Exhibition reveals extras picked up by books in their ownership travels

NEVER judge a book by its cover, they say, and a new exhibition underlines there is also much more to a historical work than the printed text.
By The Newsroom
Published 13th May 2010, 13:20 BST
Updated 13th May 2010, 13:21 BST

What is written in the margin or in other spaces shows how the manuscripts have changed hands down the centuries – so the same book could be owned by an Archbishop of York, a Wiltshire parson, a chess magazine editor ...the list goes on. They have ended up at Shandy Hall, Coxwold, near Helmsley, which houses the most complete collection of Tristram Shandy author Laurence Sterne's writings and letters.

Many of the books in his library record the identities of the individuals who owned them before they found their way to Sterne's study.

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To highlight how books travel there will be an exhibition of editions from the collection in the gallery at Shandy Hall where names and identities will be on display.

Some show every step of a book's journey of over 250 years such as a rare copy of Eboracum or the History and Antiquities of the City of York by Francis Drake, published in 1736.

The exhibition, One Previous Owner, opens to the public from 1pm to 4pm on Saturday. It continues 11am-4pm until June 30 every day except Saturdays. Admission is free.

Related topics:HistoryYork