A LIST OF BOOKS NOW IN CHAINS.
Abingdon, Berkshire. St. Helen’s Church.
The Vicar writes:—
The books are mainly in very bad condition. In old days they were chained to the seats in one of the five aisles, which had a defective roof.
The Holy Bible. (Black letter.) Printed by Robert Barker. 1611.
Foxe, John. (Black letter.) Book of Martyrs. (Imperfect.)
Harris, Robert. Works. 1635.
Hall, Jos. (Black letter.) Contemplations. 1620.
Rogers, Richard. (Black letter.) A Treatise, etc. 1604.
Babington, Gervase, Bishop of Worcester. (Black letter.) 1615.
Liturgy, A, in answer to Dissenter’s Objections. 1683-84.
The same. 1684-86.
Rogers, Richard. (Black letter.) Sermons upon the Book of Judges. 1615.
Hall, Jos. (Black letter.) Sermons Preached at Court. 1611-12.
Jewel, John, Bishop of Salisbury. (Black letter.) A Treatise preached by. 1570.
Appleby, St. Laurence. Westmoreland.
Communicated by Charles Robert Rivington, of Castle Bank, Appleby:—
There are three chained Black letter volumes of Foxe’s Book of Martyrs in Appleby Church, which have lately been restored, and are now in a fairly perfect condition. The chains are missing, but the rings for the chains on one of the volumes are preserved. These books were presented by Richard Moore (or More), “Citizen and Stacioner” of London, to Appleby Church in 1632. Moore was the son of an Appleby tailor, and, in 1598, went to London and was apprenticed to Matthew Lownes, a well-known printer. He afterwards set up for himself in or near Fleet Street, and carried on a successful business between 1608 and 1636. At the latter date Moore joined with fifteen other members of his Company in printing the seventh edition, in three volumes, of The Book of Martyrs, and a copy of this edition he presented to his native parish.
Arreton, Isle of Wight. Parish Church.
The Vicar says:—
I cannot discover any trace of a chained book. Some old volumes of Foxe’s Book of Martyrs are carefully preserved in the church, which may possibly have led to the surmise.
Venables’ Guide to the Isle of Wight, p. 181, refers to the chained books at Arreton, where, “on a desk in the south chancel, are preserved copies of Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, but of a comparatively modern edition.”
Barber-Surgeons’ Hall, Monkwell Street, London.
The following extract is from The Annals of the Barber-Surgeons of London. Compiled by Sidney Young. 4to. London, 1890:—
In 1747 Mr. Whiston (the eminent Bookseller) was employed by the Barbers’ Company to make a catalogue and valuation of the Library and MSS. “A learned Physician” had offered the Company twenty-five guineas for the Library, together with a skeleton and some other curiosities, but the Court of the Barbers “being desirous to manifest their esteem for and preserve the friendship of the Surgeons,” gave them the refusal of the Library and skeleton, etc., for twenty-five guineas. “And that, in case of their acceptance thereof, the rich and ancient pall belonging to this Company should be at their service as a free gift.”
The Surgeons would not accept this offer, but said (for the first time after a two years’ separation and division of the property) that they considered the Library belonged to them under the provisions in the Act of Parliament.
Various attempts were subsequently made by the Barbers’ Company to sell the Library, and in 1751 it was disposed of to Mr. Whiston for £13! It is greatly to be regretted that the Surgeons’ Company did not purchase it, and so preserve to the Royal College of Surgeons what must undoubtedly have been a most curious and unique collection. Dozens of these old books had bosses and chains attached to them, and in the old days were guarded with a jealous care. In 1701 Dr. Tyson made some proposals to the Company for the regulation of its Library, and a Committee of the Court being thereupon appointed drew up a great many rules, all of which are set out in the Barber-Surgeons’ Minute Book of that date. No list of the books is now known; there were two in MS., but they have both disappeared.
The following extract is from the United Company of Barbers and Surgeons’ expenses for 1638-39:—
1638-39. The charge and settinge upp or bookes and auntient Manuscriptꝭ in or new Library. Paid for 36 yardꝭ of chaine at 4d the yard & 36 yards at 3d ob.* the yard cometh to xxijs vjd Paid to the Coppersmith for castinge 80 brasses to fasten the Chaines to the bookes xiijs iiijd To porters at sev’all tymes to carry these bookꝭ ijs Paid to the bookebynders for new byndinge 15 bookꝭ xlviijs vjd Paid for Claspinge 19 large & small bookꝭ & fasteninge all the brasses to the iron chaines to Threescore & foure bookꝭ in the Library, new bosses for two great bookꝭ 8s setting on old bosses js mending ould Claspes ijs xxxjs viijd Paid for makeinge Ringes swiffles & fittinge all the iron chaines xijs Som is vjli xviijs * Ob. = obolus, a halfpenny.
Barcheston, Warwickshire. Parish Church.
The Curate-in-charge supplies the following:—
Erasmus, Rot: (Black letter.) The Paraphrase on the New Testament. (Imperfect.) Part of the oak-bound covers is gone, and the leather is greatly worn by age and decay, but the chain is still attached.
Musculus, Wolfgangus. Common Places of Christian Religion. 4to. London, 1578. (Translated from the Latin by Iohn Man.) In oak boards covered with leather, with chain attached.
Jewel’s Works are also here, but evidently never had a chain.
The Chained Bible has disappeared. The desk has decayed and been removed; the books being now placed upon what, previous to the restoration of the church, was the Altar Table in the Wellington Chapelry.
Bingley, Yorkshire. Parish Church.
Communicated by A. W. Irwine:—
No chained Bible.
In Notes and Queries for 1853 it is stated that “Bingley had a desk and chain, but The Book of Articles had given place to some more modern volume.”
Bolton-in-the-Moors, Lancashire. Parish Church.
