Sunderland Friends Library

The major part of the surviving library of the Sunderland Preparative Meeting of the Society of Friends. The deposit includes all the early books which now survive, and a small group of manuscripts closely related to the library. The collection is entirely by and about Quakers from the foundation of the Society of Friends onwards, or about some of Friends' particular interests, such as pacifism. All items within the scope of the published catalogue, ie up to 1856, are kept together. These amount to 680 volumes (600 titles), including ca.100 Wing items. The remainder of more recent date (200 volumes) are dispersed in the University Library's general collections on Quakerism.

The Sunderland Meeting of Friends dates back to the 17th century. The records of the Meeting show that it was buying books at least from the early 18th century and that it had an established library by 1725.

Open for consultation.

Deposited in the University Library in 1972.

Catalogued in Discover

Records of the Sunderland Preparative Meeting of the Society of Friends, including both some library records and references to library matters in the more general records, are deposited in Durham County Record Office.

Permission to make any published use of material from the collection must be sought in advance from the Head of 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.

Sunderland Friends' Manuscripts