SLA BRANCH VISIT TO ETON COLLEGE - 23rd June 2009
On a lovely warm June afternoon around 20 of us gathered at Eton College School Library for tea and a tour of the excellent and well-stocked school library. We were warmly welcomed by Sarah Warren-Macmillan and her staff.
Once we were all assembled and refreshed we made our way across to the College Library to be met by our host Michael Meredith, the Keeper of the Manuscripts and the Deputy College Librarian, Katie Lord. Michael started and keeps the Rare Books Collection at the College and this has obviously been a labour of love for many years. He was quite inspirational and showed us many rare items which came to life in his hands. Our group of school librarians has never been so quiet!
Michael explained that he does not just collect old rare books. For instance he has a copy of a limited print run of Barack Obama's speech made at his inauguration. However, much of the collection is very old. There is a copy of the Gutenberg Bible, a copy of Ovid from 900 A.D. and a first hand account of the preaching of St. Francis of Assisi. We were shown a fascinating History of the World written in the 14th century to teach young monks which contained the second recorded picture of the death of Thomas a Beckett. The collection contains the finest seal of King John in the world, the second best being with the Magna Carta in the British Library - they have this on loan from Eton! There are First Quarto editions of Shakespeare and a letter from Shakespeare to Ann Hathaway - this latter however is not genuine but was forged in 1790! It is still thought of as worth keeping in the collection.
Michael was so enthusiastic about his work and the collection but, most impressive of all, was the fact that they are constantly collecting with the current curriculum in mind. The boys at Eton have access to set texts, plays, photos etc. going back hundreds of years. One example was a collection of "Mayor of Casterbridge" items including different editions and media (the BBC video made in the 1970s among them). Supporting items include letters written by Charlotte Bronte, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Lewis Carroll (with his distinctive purple ink), Hitler and Churchill to name but a few!
It was truly an afternoon to inspire and remember. To end a perfect day, most of us walked down the beautiful Eton High Street to have supper at The Christopher wine bar where we were joined by the Eton staff for a very convivial evening.
Our thanks to Eton College for a wonderful occasion. We do try to hold a social each summer as well as our annual dinner in February but it will be hard to live up to this excellent event.
Sue Bastone
Chair
July 2009