In 1651 Humphrey Chetham left by will certain books to be chained in the church. It was not, however, until 1668 that the library was completed. In the minute book of the feoffees are many entries concerning them. These mention chains.
| Also pd. for chains, claspes, carriedg, caskes, &c. | 03.10.00. |
The books have now been placed in the Grammar School Library.
Bolton Grammar School, Lancashire.
In his account of the old Church and School Libraries of Lancashire (Chetham Society), 1885, Mr. Chancellor Christie thus describes this Library:—
“The books of which the library at present consists are in an old oak chest or book-case, which stands upon legs, about three feet from the ground. The chest contains two shelves divided down the centre, with iron rods running along the front of each shelf, evidently for the purpose of chaining the books, and has folding doors opening at the centre. Along the outside, above the doors, runs this inscription carved in wood, ‘The Gift of Mr. James Leaver, Citison of London, 1694.’”
Of a list of 44 works catalogued as belonging to the School in 1735, 18 remain (in addition to the volumes transferred from the Parish Church Library, referred to above), of which the following still retain their chains:—
Foxe’s Acts. Folio. 1684. 3 vols.
Johannis Arndtii de Vero Christianismo—libri quattuor. 8vo. London, 1708. 2 vols.
Collection of Psalms.
Borden, near Sittingbourne. Parish Church.
The Vicar writes:—
There is a Book of Martyrs, but I do not know if it was ever chained.
“Esta,” in Notes and Queries for 1853, says:—
In the Parish Church of Borden a copy of Comber On the Common Prayer is chained to a stand in the Chancel.
Bowness-in-Windermere, Westmoreland. Parish Church.
The Clerk supplies the following:—
Erasmus, Rot: (Black letter.) The Paraphrase upon the Gospels. 1516-20.
The chain is gone, but the iron ring to which it was attached still remains on the cover.
Jewel, John, Bishop of Salisbury. A Defence of the Apology for the Church of England. (Black letter.) Folio. London, 1611 (? 1561). (Imperfect.)
Book of Homilies. (Black letter.) 1543. (Imperfect.)
The last two in one cover.
Bridlington, Yorkshire. Priory Church.
The senior Curate writes:—
There are four Books in the Priory Church which formerly were chained; but they have been rebound (a pity), and the old clasps are gone, but the chains are there yet.
Heylin, Peter, D.D. De jure parentalis Episcoporum; or, a brief Discourse asserting the Bishops’ Right of Peerages. Folio. London, 1640. (Perfect.)
Comber, Thos., D.D. On the Prayer Book. London, 1684. (Imperfect.)
Jewel, John, Bishop of Salisbury. A Defence of the Apologie of the Church of England. Folio. London, 1611. (Good copy.)
Hooker, R., D.D. Ecclesiastical Polity. Folio. London, 1682. (Good copy.)
Bristol, Redcliffe Church.
The Vicar states:—
The Bible has long disappeared, and no one remembers having seen it. The desk is still in the church.
R. W. Elliott, writing to Notes and Queries in 1853, says:—
In Redcliffe Church, Bristol, there is a small mahogany lectern supported by a bracket with a brass chain attached, near the Vestry, on the north side of the Choir.
Bromsgrove, Worcester. Parish Church.
The Vicar writes to this effect:—
Bishop Jewel’s Defence of the Apology for the Church of England, 1609, is chained to a desk in the Church, and is in good preservation.
Canterbury. The Cathedral.
The Bishop of Dover writes:—
There is no chained Bible in Canterbury Cathedral. In the north aisle of the choir we have an old wooden desk let into the wall, on which (possibly) in the reign of Henry VIII. a Bible was chained. I have put there a copy of the second edition of the Bishops’ Bible from our library.
Cartmel, Lancashire. Parish Church.
There are 294 books in this library, which is one of the most ancient and perhaps the most interesting of our church libraries. It was in existence in 1629, for in that year the churchwardens ordered “That the books given unto the church may bee more convenientlie laid and chained, according to the directions of the donors.”
The Vicar writes:—
There were certainly two chained volumes of Foxe’s Book of Martyrs in Cartmel Church until comparatively recent times. The books now exist in the library, with the rings for chains on the covers. Their date is 1610. I cannot find that any other volumes in the library were chained at any time.
Cheddar, Somerset. Parish Church.
The Vicar states:—
There is no chained book now here. I have always heard that there was one in former times, but I have not been able to learn what has become of it.
Chelsea, Middlesex. Parish Church.
The Perpetual Curate writes:—
The five chained books in my Church are:—
The Vinegar Bible. Folio, 1716-17.
Book of Common Prayer. 1723.
The Homilies. 1683.
Foxe’s Book of Martyrs. 1681.
Foxe’s Book of Martyrs. 9th edition, 1684.
Chesterton, Cambridgeshire. Parish Church.
The Vicar says:—
I am very sorry to say that the book you refer to has not been in the church since my incumbency, and I have never been able to trace it.
R. W. Elliott, writing to Notes and Queries (Vol. VIII., 1853), says:—
In 1851 I noticed the upper part of a lectern in Chesterton Church with a book lying upon it very much torn and wanting the title-page.
Chew Magna, Somersetshire. Parish Church.
The Sexton (in default of the Vicar) states:—
There is a chained book in this church, entitled The Defence of the Apology of the Church of England, 1560.
Chirbury, Shropshire.
In the Parish School-room there are 207 books, ranging in date from 1530 to 1684. Originally, they were all chained on much the same model as those in Hereford Cathedral. At the present time the chains remain upon 110 only, although the plain signs are upon all the others, showing that they were affixed to the upper and outer corner of each book. (See Journal of Brit. Arch. Assoc., 1883, Vol. IX., p. 394, where a catalogue of the books is printed.)
Cirencester, Gloucestershire. Parish Church.
The Vicar states:—
I am sorry to say that I have been told that the chained books disappeared from our Parish Church at the time of its restoration in 1867. Nothing remains but the old desk, now in the choir vestry, and a large hook still in the wall of one of the chapels, which was used to hold up, when required, the lid of the desk.
