The Trigge Library

Francis Trigge was an Elizabethan Puritan clergyman, the rector of Welbourne, a village some 12 miles north of Grantham. He was born in 1547 and died in 1606. He was a licensed preacher and his sermons were published in his lifetime. He was concerned for the people of the countryside of Grantham and Lincolnshire where common land was being enclosed by the rich landlords.

He gave 'one hundred poundes or thereabouts' for the books to be purchased. The purpose of the Library was for 'the better encreasinge of learnings and knowledge in divinitie & other liberall sciences & learning by such of the cleargie & others as well as beinge inhabitantes in or near Grantham & the soake thereof as in other places in the said Countie.'

The library was the first public reference library in England; it was founded in 1598 and still in its original setting.

Francis Trigge's library was to be kept in the upper room of the south porch at St. Wulfram's and the books were to be chained to desks and read in the library. Overall charge of the library was given to the Alderman of Grantham assisted by the two vicars of North and South Grantham, and the schoolmaster from the then Edward VI Grammar School, the current King's School which is situated next to St Wulfram's Church.The porch room was lived in during the 14th century by one of the Vicars of Grantham and has a fireplace, a piscina and an oriel window which gave the priest a good view of most of the church, including the altar.

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The chains were hand-forged and made in Grantham. The rods were made in 1884 when the desks were replaced by the present shelves. However, the frames for the shelves were made from the original desks. The books, in many cases, still have their original patterned bindings and some 80 still have their chains which prevent theft.

The major part of the Library comprises books bought with the original £100 shortly after the agreement was made in 1598. However, some have been added over the years, some very recently, including a King James Bible printed in 1613 which is probably a second printing of the first edition which was produced in 1611.

All the books are printed, the earliest being a volume printed in Venice in 1472, only 16 years after the Gutenberg Bible, which was the first substantial book produced using the recently invented printing using movable type. A few however have the first initial of a paragraph either missing or hand-illuminated, to give the volume the appearance of a manuscript.The majority of the books were printed in the 16th century. There are about 10 which are incunabulae, meaning they were printed before 1501; most are rare and some are unique.

The subject matter reflects the paramount interest of the time - post Reformation - when there was much discussion over the way forward for the Church. There are histories of the church, commentaries on the Bible, collections of sermons, and works of the early and medieval Fathers. The 'Breeches' Bible and the 'Vinegar' Bible are two volumes given unofficial names. The books vary in size, for example, the King James Bible, no means the largest book, is a large Lectern volume and contrasts with another recent gift which is of a Bible measuring only some 2 inches (5 cm) in height!

 

 

There are also law books, medical books, histories, classical texts and natural history. There is a  book covering geography, astronomy and navigation, published in 1482 some 70 years after it was written - in manuscript -  a copy of which was used by Christopher Columbus in planning his expedition to find the Indies by sailing west instead of east. A book on cures for ailments from gout and the plague to toothache is included in the library, as well as an early book on zoology with illustrations of animals, birds and fish, most real but some mythical. Most of the books are in Latin but you may test your knowledge of Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic as well, of course, of English.

 

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It is possible that Isaac Newton, who attended the next door King's School, used the library and although there is no evidence of this, we do have a number of books donated by Henry More, their author, a noted theologian, who also studied at the King's School a little before Newton.

 
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