This free talk opens a rare window onto books from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries that were once owned and used by readers across the North West. Rather than treating these books as silent objects, it brings them to life through the intimate traces their readers left behind. Notes in the margins, hurried scribbles, careful drawings and even pressed flowers reveal how people read, learned, reflected and recorded their everyday experiences in Tudor and Stuart England. Alongside these personal stories, the talk explores the remarkable setting of Chetham’s Library itself, founded in the mid seventeenth century and recognised as the oldest public reference library in the English speaking world. Established to ensure free access to learning, its collections still hold the voices of past readers who walked through its doors centuries ago. Together, the books and their marks offer a vivid glimpse into lived history, connecting modern audiences with the thoughts, habits and curiosity of readers from over four hundred years ago.
Join Ellen Werner as she uncovers the thoughts and feelings of the people who owned, used and cherished the books now held in Chetham’s Library.