Cumnor, Oxfordshire. Parish Church.
The Parish Clerk (in default of the Vicar) writes:—
There is a chained Bible here with the original chain. It has lately been restored, and is now in perfect condition. It is situated near the reading-desk, though not used for service. The date is 1611.
Denchworth, Berkshire. Parish Church.
The following communication is from the Vicar:—
There are only two books in the Vicar’s library still chained, and both in good condition.
Ball’s Power of Godliness. 1657.
Cartwright’s Commentary on the Proverbs of Solomon. Amsterdam, 1638.
All the books were originally chained, though of course this does not apply to a few recent additions by later Vicars. They were in a room over the church porch,[7] which, when Geo. Street, the architect (as a young man), restored the church, he swept away, bringing the books over to the Vicarage.
There was a Caxton’s Golden Legend, which an erring Vicar sold to the Bodleian.
There is a beautiful copy of Thos. Aquinas, the earliest volume of which is dated 1485; and a Cranmer’s Bible of 1541, wanting the title-page.
The old chains are still in existence, and lie on the library floor as a relic.
Durnford, Wilts. (See Great Durnford.)
Easton-in-Gordano, Bristol. Parish Church.
The Rector writes:—
I have never heard of the existence of a chained book in this Parish. In 1822 our old Church was pulled down, and I fear hardly any care taken as to ancient things.
We have a board monument to Captain Samuel Sturmy, who, circa 1720 (says the inscription), left a book on Navigation to the care of the Churchwardens, to be lent to the seamen in the parish. I do not know that it was chained, nor has any one now living here any recollection of hearing about it—it has quite disappeared. Swift, in Gulliver’s Travels, quotes, I believe, verbatim without acknowledgment from it in his description of the Storm at Sea and how they escaped.
In Rutter’s Somerset, p. 258, is the following:—
Against the north wall of the old nave was a curious old tablet, dated 1669. At the top was the portrait of Captain Samuel Sturmy, of this parish, who published a mathematical treatise, in folio, entitled The Mariner’s or Artisan’s Magazine, a copy of which he gave to the parish, to be chained and locked in the desk, until any ingenious person should borrow it, leaving £3 as a security, in the hands of trustees, against damage, etc.
East Winch, Norfolk. Parish Church.
I am indebted to Mr. W. H. Smalley for the following:—
The Holy Bible. (Black letter.) Folio, 1611.
It is imperfect, wanting the title-page, and has a MS. note on a fly-leaf at the beginning: “This holy volume, interesting for its antiquity as well as pre-eminently for the truths it reveals, I have repaired with my own hands and fastened with a chain, as was often done when Bibles were first ordered to be set up. It is placed upon a portion of the ancient Rood-screen. This Bible, and other books, I found some years since amongst various discarded articles of furniture, altar cloths, etc., in the old church chest.—E. J. Alvis, Vicar, September, 1884.”
Ecclesfield, Yorkshire. Parish Church.
The Vicar writes:—
The books are altogether removed. This was done in 1860, when the Chancel was restored. The books were in a very dilapidated condition, and I think there were about three short rusty chains. Two or three of the imperfect books have been bound, and are kept in the Vestry Safe.
The following was contributed to Notes and Queries for 1852, by J. Eastwood.
The accompanying list (remains of which, more or less perfect, with chains attached, are still extant) will probably be interesting.
From Ecclesfield Church Accounts: Books chayned in the Church, 25th April, 1606:—
Dionysius Carthusian upon the New Testament, in 2 vols.
Origen upon St. Paul’s Epistle to the Romans.
Origen against Celsus.
Lira upon Pentathucke of Moses.
Lira upon the Kings, etc.
Theophilact upon the New Testament.
Beda upon Luke and other parts of the Testament.
Opuscula Augustini.
Augustini Questiones in Nouū Testamentū.
The Paraphrase of Erasmus.
The Defence of the Apologye.
Prierius Postill upon the Dominical Gospells.
Frampton Cotterell, near Bristol. Parish Church.
The Rector sends the following:—
The chained book is still in the Parish Church. When I was instituted, in 1886, I found an old wooden lectern of rude construction, with a chained book upon it, against the east end of the wall of the south aisle. Considering that no care seems to have been taken of the book all this century—as is shown by the dog-eared condition of its leaves, and the frequent inscriptions of parishioners’ names, from 1760 to 1879—and by the book having been always open and uncovered—for it is so chained that it cannot be closed—I think it is now in fair condition. In 1886 I had it carefully covered over with strong paper, and on the top I placed a great folio Bible; and since then, this lectern and Bible—with the chained book covered under the Bible—have been used in a Chapel, in the south aisle, at Daily Prayers on week-days. I uncovered the chained book to-day; it is a small folio, nearly perfect, and bound in leather. Title and pp. 1-4 lost.
The Church also contains the following Works:—
Correspondence between John Bishop of Sarum and Dr. Cole.
Jewel’s Sermon at Paul’s Cross.
Jewel’s Defence of the Apology.
Treatise de private Messe and on the Holy Scriptures, in 1 vol.
Gorton, Lancashire.
Clause in the Will of Humphrey Chetham, Esq., dated 16th December, 1651:—
“Also I do hereby bequeath the sum of £200 to be bestowed by my Executors in Godly English books ... most proper for the edification of the common people, to be, by the direction of my said Executors, chained upon desks, or to be fixed to the pillars, or in other convenient places, in the Parish Churches of Manchester, Bolton-le-Moors, and in the chapels of Turton, Walmsley, and Gorton.”
In June, 1658, the Library at Gorton was completed; and it was agreed at a meeting of the feoffees and executors:—
That ffor the ffixing there bee allowed for and towards the shelveing and chaining the said books 30s. for every £20 worth of books.
