Abingdon Baptist Church Library
A Baptist Parochial Library In the 18th and 19th centuries (and sometimes, even today) many Anglican churches kept small libraries of books to help vicars write sermons, and for the intellectual and moral improvement of trusted parishioners. A great deal of information is available on these collections, both in terms of what churches collected, and who… Read more »
Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition
Works of Augustine, (Basle: Froben, 1569) 1/2/1000 Most people have an image of the Spanish Inquisition in their minds as the bloodthirsty massacre of 16th century Spanish Protestants in retaliation for the blasphemies of Luther. Although not a pleasant exercise of authority, the Spanish Inquisition was rather less murderous and more bureaucratic than tends to… Read more »
In honour of World Poetry Day – Sacred Songs and Solos
Sacred Songs and Solos was a revolution in hymnody when it first appeared. It was one of the first hymnbooks to transcend the confines of the standard metrical tunes which could be fitted to most hymns to some extent. Metrical hymn singing was not always without embarrassment: an elderly friend once recounted the occasion when… Read more »
Eccentric Preachers
Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892), the charismatic and prolific Baptist author, first published this petite volume in 1879. The Angus holds the 1888 edition, published as part of “Spurgeon’s Shilling Series” and only 12.5cm high. Spurgeon does not see the charge of eccentricity as necessarily a negative one: Now I am free to admit that the word… Read more »
Old-fashioned modernisation: the 19th century binding of Athanasii Magni Alexandrini episcopi, graviss. scriptoris, et sanctiss. martyris, Opera (Basle: 1568)
Many of the books being catalogued as part of the HLF funded project are from Regent’s Park College’s library in its original location at Stepney Green, where the Baptist Academical Institution (as it was known in its first couple of years) was housed from 1810-1856. As the books acquired at this time were intended to… Read more »
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