Highlights from the collection
The Wren Library has been visited by the public since it opened in 1695. We have put together a series of visual displays to highlight some of the books and manuscripts in our collections.
Please note that we rotate the displays in the Library and sometimes host themed exhibition: this means that you will not see all the books and objects listed here when you visit. Newton’s Principia, the Winnie the Pooh manuscript and first edition, Thomas Cromwell’s Book of Hours, selected Shakespeare items from the Capell collection and the papers of Srinivasa Ramanujan are always on display.
The library is digitising many of its treasures and making them available through the Wren Digital Collections.
Epistolae Pauli Graece et Latine (Codex Augiensis)
Reichenau, c. 850-900
This manuscript is preserved in its 15th century wooden binding, and contains the letters of Saint Paul in both Greek and Latin. It is believed to have been copied in the German region (probably the monastery of Reichenau) in the 9th century; the name Codex Augiensis is derived from Augia Dives, another name for the island of Reichenau.
The text it contains is closely related to that of Codex Boernerianus, another 9th century manuscript now in Dresden, but originally from St Gall. In both manuscripts the same passages are missing, which makes it highly likely that both were copied from the same exemplar. The scribes of Augiensis and Boernerianus left spaces for these Greek omissions in their exemplar, but with no other Greek text available, these were not filled in. The manuscript is open at the beginning of the letter to the Ephesians.
Principia Mathematica by Sir Isaac Newton
First Edition. London, 1687
Trinity’s copy of Newton’s own first edition of his Philosophiae Naturalis Prinicipia Mathematica (Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy) of 1687, contains Newton’s handwritten corrections for the second edition.
In the Principia, Newton states for the first time the three laws of motion, and the law of universal gravitation. The book is undoubtedly his masterpiece, and a fundamental work for the whole of modern science.
The title page carries the Imprimatur, dated 5th July 1686, of Samuel Pepys as President of the Royal Society. As Newton’s corrections point out, by the time the second edition was published in 1713, Newton himself had become President of the Royal society and thus the patriarch of English science.
De Officiis by Marcus Tullius Cicero
Mainz: Johann Fust & Peter Schoeffer, 1466
This is the oldest dated printed book in the Wren Library.
The layout of the page in the first printed books was virtually identical to that of manuscripts. The text is heavily abbreviated, as many manuscript books were, with a dash above certain letters to denote a contraction. The wide margins allow for copious notes.
Robinson Crusoe
Daniel, Defoe, The life and strange surprizing adventures of Robinson Crusoe, of York, mariner …
First edition. London, 1719
The novel by Daniel Defoe commonly known as Robinson Crusoe was first published over 300 years ago. This story of a man marooned on a tropical island is widely cited as the first English novel and has been translated into more than 100 different languages.
The engraved frontispiece of the first edition of 1719 and shows Crusoe dressed in animal skins and seemingly unaware of the ship behind him.
Read more: Robinson Crusoe – Trinity College Library, Cambridge.
Hurtenham Magazine by Julian Otto Trevelyan
1924
The renowned artist Julian Trevelyan (1910-1988) is an alumus of Trinity. As a child he created an imaginary town – Hurtenham – for which he drew maps, guidebooks, newspapers and an illustrated magazine.
Read more: Julian Trevelyan and Hurtenham – Trinity College Library, Cambridge
Woodcuts from Greenland
Kaladlit Assilialiait
1860
The Kaladlit Assilialiait or Woodcuts drawn and engraved by Greenlanders was printed in Greenland in 1860. The book contains depictions of local people going about their everyday lives as well as local traditions and historical stories.
A lock of Isaac Newton's hair
This was allegedly part of a larger lock in the possession of the Earl of Portsmouth, and was given to the Rev. John Garnett, Fellow of Trinity College while he was staying with the Earl’s family.
Garnett subsequently distributed smaller locks to friends, including, in 1784, to J.B. Greenwood, also of Trinity College, who gave it to the Library.
The Freshfield Album
1574
One of Trinity College Library’s more intriguing manuscripts is an album of sketches of the architectural highlights of Constantinople. Several of the drawings are dated 1574, and it seems that they were produced by a Western artist visiting Constantinople as part of the diplomatic entourage sent to the Levant by the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian II. The album, a simple gathering of folio sheets sewn into a plain vellum wrapper, was presented to Trinity in 1935 by Edwin Hanson Freshfield, a member of the College with antiquarian interests.
