collecting and curating for the public: the cardiff rare books collection
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COLLECTING AND CURATING FOR THE PUBLIC: THE CARDIFF RARE BOOKS
COLLECTION Karen F. PierceCardiff University
CARDIFF FREE LIBRARY, MUSEUM AND SCHOOLS FOR
SCIENCE AND ART (1882-1988)
c.1900 2015 (soon to be a Welsh language cultural centre]
NOTABLE LIBRARIANS IN THE EARLY DAYS
Sir John Ballinger (1860 – 1933)
Chief librarian of Cardiff Public Library (1884 – 1908)
First librarian of the National Library of Wales (Aberystwyth) (1909-1930)
Harry Farr (1874 – 1968)
Chief librarian of Cardiff Public Library (1908-1940)
ACQUIRING THE COLLECTION
John Crichton-Stuart, 3rd Marquess of Bute (1847-1900)
John Cory (1828-1910)
THE MODERN PERIOD1988-2006 2009-
"Cardiff Central Library 2006" by locus_imagination source - Flickr. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
A COLLECTION AT RISK Roundtable Group
CyMAL National Library of Wales National Museum Wales Glamorgan Record Office Cardiff University Cardiff City Council
SCOPING 10% scoping exercise
1,387 items examined 93% not already held in CU 75% not already held by National Library of Wales
39% contained provenance 12% contained marginalia
A NEW HOME
Exhibition at the Senedd
CATALOGUING
Rare book cataloguing day courseEsmee Fairbairn Foundation funding3 year temporary postPermanent rare book cataloguer
ACHIEVEMENTS
Fore-edge painting
Chivers’ vellucent binding - ‘vellum made translucent’
CONCLUSIONSCreated & celebrated
Hidden & forgotten
Rescued, curated, promoted
QUESTIONS?
Credit for information & various images: Ken Gibb, Alison Harvey, Peter Keelan, Helen Price-Saunders, Alison Westmaas