At the end of the feoffees’ list of books occurs:—
The Chaines 14 shillings, and the carriage of Caske from London 26s. 4d., and claspinge of bookes 12d.
The Vicar of Gorton Church writes that:—
There are no books chained in the Church, but there is what may be termed a whole library of chained books, comprising about 48 vols. belonging to the parish. This library, in its original oak case, is in the Committee Room of the schools, and the books are in a good state of preservation. The gift of Humphrey Chetham.
Grantham, Lincolnshire.
In 1598 a chained library was presented to the Parish Church of Grantham, in Lincolnshire, and placed in a room over the south porch, approached by a circular stone staircase out of the Church. (Willis, III., 432.)
The Vicar writes:—
The chained library still exists over the south porch of Grantham Church. The room was new floored and ceiled with oak about eight years ago. The old book-cases were also repaired, for they had fallen into great decay. The chains are on the books, and the other ends of the chains are fixed to an iron rod on the book-case. The books, which are mostly the work of 17th-century divines, are in fair condition. There are 268 books, of which 74 have chains still attached to them.
Great Durnford, Wiltshire. Parish Church.
There is an imperfect copy of Jewel’s Defence, in a wooden chest in the nave, having a chain attached; and in the chancel is an old double lectern, to which it may have been chained.
Hales Owen, Worcestershire. Parish Church.
The Rector writes:—
There are no chained books in Hales Owen that I am aware of.
The following is an extract from the Will of Sir Thomas Lyttleton, 1481, quoted in Testamenta Vestuta:—
I wull and bequeth to the Abbott and Convent of Hales-Oweyn a boke of myn called Catholicon to theyr own use for ever, and another boke of myn wherein is contaigned the Constitutions Provincial and De gestis Romanorum and other treatis therein, which I wull be laid and bounded wyth an yron chayn in some convenyent parte within the said Churche at my costes, so that all priests and others may se and rede it when it plesith theym.
Hanmer, Flintshire. St. Chad’s Parish Church.
The four chained books perished in the fire of February 3, 1889, when Hanmer Church was burnt out. They were Foxe’s Martyrs, 3 vols., 1608, and Jewel’s Apology, 1570; all without title-pages.
Archdeacon Weir, in 1855, reported:—
In the Church was a copy of Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, in 3 vols. One was chained to a desk at the east end of the south aisle, and the other two to a desk at the west end. (Notes and Queries, XII., 479.)
Hereford. All Saints’ Parish Church.
The chained library in this Church is one of the most interesting in England. It occupies three shelves along two sides of the vestry, the total number of volumes being 285. It is interesting, too, as a survival of an obsolete custom, for the books were bequeathed to the Parish by William Brewster, M.D., so late as 1715, a period at which, in most instances, the custom had been abolished, so that this may be considered as the last known instance of chaining books.
It is not unlikely that the number of books in the neighbouring Cathedral, all chained, was the moving cause of these being so treated. The chains are evidently made in exact imitation of those in the Cathedral library. The narrow escape, too, that this collection had from being sent en bloc to America, as narrated below, increases our interest in it.
The following anecdote has been told me by Mr. Stibbs, bookseller, of Oxford Street, London:—
About twenty years ago I was in the vestry of the Church of All Saints’, Hereford, in which there are about two hundred chained volumes of old Divinity. One of the Churchwardens accompanied me, and I remarked to him, “How useless these old books must be without any one to look at them!” “That’s true,” he said; “they are quite useless.” “Well,” I replied, “why not let me have them? I will give you £100 for them, which will obtain for the use of the parish a really useful lot of books.” “Well, that’s a good offer, and I’ll lay it before the Vestry,” was his reply. A short time after, I was informed that the Vestry meeting had been held, and my offer accepted. I went down to Hereford, paid the £100, took possession of the books, chains and all, and brought them up to London. I immediately made a catalogue of them, but had hardly finished, when I received an urgent request from one of the Churchwardens not to part with one of them on any account, for that the Dean of Windsor, whose consent ought first to have been obtained, had positively refused to sanction the sale. Having been at considerable expense in travelling to Hereford three times, besides time wasted in cataloguing, I declined to deliver up the books; but, as considerable ill-blood, and probably legal proceedings, would have ensued, I at last sent them back, upon payment of all expenses, and they are now restored to their original position. I will only add, that arrangements had been partially made for the sale of the whole to an American dealer.
Hereford Cathedral.
The collection of books in Hereford Cathedral is an exceptional instance of a genuine Monastic Library. It contains about 2000 volumes, of which about 1500 are chained, being probably the largest chained collection in existence. There are five complete book-cases, and the ruins of two others, each being 9 ft. 8 in. long, 8 ft. high, and 2 ft. 2 in. wide. The books are for the special use of the Canons in residence, who, however, cannot find it very convenient to consult chained volumes. The Catalogue, also chained, classifies the books in eight divisions, of which the manuscripts are by far the most interesting as well as the most valuable. The printed books are ranged under the following heads:—Bibles and Concordances; Fathers of the Church; Ecclesiastical History; Civil History; Theology; Law and Education; Miscellaneous. The collection, formerly in the Lady Chapel, was removed, chains and all, in 1862, to the Archives Chamber. Each chain is between 3 and 4 feet long, with a swivel in the centre which is useful in preventing entanglement. Many books are, notwithstanding the chains, missing; and all are more or less injured by the rough usage which chains necessitate, thus strongly confirming the evidence afforded by the Wimborne Minster Library.
The following from Willis and Clark describes the method of chaining:—
To attach the chain, a narrow strip of flat brass is passed round the left-hand board and riveted to it in such a manner as to leave a loop in front of the edge of the board, wide enough to admit an iron ring, 1¼ inch in diameter, to which one end of the chain is fastened. The book is placed on the shelf with the fore-edge turned outwards, and the other end of the chain is fastened to a second ring rather larger than the former, which plays along an iron bar.
