Library Collections
Early 19th century xylotheks
Xylotheks, or xylotheques, are book-like herbariums, made of wood and filled with wood specimens, including dried leaves, flowers, seeds and bark. They appeared towards the end of the 17th century […]
David Gregory’s first complete edition of Euclid (1703)
David Gregory (1659-1708) was a Scottish mathematician, best known for his Astronomiae Physicae et Geometricae Elementa (1702) – the first published work to apply the language of Newtonian gravitation to […]
Thomas Young’s course of lectures on everything (1807)
Thomas Young (1773-1829) was born in Milverton, Somerset, in 1773, the eldest of ten children in a Quaker family. Soon after his birth, he was brought up by his mother’s […]
Philip Henry Gosse’s Aquarium (1854)
In May 1852, the marine biologist and naturalist, Philip Henry Gosse (1810-1888), made his first serious attempt to create a marine aquarium. He put three pints of sea water into […]
Caroline Halsted’s Travels in the boudoir (1837)
In Travels in the boudoir (1837), Caroline Halsted (1803/4 – 1848) takes the young female reader on a world-wide Grand Tour via the everyday objects in her private sitting-room. At […]
Anne Pratt’s Poisonous, noxious and suspected plants (1857)
Anne Pratt (1806-1893), a ‘grocer’s daughter of Strood’, developed an interest and talent for botanical art from an early age. She was self-educated; collecting and drawing flowers was an accepted […]
The Royal Record
Our collections are full of surprises. August's Book of the Month was discovered by one of our volunteers, Tony Rhodes, while working on the heritage collection in the Outer Library.
Weather reporting at the Devon and Exeter Institution
Rain, rain, go away, come again another day ... Are you wondering where summer is? From January 1817, one of the most important tasks of the Librarian at the Devon and Exeter Institution was taking twice-daily readings from the Institution's barometer and thermometer and recording them in a meteorological register.
Out of the woods
Though we are not quite out of the woods yet, we are delighted to welcome back our members and volunteers - and to meet new members. Our summer display in the Outer Library is a selection of poetry inspired by trees and spanning four centuries, from Robert Herrick’s ode to the willow to A. E. Housman’s celebration of the blossoming cherry – the loveliest of trees. Our display is organised in collaboration with Exeter Cathedral Library and Archives to celebrate Love Your Burial Ground Week, 5-13 June 2021.