Read more: Views of Constantinople: The Freshfield Album online – Trinity College Library, Cambridge.
Isaac Newton’s walking stick
Newton’s walking stick was presented to the Library, in March 1879, by G.W.Lyddeker, Scholar. He had been given it by a Mr Leedham, a descendant of Newton.
The Trinity Apocalypse
St Albans, c. 1230
Illustrated copies of the Apocalypse, or Book of Revelations, were popular in England in the 13th century. This manuscript, written in French and superbly illustrated, is one of the earliest and finest: it is thought to have been produced c. 1230, perhaps in St Albans.
The upper scene shows the great red dragon described in Chapter 12 of the Book of Revelations, ‘having seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns upon his heads’.
Letter from Lord Byron
c. 1789
George Gordon, Lord Byron (1788-1824) became an undergraduate at Trinity in 1805. His early letters home were full of enthusiasm for College life, writing of his superb robes and being ‘most pleasantly situated in superexcellent rooms.’
The letter displayed here is the first he ever wrote, at the age of ten.
Digitised version of letters written in the years 1798, 1807, 1808, 1810, 1813, 1815, 1820 (R.2.40a)
Read more: Thorvaldsen’s Statue of Byron – Trinity College Library, Cambridge.
Grinling Gibbons
17th century
Much of the wood carving in the Wren Library is by Grinling Gibbons (1648-1721). He used lime which is naturally pale in colour and is shown to great effect against the darker wood of the bookcases. The carvings commonly depict mythical creatures, fruit and foliage and, in this example, acorns.
Christmas Greetings
1942
The correspondence of Robert Calverley Trevelyan, a poet and dramatist and his Dutch wife Elizabeth, a musician is kept at Trinity College. Robert and his two brothers, Charles and George, all studied at Trinity and George became Master of the College in 1940.
This envelope belongs to a Christmas card sent by John Luce, who was stationed in the Faroe Islands. It has a ‘V’ for Victory and an oystercatcher (the national bird) on the front.
Read more: A Very Trevelyan Christmas – Trinity College Library, Cambridge.
Thomas Cromwell's Book of Hours
Paris, printed by Germain Hardouyn, 1527 or 28
The Book of Hours depicted by Hans Holbein the Younger in his portrait of Thomas Cromwell, Chief Minister to King Henry VIII, was identified in 2023 as a specially bound Book of Hours held in the Library of Trinity College. The Holbein portrait dates from 1532-33 and is thought to commemorate Cromwell’s appointment as Master of the Royal Jewel House. It seems likely that this book was positioned so prominently in the painting because of its grand binding with jewels mounted in silver gilt.
Read more: Thomas Cromwell’s Book of Hours – Trinity College Library, Cambridge.
Newton’s Notebook
1661
Isaac Newton used this small notebook as a Latin exercise book while at school in Grantham, Lincolnshire and later as an account book to note down his expenses when he came up to Trinity as an undergraduate in 1661.
Chirurgia Practica by Roger of Salerno
Anglo-Norman, early 13th century
Rogerius (before 1140 – c. 1195), also known as Roger of Salerno, brought academic respectability to the discipline of surgery through this hugely popular work on the subject. Chirurgia Practica or The Practice of Surgery was actually compiled by his students from his lecture notes c.1180.
The text describes various activities of the medieval dispensary, where remedies were prepared and applied, diagnoses made and surgeries performed by the doctor and his assistants. Trinity’s copy is illustrated throughout with finely executed scenes of medical preparations as well as rather hair-raising portrayals of surgical procedures.
Read more: Roger of Salerno’s ‘Surgery’ – Trinity College Library, Cambridge.
Wittgenstein’s Notebook
1914
One of the most influential figures in 20th-century philosophy, Ludwig Wittgenstein was born in Vienna in 1889 and spent much of his life in England. His work in the fields of logical theory and the theory of language is of particular significance. He was a fellow of Trinity College from 1929 until his death, and Professor of Philosophy in the University of Cambridge from 1939 to 1948.
Over a period starting in 1914, Wittgenstein wrote down his thoughts in a series of philosophical notebooks, which, along with a large number of his other manuscripts and typescripts, are now housed at Trinity. The notebook on display is the first of the series, dated 9 August to 30 October, 1914.