Hull, Yorkshire. Holy Trinity Church.
W. Sparrow Simpson, writing to Notes and Queries in 1853, states:—
Until within a very few years, a desk, with Foxe’s Martyrs lying upon it, was in this Church, affixed to one of the pillars in the Nave.
Impington, Cambridgeshire. Parish Church.
The Vicar states:—
On my accession to the charge, in 1882, being aware that some chained books were said to exist, and not seeing them, I made inquiry for them. I was told by the Sexton, who well remembered seeing the books chained up, as described in Notes and Queries, that in consequence of the books being subject to constant mutilations, they were removed from the Church by the Clerk, who for many years had charge of them in his own house. At the time of my inquiry, the Clerk had been dead some years, and the books had found their way into an old granary on a farmstead, in close proximity to the Church. I secured their remains, and after removing the cobwebs and filth to which they had been exposed, they presented a very dilapidated appearance. Happily there still remained a few links of the chains, and other metal ornaments used in the binding, which stimulated the idea to rebind the tattered fragments.
Through the kindness of the Squire of the Parish, W. B. Caldwell, Esq., Impington Hall, these remains have been rebound with the links and other ornaments attached as nearly in their original position as could be judged. The volumes are now carefully preserved in a very handsome church chest made of yew, and presented by the Squire.
Kettering, Northampton. Parish Church.
Mr. Wrigley writes:—
I am sorry to say that the two books which were in the church on the old desk have been destroyed, either by visitors or children, and there is nothing left but the chains and the two covers.
Kidderminster, Worcestershire. Parish Church.
The Vicar states:—
We have in the Vestry of our Church a Defense of Jewel’s Apology, with a chain attached to it. It is in a very decayed state. I had a box made for it some years ago.
King’s Lynn, Norfolk. St. Mary’s Church.
The Vicar writes:—
There is a chained Bible in a chest in my Church, which I am sorry to say is in a very dilapidated condition.
Kinver, Staffordshire. Parish Church.
Communicated by the Vicar:—
Here there is an oak desk, about 7 ft. long, within which were chained the undermentioned books, which are now kept in the iron safe, and for the chains of which there are holes in the desk:—
Actes and Monumentes of Christian Martyrs and Matters Ecclesiastical passed in the Church of Christ from the primitive beginnings to these our days, as well in other countreys, as namely in this Realme of England, and also of Scotland, discoursed at large. Newly enlarged by the author John Fox. Folio. (Black letter.) 1583. Printed by John Day, dwelling over Aldersgate.
Has been rebound, and now has no chain or link.
The Works of John Jewel, late Bishop of Salisbury. London. Printed by John Norton. Folio 1609.
Has an iron link, but no chain.
The Whole Duty of Man. London. Printed by William Norton for E. Pawlet, at the sign of the Bible in Chancery Lane, near Fleet Street. Folio. 1703.
Has brass chain and link, clasps and boss centre, with corners to the covers.
Expository Notes ... on the New Testament ... endeavoured by William Burkitt, M.A., late Vicar and Lecturer of Dedham, in Essex. The sixth edition, carefully corrected. London. 1716.
Has brass chain, link, clasps, boss centre, and corners to covers.
Lessingham, Norfolk. Parish Church.
The learned antiquary, Dawson Turner, wrote to the Gentleman’s Magazine in 1846 (Part I., p. 151) about a copy of the Book of Martyrs, which was chained to what he calls a “hutch” of unpainted and almost unshapen boards, with a narrow shelf at the top to serve as a lectern, placed by the north wall of the Chancel, adjoining the Communion rails.
The Vicar of Hempstead (now united with Lessingham) writes:—
While Lessingham Church was in use there was an old copy of Foxe’s Martyrs with a portion of a chain attached to it. The Churchwarden had a box made for the book some few years ago and took it to his house. It is now in my keeping. The Church is in ruin, but we are hoping to get it restored. The book is much torn and imperfect.
Leyland, Lancashire. Parish Church.
Communicated by the Curate:—
There are four folio volumes, each secured by a chain to a thin iron bar, which at some time was fastened into the masonry. At present the volumes lie in the window within the Chancel, but just outside the Communion rails. I am sorry to report that the books are in a very poor condition, owing to the damp having reduced the pages to tinder, and so to dust. The village people talk of them with bated breath, as “Latin Bibles used in the Church service when the Church belonged to the Catholics.” In spite of all explanations, this ridiculous statement is held to, and the ignorant Romanists (as it appears to me) have carried off a piece now and again when unobserved. The books are as follows:—
A Preservative against Popery in several select Discourses upon the principal heads of Controversy between Protestants and Papists. 2 vols. Folio. London, 1738.
[This is by Edmund Gibson, successively Bishop of Lincoln and London. There should be 3 vols.]
Foxe’s Book of Martyrs. (Black letter.) Folio. (In very bad state.)
Controversies between Cole, Harding and Jewel. Folio. London.
Certain Sermons by the Bishop of Sarum. Folio. London, 1611.
Lincoln Cathedral. The Chapter Library.
An old desk preserved here, having two shelves, one below broad and one above narrow, shows evidence of books having been at one time chained to it.
Llanbadarn, Aberystwyth, Glamorganshire. Parish Church.
The Vicar says there are no chained books in the Church, nor has he heard of any having been there.
J. M. G., in Notes and Queries for 1853, states:—
In a case in the Vestry of the Mother Church of Llanbadarn, there were many volumes about 150 years old which had been chained; but they were in a very dilapidated condition, arising from the dampness of the room.
London. All Hallows’, Lombard Street. Parish Church.
Outside the Vestry door and within the Church is placed a glass case which contains the following volumes. Folio.
The first tome or volume of the Paraphrase of Erasmus vpon the newe testament. Enpriented (sic) at London in Flete-strete at the signe of the Sunne by Edwarde Whitchurch the last daie of Januarie Anno Domini 1548.
