Matthew, Archbishop of York from 1603-1628, presented his collection of some 3,000 volumes to the Library.

All of the items in the Old Library are available on our catalogue. Materials from this collection need to be requested a day in advance by either contacting the library or emailing a request form.

The Old Library is open to the public for viewing from Mondays-Fridays, varying hours. Please contact us to schedule a visit. Entrance fee is £2.

Yorkshire Parish Libraries

The Yorkshire parish library collections are gathered from multiple deposits of books from local parishes of Yorkshire. Examples of the parishes included are: The East Harsley Parish (c. 300 volumes), the Hackness Parish (c. 1200 volumes) and the Stainton-in-Cleveland Parish (c. 300 volumes).

A full catalogue of this material is available online. To request any of these materials please contact the Library or send a request form electronically.

Music Collections

The Library curates the Printed music and the Archives the Manuscript music. Holdings are mostly c.16th-20th centuries, and include many rare items such as the unique printed copy of Byrd’s Gradualia (1605); printed music by Purcell, the Minster choir repertoire from c.1600 to the present day and compositions by Minster organists. Also included are collections given by the Reverend Dr. Marmaduke Fothergill which include manuscripts copied by Archbishop Matthew Hutton [d.1711], William Priestly and Catherine Sharp. The Printed Music catalogue is available online.

Materials from the printed music collection need to be requested a day in advance by either contacting the library or emailing a request form. Please contact the Archivist for viewing of the Music Manuscript collection.

Incunables

The Incunable Collection of books from the last quarter of the 15th century contains over 100 volumes of printed material including: books on law and medicine, treatises on the virtues and vices and on heraldry, philosophical and liturgical works, sermons, homilies, lives of the saints, and encyclopaedias. Several volumes have survived in their primary bindings, and some retain their original binding structure.

These materials are available on our catalogue online. Materials from this collection need to be requested a day in advance by either contacting the library or emailing a request form.

Hailstone Wing

Named after one of the Library’s greatest benefactors, Edward Hailstone (d. 1890), the Hailstone wing, which previously housed the beginnings of the Yorkshire Collections, now is home to the Library’s Series collections. These series include volumes from: The Early English Text Society, the Public Record Office, Calendars of State Papers, the Corpus Christianorum, Rolls Series, the Publications of the Harleian Society and many others.

This room also acts as a secondary reading room with two tables and power outlets for laptop use.

These series are non-borrowable, however they can be searched on our catalogue online and consulted within the library.

Periodical Holdings (Lower Stacks)

The Library currently subscribes to over 70 periodicals. Our current periodicals are held in the lower stacks near the reception desk. The Library subscribes to many periodicals including: Church of England Newspaper, Crockford's Clerical Directory, Journal of Theological Studies and many others. A full list of our periodicals is available on our catalogue online.

The Periodicals are arranged A-Z by title from the front left of the room to the back. Periodicals are borrowable under the same restrictions as the general collection.

Reading Room Bays

Our Reading Room, used for both Library and Archives purposes, house many different types of materials. Located on the first floor, the room is equipped with power outlets for laptop use. The collections include:

Bay 1: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, reference materials, Burke's Peerages, Oxford and Cambridge Alumni

Bay 2: Mulitple language and manuscript dictionaries, Cambridge Modern History volumes, British History Documents and Dictionary, Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians

Bay 3: Yorkshire Archaeological Society and Archaeological Journals

Bay 4: Books on the City of York andYorkshire including: History, Art, Archaeology, Architecture, Culture, etc.

Bay 5: materials on York Minster

Bay 6: materials on York Minster

Bay 7: Catalogues of British Manuscripts and Libraries, Archives journal and British Records Association

Bay 8: Rare Book catalogues, book production, English Short Title Catalogue 1475-1640

Bay 9: Surtees Society volumes, Yorkshire Clergy Database

Bay 10: Encyclopaedia Britannica, reference Bibles and Bible Dictionaries, Heraldry books

These reference materials are available on our catalogue online. These books are non-borrowable but do not need to be requested in advanced.

York Minster Reading Room Bays

The Library has recently reshelved most of the material in the Reading Room to allow for two bays dedicated to York Minster and its surrounding culture.

Bay 5 holds material on the Minster as a building: fabric, glass, monuments and fittings.

Bay 6 focuses on the culture around the Minster: Archbishops, Deans, Alcuin, the Minster School, the Minster Bellringers, and Minster Musics.

A catalogue of these books can be found online. The books are available to the public and do not need to be requested ahead of time, however they are non-borrowable.