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Archive Collections

The collections

The College's archives and special collections are housed in the Muniment Room, at the end of South Court nearest Garden Court. The College possesses 119 manuscripts, ranging in date from the late 10th to the 18th century, of which 106 were catalogued by M.R. James in 1895. There are several books from monastic libraries, most notably Bury, Croyland, Durham, Kingswood and Warden, and the Franciscan houses at Bristol, Worcester and York, and a significant group of liturgical manuscripts from the archdiocese of York. Other manuscripts of note include Anne Holand's Book of Hours, an Exeter psalter of c. 1330, a 13th century North French bestiary, bound with an Anglo-Saxon Ordinale , and Lady Fairfax's Book of Receipts.

There are some 8000 early printed and other rare books, which are in the process of being listed on the on-line catalogue. This is at present supplemented by a card catalogue compiled in 1922. The core of the collection is the library of the first Master, James Montagu (d. 1618). Other important donations were given by Lady Anne Harington and her daughter Lucy, Countess of Bedford, relatives of the foundress; Francis Combe and Philip Stanhope, Earl of Chesterfield. There is a fine range of Hebrew books, given by Paul Micklethwaite in 1639. Early scientific works are well represented, as are books on travel. The Muniment Room houses special sections devoted to the Franciscans, Cromwell, and the history of the College and the University. The archives consist of college and estate papers, and the personal papers of various Masters and Fellows, most notably Samuel Ward (1572-1643). Among the estate papers is an important series of records documenting the development of Cleethorpes. Some categories are not available for public consultation.

Catalogues and calendars

M.R. James, A Descriptive Catalogue of the Manuscripts in the Library of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge (Cambridge, 1895).
A.H. Cook, Early Printed Books to the Year 1500 in the Library of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge (Cambridge, 1922).
M. Todd, 'The Samuel Ward Papers at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge', Transactions of the Cambridge Bibliographical Society, 8 (1985), pp. 582-92.

Links to archival information