The second volume is dated “the ii daye of June, 1552.” They are both in good preservation, in original binding, rebacked, with clasps and bosses. On Vol. I. is a rude chain of 16 links, each about 1¼ inch long, and attached to the top of the left-hand cover. A similar chain is attached to the bottom of right-hand cover of Vol. II.
The third volume is The Holy Bible, 1613 (Black letter), being the second impression of the 1611 edition. Both titles are well preserved, but all is wanting at end after Rev. xviii. 12. The binding is comparatively modern and there are no signs of chaining. Upon the middle of one outer cover is a label let in, upon which is “St. L. E., 1696,” and the names of the Churchwardens, while a label on the other side has “St. B. G., 1696.” All Hallows is now the Parish Church of four parishes, including St. Leonard’s, Eastcheap, and St. Bene’t Gracechurch. The three books, according to a descriptive slip attached, originally were chained to a desk in St. Leonard’s Church, Eastcheap. They were saved when, in 1666, the Church was burnt, and the parish after the Great Fire having been united to St. Bene’t Gracechurch, they were deposited there, until St. Bene’t’s in its turn was, in 1864, destroyed and united to All Hallows, when they were sent to occupy their present position.
London. St. Andrew Undershaft, Leadenhall Street. Parish Church.
Chas. Robert Rivington states:—
There are preserved in a book-case in the Vestry the following folio (Black letter) volumes:—
John Foxe’s Book of Martyrs. Fifth Edition. Printed by P. Short, London, 1596.
The Paraphrases of Erasmus, 1551 (?)
Sir Walter Raleigh’s History of the World. Printed by W. Jaggard for W. Burr. London, 1621.
The Works of John Jewel, Bishop of Salisbury, 1611.
One volume in a sadly dilapidated condition has attached to it a chain about three feet long with a swivel in the centre. The other volumes were some years ago “restored” by a zealous churchwarden, who discarded the original bindings and encased them in stout but inappropriate coverings which it is painful to behold. The chains which were attached to the old covers are preserved.
London. St. Clement’s, Eastcheap. Parish Church.
Two books, once in chains, are preserved here.
Pearson On the Creed, 1st edition. The title-page and preface (4 leaves) are from the reprint of 1715. The original volume having become much dilapidated, the present Rector, Rev. W. J. Hall, supplied a title-page and three leaves. It is perfect at the end. A portion of the original chain is still attached to a loop on the back of the book, which is held in position by strong iron anchors, one on each side of the volume, let into the boards. The anchor is the symbol of St. Clement.
This copy was presented by the author himself, who preached the substance of his work in a series of lectures at St. Clement’s, of which Church he was rector for many years.
The other book is Comber’s Companion to the Temple. Several leaves damaged at the beginning, but perfect at the end. On the binding are the initials T. H., 1706. It has been rebacked. The remains of a chain are attached to the right-hand cover. These two volumes and four others, more modern and without any signs of chains, are deposited on a long slanting shelf in the Choir. Near to them is a plain wooden double lectern, upon which are evident remains of the places where chains once were.
Luton, Bedfordshire. Parish Church.
Communicated by the Vicar:—
The Bible was chained to the S. Choir bench, and Foxe’s Book of Martyrs to a lectern, formerly. The staple and one link of the chain are still in the bench. The staple was a few years ago in the lectern, but has been removed. Both books are in the chest in the Vestry, but in a partially mutilated condition.
Lynn, Norfolk. (See King’s Lynn.)
Malvern, Worcester. The Abbey.
One of the officials, failing the Vicar, states:—
There is a chained Prayer-book, of about the year 1670, in the Abbey Church.
Cuthbert Bede, in a letter to Notes and Queries, 1853, says:—
In Malvern Abbey Church is a stand to which two books are chained: one is a Commentary upon the Book of Common Prayer, and the other is a treatise on Church Unity.
To this the Rev. H. T. Griffith, of Hull, adds at the same date:—
In Malvern Abbey Church is a copy of Dean Comber’s Companion to the Temple, chained to a desk, and bearing a written inscription to the effect that it should never be removed out of the Church, but should remain chained to its desk for ever, for the use of any parishioner who might choose to come and read it there.
Another correspondent says:—
The inscription is signed “H. Clements, 1701.” The book is in rough calf binding. Age and damp have done their work upon it, and it is fast dropping to pieces.
Mancetter Parish Church. Warwickshire.
The Vicar supplies the following information:—
Books chained, with the original chain, on a desk in the Church:—
Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, without title, but otherwise in good condition. 2 vols.
Erasmus Rot. Paraphrase. Without title, but in good condition. 2 vols.
Jewel’s Apology. 1 vol. 1560.
These books were rebound some years since, and are now in a glass case.
These are probably the books given in 1651 to the Church by Humphrey Chetham.
Manchester. Chetham Library.
The gift of books by Humphrey Chetham, in 1651, was by his will ordered to be chained.
“And my Will and Mind is that the Books be fixed or chained as well as may be within the sd library.” And they were so chained (although no signs of it are now left), as is evident from the old account books.
Manchester. Jesus Chapel Collegiate Church.
According to the will of Humphrey Chetham, dated 1651, 202 books were placed and chained in the Jesus Chapel. Their disappearance, says Mr. Chancellor Christie, is one of the most discreditable chapters in the history of the Wardens and Fellows. In 1830 the books were sent to the Chetham Hospital, but nothing appears to have remained save the desks, a few old tattered books, and remnants of loose chains. Soon after, they (about 100 volumes) were sold to a bookseller of the town.
Margate, Kent. Parish Church.
The Vicar sends the information:—
There are three old Bibles at St. John’s Church, one being a “Great Bible.” They are not now chained. They are imperfect, but have been rebound and placed in a glass case.
Minster in Thanet, Kent. Parish Church.