Digitised version of Wittgenstein’s papers
Read more: Wittgenstein – Trinity College Library, Cambridge.
Roman d’Alexandre (Roman de Toute Chevalerie)
England, c.1150
The text of Thomas of Kent’s Roman de Toute Chevalerie (the Romance of Alexander) is in Anglo-Norman and is a poem on the life and travels of Alexander the Great. It is much concerned with Alexander’s military exploits and with the marvels seen on his travels in the East. It was written in the second half of the 12th century.
Trinity’s copy, which belonged to Thomas Gale and was given in 1738 to the College by his son Roger Gale, is one of the very few illustrated copies of a secular romance to survive from the period.
Book of Hours
15th century
This depiction of a man digging and another sowing seeds is one of the classical ‘labours of the month’ for February from a medieval devotional manuscript. These Books of Hours typically began with calendar pages which featured astrological signs (in this instance Pisces) and monthly labours.
Read more: Labours of the Month – Trinity College Library, Cambridge.
The Eadwine Psalter
Canterbury, c. 1150
This Psalter, also known as the Canterbury Psalter after its scribe, is one of three surviving manuscripts copied from the Utrecht Psalter, an early 9th century manuscript from Rheims which was at Christ Church, Canterbury in the Middle Ages.
The Canterbury Psalter contains a parallel text of the three versions of the Psalms, each accompanied by an interlinear gloss. The innermost text-column is St Jerome’s Latin translation from Hebrew with a translation in Old French; the middle column gives St Jerome’s Roman version, with a translation into Old English; and the outer, main, column on each page is St Jerome’s revision of the Romanum, with gloss.
Each Psalm is preceded by an oblong illustration derived from the Utrecht Psalter.
Read more: Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts in Trinity College Library: The Eadwine Psalter – Trinity College Library, Cambridge.
Hamsa i Jami (Five Poems by Jami)
Persian, transcribed by Abdullah ul Hardy, 1531
Jami (1414-1492) was one of the most prolific and best known Sufi poets of the 15th century and many different collections of his works exist.
This painting (f. 65v) depicts a scene from the popular romance and spiritual allegory Layli u Majnun (‘Layli and Majnun’), about two ill-fated lovers. Here Majnun approaches Layli’s encampment hoping to catch sight of her.
Read more: Hamsa i Jami – Trinity College Library, Cambridge.
Votes for Women
March 1912
Emmeline Pethick and Frederick Lawrence (an alumnus of Trinity) were known after their marriage in 1901 as the Pethick-Lawrences. They were committed to the women’s suffrage movement and Emmeline was imprisoned a number of times as a result of her campaigning as a suffragette.
Fred founded the newspaper ‘Votes for Women’ which he co-edited with his wife.
Digitised version (Peth/3/272)
Read more: The Pethick-Lawrences: A Radical Partnership – Trinity College Library, Cambridge.
The Nature and Diversity of Fish
La nature & diuersité des poissons, avec leurs pourtraicts, representez au plus pres du naturel by Pierre Belon
Paris, 1555
This very popular book was printed first in Latin in 1551, but this edition – in French with handcoloured woodcuts – followed soon after. It contains not only fish, but also other sea creatures including fantastical monsters.
Read more: Pierre Belon’s Book of Fish – Trinity College Library, Cambridge.
Aldine Device
Scipionis Capicii, De Principiis rerum libri duo
Venice, 1546
The use of the printer’s device was common in the late-15th and early-16th centuries. The device was a pictorial image which identified the printer. This one is from the Venetian press of Aldus Manutius (d. 1515). The anchor symbolised stability and the dolphin was the symbol of Venice.
The device also recalled a coin of the Roman Emperor Vespasian which reminded readers of Aldine Press’ scheme to publish classics of the ancient world.
David Louis Clemetson
Photograph of the First Trinity Rugby Boat Team. Clemetson is standing second from the left. (Add.PG.25)
c.1913
David Louis Clemetson (1893-1918) was one of a very small number of black officers serving in the British military during WWI. He was admitted to Trinity to study Law in 1912 but his studies were interrupted when he enlisted in 1914. Black History Month is celebrated each year in October.
Read more: David Louis Clemetson – Trinity College Library, Cambridge.
Clemetson’s story is featured in a short film.
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