Francis John Henry Jenkinson (1853-1923), Librarian to the University of Cambridge 1889-1923: correspondence concerning the Sandars Readership in Bibliography

The Sandars Readership in the University of Cambridge was established under the will of Samuel Sandars (1837-94) [son of George Sandars MP] who was educated at Harrow and Trinity becoming MA in 1863. Sandars was called to the bar from the Inner Temple 1863. He became a JP and High Sheriff for Buckinghamshire and in addition to benefactions to Great St. Mary's, Cambridge, and the University Library, he. left £2,000 for the endowment of an annual lecture or course of lectures in the fields of 'Bibliography, Palaeography, Typography, Bookbinding, Book Illustration, the science of Books and Manuscripts, and the Arts relating thereto'. The electors to the Readership were the Vice-Chancellor, the Master of Trinity and the University Library Syndics. The first lectures were given by Sir Edward Maunde Thompson in 1895 and an appointment was made each year to 1915, after which the Readership was suspended until 1921. This collection consists mostly of letters to Francis Jenkinson from successive Sandars Readers; several have been annotated by Jenkinson himself.

Unless restrictions apply, the collection is open for consultation by researchers using the Manuscripts Reading Room at Cambridge University Library. For further details on conditions governing access please contact mss@lib.cam.ac.uk. Information about opening hours and obtaining a Cambridge University Library reader's ticket is available from the Library's website (www.lib.cam.ac.uk).

The correspondence forming this collection was found in the Library at some date after the death of Francis Jenkinson in 1923.

A catalogue of the collection can be found on ArchiveSearch.