One of the most important and unique aspects of the IHR Library is the quantity and range of works available on open access. Over the course of the last year, the IHR Library has been able to have forty books specially repaired and conserved due to generous donations to the IHR Library Conservation Fund, in particular from the Friends of the IHR and American Friends of the IHR. These invaluable donations have helped support the work of the Library in ensuring that volumes can be specially treated, repaired and where necessary, rebound. This work enables the volumes to be quickly returned to the library’s collections and also ensures that they are preserved for years to come.

A selection of the works that have been repaired in 2015-2016 due to money received by the IHR Trust Conservation Fund are listed below.

A selection of works conserved in 2015-2016

A selection of works conserved in 2015-2016

Travels in Canada, and through the States of New York and Pennsylvania by J.G. Kohl 1861.

History of England from the Accession of James I to the Outbreak of the Civil War 1603-1642, by Samuel R. Gardiner.

Proceedings of the Legislative Council of India, 1854-1855.

Tracts Relating to Northamptonshire, 1881-1900.

Illustrations of Public Buildings in London with historical and descriptive accounts of each edifice by John Britton.

A Embaixada do Dr. Francisco de Andrade Leitão á Hollanda (1642-44) by Edgar Prestage, printed in 1923.

Calendar of the Charter Rolls preserved in the Public Record Office, Volume 3, 1300-1326.

Report of a Missionary Journey, made by the Hon. and Rev. Charles James Stewart through Upper Canada in 1820, edited by James J. Talman.

Chronica de Mailros: e codice unico in Bibliotheca Cottoniana servato, nunc iterum in lucem edita; notulis indiceque aucta, edited by Joseph Stevenson.

The Monumental Inscriptions in the Churches and Churchyards of the Island of Barbados, British West Indies, edited by Vere Langford Oliver, 1915.

A selection of works before and after rebinding

A selection of works before and after rebinding


In addition, a number of works from the Library’s Special Collections have also been able to be conserved thanks to the funds received. These have included:

The Proceedings and Debates of the House of Commons: in the sessions of Parliament, begun the twentieth of January, 1628 and ended by dissolution the tenth of March…taken and collected by Sir Thomas Crew.

The newly rebound Pietas londinensis: or, The Present Ecclesiastical State of London

The newly rebound Pietas londinensis: or, The Present Ecclesiastical State of London

Pietas londinensis: or, The Present Ecclesiastical State of London by James Paterson, A.M and printed in 1714.

A Collection of Papers: containing three documents relating to events of 1712.

Practyk der medicine, ofte oeffenende geneeskunde. Aanmerkingen over het menschelyke bloed en wateren, en geneeskundige aamerkingen, door Henricus Buyzen, 1729. (This item was kindly donated along with a donation for its conservation in January 2016)
A Short Historical Account of London-Bridge: with a proposition for a new stone-bridge at Westminster by Nicholas Hawksmoor, printed in 1736.


The importance of restoring and securing the binding of A Collection of Papers is highlighted in Dr Stuart Handley’s of the History of Parliament blog post on the volume: http://blog.history.ac.uk/2016/03/overruling-the-duke-in-the-ihr-library/

Further information on the IHR Library Conservation Fund can be found at: www.history.ac.uk/support-us/campaign/library