Book Nooks Worth Looks

Who doesn’t love a good beach read? Something quick and entertaining, be it a romance, comedy, mystery, or thriller, as long as it is not too deep or heavy a subject, taking away from your fun vacation. Books today are plentiful and most people are literate, but the 16th and 17th century was a vastly different story. Although literacy rates varied depending on location, town and city inhabitants vs. those who resided in the country, for example, it ranged between 30%-40% for males and 10%-20% for females, those in cities being more literate. The rate rose steadily throughout the centuries, to its current worldwide rate, for adults, of 87%. There are many reasons for this increase in literacy and a rise in access to books is just one. In the collection here at Agecroft Hall & Gardens, we have over 3,000 books, the majority of which are from the personal collection of T. C. Williams, Jr. The books in this post, though, are those in our collection from the 17th century.

Twenty-seven books in the collection date to the 17th century. We also hold four 19th century reproductions of 17th century books. Most of the books are much larger than most of those published today. These books are heavy, made of paper, vellum, leather, wood, and parchment. Some of the books have gilt edges and metal brackets that keep the books closed. Of our smaller books, one has a permanent embroidered book cover and we hold another book cover, both made with silk and metallic threads embroidered on expensive linen cloth. Books were very expensive. While in the 15th and 16th centuries, as printing presses became more common and typeface was standardized, the cost of books decreased by 2/3rds, but books were still not as readily available as modern times. Materials used to produce books also changed, and while paper was still expensive, printers began printing smaller pages, introducing folio and quarto sized works, for example, and perfecting methods to produce paper using cheaper materials and any scraps.

Another problem leading to the expensive cost of books were the governmental attempts to control publishing houses and published materials. Laws were enacted that controlled how many printing presses were allowed and at one point in the late 1500s, London was only allowed two printing presses, one at Oxford University and one at Cambridge University. There were ‘underground’ printing presses printing news broadsides or propaganda. These unlawful presses also printed most of the theatre drama and popular fiction available to readers at the time. As printing evolved, printers became members of the Stationer’s Guild in London, further controlling the industry. Attempts to control the printing and publishing industry continued throughout the 17th century, ending in 1694 with the introduction of copyrighting. It is important to note that during times of political unrest and war, printing increased dramatically with illegal printing presses printing news and propaganda.

Common subjects for early modern books included ancient texts, religious texts, science, fiction, courtly and chivalric romances, law books, alphabet books, catechisms, and more. Agecroft’s collection includes Roman texts (Annals by Tacitus, 1629 edition), a science text (Herball, or Generall Historie of Plants by John Gerard, 1597 edition), history texts (The history of Great Britain by John Speed, 1632 edition and The History of the World by Sir Walter Raleigh, 1614 edition), and a social commentary (The Workes of the most High and Mightie Prince, James, by King James VI and I, 1616 edition). The collection also includes numerous religious texts. While the 16th and 17th century book collection at Agecroft Hall is by no means comprehensive, it does give a nice overview of what a early- to mid-17th century book collection might have looked like in an upper-class manor house. The Lord of the manor would choose which books suited his interests best and, since books were expensive, they were status symbols, as well as reading material.

While summer is still in full swing, plan a visit to Agecroft Hall & Gardens to see the books on display and everything else we have to offer (including lovely AC!).