When Margate Church was restored in 1876, there were four old Bibles which had been chained. One of these was sent to the Mother Church at Minster, whence an old Bible had been lost or stolen previously.
In Notes and Queries for 1853, J. W. Brown writes:—
In Minster Church, Kent, there is an oak cover to a Bible chained to a desk, temp. H. VIII. The whole of the letterpress has been taken away (by small pieces at a time) by visitors to the Church.
Montgomery Castle.
A chained library was placed here in the 17th century by that celebrated Divine and Poet, George Herbert. It exists no longer. (See Walton’s Life of Herbert.)
Newport Pagnell, Buckinghamshire. Parish Church.
The Vicar writes:—
There are two books with chains attached to them in one of the cupboards of the Church. They are much dilapidated; the title-pages and many other leaves are missing. One book is The Defence of the Apology of the Church of England; and the other the history of some early persecutions, and articles on persons and things of Reformation times. (? Foxe’s Martyrs.)
Northwold, Norfolk. Parish Church.
The Rector writes:—
No information respecting a chained Bible belonging to this parish. There is no book of the kind in the Church.
Mr. Hart, author of Ecclesiastical Records, saw a copy of Foxe’s Book of Martyrs in Northwold Church. (See Gentleman’s Magazine, 1846.)
Oxford. St. Mary’s Church.
In 1300 there were a few Tracts chained or locked in chests in the choir.
Prestwich, Manchester. Parish Church.
The Rector says:—
I have never heard of any chained book in the Parish Church.
A letter to Notes and Queries in 1853, p. 273, signed John Booker, says:—
In Prestwich Church the desk yet remains, together with the Book of Articles, bound up with Jewel’s Apology, 1611; but the chain has disappeared.
Quatt, Shropshire. Parish Church.
The Rector states:—
Although there is a circular reading-desk of very ancient date in Quatt Church, supporting two volumes of Foxe’s Ecclesiastical History and Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, I can discover no trace of a chain, nor could my friend Canon Creighton, of Worcester.
Rochester, Kent. St. Nicholas’ Church.
The Vicar supplies the following information:—
There is one book chained here—A Collection of Cases and other Discourses lately written to recover Dissenters to the Communion of the Church of England. By some Divines of the City of London. London, 1717.
Salford, Lancashire. Church of the Sacred Trinity.
Humphrey Oldfield, by will dated April 30th, 1684, left his Divinity books to be placed in the Chancel, with three pounds for the wood-work and chains that they might not be stolen. They became much dilapidated, and early in the present century, says Chancellor Christie, many were rejected and cast out as waste paper. The remnant, 72 volumes, are now safely housed in the Salford Free Library.
Salisbury Cathedral.
The books here were chained long before printing was invented. One of the Canons named Thomas Cyrcetur, who died in 1452, gave some books to the Cathedral Library. In two of them occurs the following memorandum, written in a 15th-century hand upon the inside of the cover: “Cathenādꝰ in libraria noua eccłie ad dei honorē.”
Sittingbourne, Kent. Parish Church.
The Vicar states:—
The only book here is a large one of Foxe’s Martyrs, bound in wood, with leathern back. Very imperfect. It is now in a church chest, and has been there for many years. There are no signs of chains having been attached to the binding.
Southampton, Hampshire. St. Michael’s Parish Church.
The Vicar has sent the following statement:—
Foxe’s Martyrs. (Black letter.) 2 vols. Folio. With curious wood-cuts.
Commentary on Old and New Testament. 2 vols.
An Illustrated Bible. Folio. Not very old.
All chained.
Stanmore Parva. (See Whitchurch.)
Standon, Eccleshall, Staffordshire. Parish Church.
The Rector has communicated the following:—
We have not a chained Bible at Standon.
Mr. Chancellor Christie says:—
The Book of Martyrs (1583), which was chained to the pulpit at Standon, has this inscription:—
William Lovatt gave this book to the Church of Standon, there to be kept to the use of the parishioners to read in before and after prayers, on Sundays, holidays, and other convenient times. That they may see the great happiness they enjoy in having the free exercise of religion. And if God gives them grace to rise it is to his glory they will be happy whilst they live here; to all eternity. That so they might do was the hearty prayer of W. L.
Lovatt was Churchwarden in 1685.
Stratford-on-Avon. Parish Church.
The Assistant Curate supplies the following information:—
We have a large folio (Black letter) Bible with brass corners, chased and embossed, brass clasps and leathern hinge, one clasp gone. A brass plate near the top of the outer cover has the following inscription:—
“William Wright and Iohn Noble Chvrchwardens for ye Bvrovgh Stephen Bvrman and Rich: Gibes Chvrchwardens for ye Parish. Anno Dom̄ 1695.” A chain is attached to the outer cover near the back. It has 19 links, each about 2 inches long.
The book is in fair condition except that the title-page to the O. T. and Dedication are wanting, and all after Revelations, ch. xx., which is supplied in (Black letter) MS. on vellum leaves. The date is 1611, being the first edition of the authorised version. There is a remarkable misprint in St. Matt. xxvi. 36. where the text reads “Then cometh Judas with them,” instead of Jesus. The Bible is usually kept in a cupboard, but the lessons on Harvest Festivals are read from it.
Suckley, Worcestershire. Parish Church.
The Rector states:—
There is no chained book in Suckley Church. (See Notes and Queries, 1st Series, VIII., p. 596.)
Tavistock, Devonshire. Parish Church.
The Vicar says:—
Our chained book is Erasmus’ Paraphrase of the New Testament. Done into English by Nicholas Udall. (Black letter.) Vol. I. Folio. London, 1548. The Churchwardens’ Accounts show that it was purchased for 15s. in 1561-62.
We have also a black letter volume of Jewel’s Works, 1560; now, like the Erasmus, in a very dilapidated condition. This was also once chained (though there are no signs of it left). There was also an old Bible, as in the Churchwardens’ Accounts for 1588-89 we have:—“Item. Paide William Trenaman for Three chaynes of Ire with plates and for the fastenynge of the Bible, Paraphras of Erasmus and Mr. Juell’s Booke in the churche ... iijs ijd.”
