Explore Historical Books Online

Literary research just became a lot easier.

Over 155,000 historical books have been catalogued from National Trust properties and these can now be reviewed online.

They range from spectacular 17th century atlases at Dunham Massey in Cheshire to a rare library of miniature books for children at A La Ronde in Devon.

The catalogue provides instant access to information for scholars and members of the public alike.

You can see not only what books are available in the Trust’s collections but where each book came from. You can even find out how they are bound, who they belonged to, what they tell about the lives of their owners, and which property they ended up in.

The cataloguing project began in 1958 but much of the work has been carried out in the  last five years. However, work is ongoing with over 70,000 books yet to be catalogued.

Mark Purcell, Libraries Curator, has prepared a gazette of the National Trust’s principal libraries, listing the principal book collections.

Click here to access the catalogue and find out where to see the books.

Among the highlights in the National Trust’s library collections are:

•    A Manuscript of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, circa 1420 (Petworth House, Sussex)
•    The only copy of the first edition of the Sarum Missal, printed for Caxton in 1487 (Lyme Park, Cheshire)
•    Seven magnificently-decorated bindings from the library of the French Renaissance bibliophile Jean Grolier (1479-1565) (Blickling Hall, Norfolk)
•    The only copy of the earliest known English ABC (ca. 1535) (Lanhydrock, Cornwall)
•    One of only three copies in the UK of the first edition of Shakespeare’s Richard II (1597), still in the gilded livery binding of its original owner (Petworth House, Sussex)
•    The Bible supposedly used by Charles I on the scaffold (Chastleton House, Oxfordshire)
•    The Crafty Chambermaid’s Garland (1771) - a bawdy ballad for north country farmers (Townend, Cumbria)
•    The copy of Leaves from the Journal of our Life in the Highlands (1868), inscribed by Queen Victoria to Benjamin Disraeli (Hughenden Manor, Buckinghamshire)
•    A first edition of the Jungle Book (1894), inscribed by Kipling to his daughter Josephine, for whom it was written (Wimpole Hall, Cambridgeshire)
•    The autographed manuscript of Virginia Woolf’s Orlando, inscribed to Vita Sackville-West (Knole, Kent)

About the National Trust
The National Trust cares for 300 inspiring historic houses and gardens across England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

From former workers’ cottages to the most iconic stately homes, and from mines and mills to theatres and inns, the stories of people and their heritage are at the heart of everything it does.

People of all ages, individuals, schools and communities, get involved each year with its projects, events and working holidays and over 60,000 volunteers help to bring the properties alive for the Trust’s 3.8 million members.

Find out more about the National Trust.