Heritage Talk

Boston Manor House

Join us for another fascinating Heritage Talk, where Dr Angus Vine delves into the Clitherow family's historic library.

Dr Angus Vine will tell the 300-year story of the library and archive at Boston Manor. Although the collection was dispersed when the house was sold in the 1920s, its contents can be reconstructed through account books, catalogues, book lists, and ledgers. Some of the books, moreover, can even still be identified today thanks to their bindings and bookplates (and also the occasional inscription and signature).Using these materials, this talk tells the story of the library through a series of significant episodes in its history, beginning with James Clitherow’s book-buying in the mid-17th century. Focusing on the library’s early history, it also tells the story of the collection through some of its most unusual and valuable items, from a unique mid-17th-century play-text to an extremely rare anthology of poetry.What kinds of books did the Clitherows own? Where and when did they buy them? What did they then do with them? How large was their collection? How characteristic was it? Did other contemporary merchants, bankers, and landowners own similar private libraries? What can these kinds of collection tell us about literary and cultural history more generally?Join us to find out the answers to these questions and to learn more about the extraordinarily rich collection of books that the Clitherow family amassed at Boston Manor over a period of nearly three centuries. Dr Angus Vine is an Associate Professor at the University of Stirling, a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London, and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. His research focuses on early modern cultural and intellectual history; his interests include book history, the history of knowledge, mercantile history, maritime history, and antiquarianism. He’s the author of two books, In Defiance of Time: Antiquarian Writing in Early Modern England (OUP, 2010) and Miscellaneous Order: Manuscript Culture and the Early Modern Organization of Knowledge (OUP, 2019), and he’s currently completing his third book Early Modern Merchants and Their Books (OUP, 2025). He is also the Chair of The Oxford Francis Bacon and one of that project’s volume editors. In 2021-22, he held a British Academy Mid-Career Fellowship to research his most recent book and to work with partners including London Metropolitan Archives, the Guildhall Library, and Edward’s Boys. It was whilst researching this project that he became interested in the Clitherow family, their books, and their papers. In this talk, he’ll be sharing some of that research.Doors for the talk in the State Drawing Room will open at 6:30pm, though ticket holders are welcome to arrive from 6:00pm and take time to visit the rest of the House. The House will also remain open for ticket holders for 30 minutes after the end of the talk (7:30pm-8:00pm.)The talk will last around 45 minutes (6:30-7:15pm), with 15 minutes Q&A session (7:15-7:30pm)

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Heritage Talk

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Heritage Talk

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