Maltby Library

Given by Bishop Edward Maltby (1770-1859), on his retirement from the See of Durham in 1856. The surviving collection contains approximately 1,500 titles, including 50 foreign 16th century books, 9 STC, and 61 Wing. Classical literature, philology, and theology are prominent. There is some science and English literature, including Sir Thomas Browne's Hydriotaphia (1658) with an inscription and corrections by the author, and an excellent run of the Edinburgh Review.

See his entry in the Dictionary of National Biography.

Open for consultation

A catalogue of the collection was printed in 1863 available onlineCatalogus librorum impressorum quos legavit Universitati Dunelmensi Edwardus Maltby. Now catalogued in Discover.

Permission to make any published use of material from the collection must be sought in advance from the Sub-Librarian, Special Collections (e-mail PG.Library@durham.ac.uk) and, where appropriate, from the copyright owner. The Library will assist where possible with identifying copyright owners, but responsibility for ensuring copyright clearance rests with the user of the material.

In 1929, under pressure for space, about a third of the collection was discarded as duplicates of items in other collections or editions of supposedly little interest, some being given to what is now the University of Newcastle, and others sold or discarded.

The only manuscript in the collection (notes by John Taylor (1704-66), on the Greek New Testament) has been relocated as DUL Add. MS 769.