Jewel’s book is now kept locked up in a box and Erasmus in a glass-covered case, also locked.
Extract from the Parish Registers 1588:—
“Item. Paide for a chayne and settinge in thereof, for the fastenynge of the Dictionarrie in the Schole House ixd.”
No longer in existence.
Turton, Lancashire. Parish Church.
In 1651 Humphrey Chetham, who frequently resided at Turton Tower, in the immediate neighbourhood, left by will certain books to be chained in the chapel of Turton.
The original Catalogue of the Chetham feoffees still exists, at the end of which is the following respecting the cost of chaining, etc.:—
| ffor carriedg, casks, &c. | 02 08 00 |
| 7 dossin and 10 chains and clasps, and fixing | 01 03 07 |
There now stands in the Church of Turton an oak case, with shelves and folding doors, fitted with two iron bars, to which are chained the books; above the folding doors runs this inscription, “The Gift of Humphrey Chetham, Esq., 1655.”
In the year 1855, through the instrumentality of Gilbert J. French, Esq., of Bolton, who personally superintended the work, the books were restored (by rebinding) as nearly as possible to their original state, the chains being fixed, cleaned, and the oak case polished. It now stands in a conspicuous place near the chancel. Size of the chest, 7 ft. 6 in. long, 3 ft. 3½ in. high, 14 in. wide.
None of the books bequeathed to the Parish Churches of Manchester or Bolton can now be found, nor does any trace remain of book-cases corresponding with those still in use at Turton and Gorton.
The old chapel at Walmsley, about three miles north of Bolton, was rebuilt in 1839; but long before that time the Chetham books had been dispersed and lost, and all that remained of the oak case was a portion bearing the inscription: this was removed to Manchester, and now forms part of an oak sideboard in the Chetham Hospital there.
It is supposed that about 20 vols. have been lost or removed from Turton, among them, probably, “a great Bible.”
This is inferred from the circumstance that just so many additional volumes could be conveniently placed in the book-case.
The length of the chains admits of the books being placed on the flat top of the oak case, which forms a desk where they may be conveniently read; but no book can be removed without the use of considerable violence.
It may be remarked as somewhat curious that the works of John Preston, D.D., a voluminous and exceedingly popular author of his time, though suggested for purchase by Chetham to his Executors, do not appear to have found a place in the Libraries of Turton, Walmsley, or Gorton.
Walmsley, Lancashire. Parish Church.
In 1651 Humphrey Chetham ordered certain books to be chained in the chapel, but the Vicar states:—
There are no chained books in this Church, which was built in 1839.
(See under Turton.)
Wantage, Berkshire. Parish Church.
The Vicar:—
No chained books in Wantage that I know of.
The Vicar of Cirencester says:—I remember, as a boy, the chained books in Wantage Church.
Wells Cathedral, Somerset.
The Dean sends the following remarks:—
Our Cathedral Library was a chained one, and many of the chains are still hanging on the shelf, and one or two on the bar over the book-shelves, but no book is at present in chains. I am not able to inform you when the chains ceased to be used.
Whissonsett, Norfolk. Parish Church.
The Clerk, failing the Rector, says:—
He has been 60 years in the parish, and has never known of any chained books.
The antiquary Dawson Turner, writing to the Gentleman’s Magazine in 1846 says:—
My friend Mr. Hart, author of the Ecclesiastical Records, tells me that ... he has seen Jewel’s Apology in Whissonsett Church, chained.
Whitchurch, Little Stanmore, Middlesex. Parish Church.
The Parish Clerk says:—
There are not any chained books here now; but there are many chains on the pews where, at one time, people used chained books.
Many of the Prayer-books given by the Duke of Chandos still remain chained to the Pues, for the use of the poorer Parishioners. (Sperling’s Church Walks in Middlesex, p. 104.)
Wiggenhall. St. Mary the Virgin.
In Notes and Queries for 1853 W. D. B. states:—
In this Church the following books may be seen fastened by chains to a wooden desk in the Chancel:—
Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, in 3 vols., all chained to the same staple.
Book of Homilies.
The Holy Bible.
The Works of Bishop Jewel, in 1 vol.
The title-pages are lost from all; in other respects they are in a fair state of preservation.
Wigtoft, Lincolnshire. Parish Church.
The Vicar writes:—
There is no book chained here, nor has been for 20 years.
Extracted from the Parish Accounts, 1549:—
Payd for the paraphrase of Erasmus 0 7 0 Payd for a cheyne 0 0 4
Wimborne, Dorset. The Minster.
A copy of the Bible was formerly affixed by a chain in Wimborne Abbey; now removed to the Library.
About 240 books are chained in a room over the Vestry, being the largest collection of chained books in the United Kingdom, except that at Hereford Cathedral. The volumes occupy three sides of the chamber. See p. 3 for account of this library.
Windsor. St. George’s Chapel.
The Dean writes:—
I suppose the report to which you refer has reference to a large copy of the Bishops’ Bible, which has been placed by me in the niche of St. George’s Chapel, formerly occupied by a chained Bible; and at an earlier date by some book or books of devotion, as recorded in an interesting inscription below the niche.
R. W. Hackwood, writing to Notes and Queries in 1857, says:—
There is a black letter Bible chained in St. George’s Chapel, Windsor. Originally, in an arch opposite the Tomb of Richard Beauchamp, Bishop of Salisbury, a Breviary of the Catholic Church was deposited by his order for the service of both clergy and laity. The Bible now supplies its place and the original inscription remains.
Wisbeach, Cambridgeshire.
The late Dawson Turner mentions four or five volumes, all chained, but reduced by time to covers, and nothing but covers. (Gentleman’s Magazine, 1846, I., 151.)