Thomas Plume was one of the great English collectors of the seventeenth century. Although he was not unusual in bequeathing his collection to his hometown, the longevity of his library was exceptional. In this lecture, Andrew Pettegree and Arthur der Weduwen place the Plume Library in this wider context: securing its future in an age when other institutional libraries struggled for survival, and parish and city libraries were often smaller collections than those of private collectors. This lecture will demonstrate the essential and underrated part that private collecting has played in the development of the library; and reflect upon the inherent fragility of the institutional library, in Plume's time as in every age.

Andrew Pettegree, FBA is Professor of Modern History at the University of St Andrews and Director of the Universal Short Title Catalogue. He is the author of over a dozen books in the fields of Reformation history and the history of communication including Reformation and the Culture of Persuasion, The Book in the Renaissance, The Invention of News, and Brand Luther: 1517, Print and the Making of the Reformation.

Arthur der Weduwen is a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of St Andrews and Deputy Director of the Universal Short Title Catalogue. He researches and writes on the history of the Dutch Republic, books, news, libraries and early modern politics. He is the author of Dutch and Flemish Newspapers of the Seventeenth Century, The Bookshop of the World. Making and Trading Books in the Dutch Golden Age (co-authored with Andrew Pettegree) and two books on early newspaper advertising in the Netherlands.

The Library: A Fragile History, is published by Profile on 14 October.

Please book seats in advance: [email protected] / 01621 854850.

Free entry; donation box available.