Library: Royal Bath & West of England Society Library: Introduction

Illustration from 'The Horse-Hoing Husbandry — Illustrative figure from 'The Horse-Hoing Husbandry' by Jethro Tull, 1733

The Library of the Royal Bath and West of England Society comprises books, journals and pamphlets, assembled by the Society since its foundation in 1777. Topics covered include crop cultivation, machinery and equipment, animal husbandry, labourers and the organisation of the agricultural workforce, dairy production, livestock diseases and pests and botanical studies of plant strains.

Eighteenth and nineteenth century works are most strongly represented, but the library also contains books dating back to the seventeenth century including works by major authors such as Jethro Tull, John Evelyn and Richard Jefferies. Rare early publications include 'The English Husbandman' by Gervase Markham published in 1613 and 'An Account of the Principal English Grasses ...' by William Sole, a unique, finely illustrated study published c 1800.

The library also contains a comprehensive series of the Society's own publications which document the examination and discussion of a wide range of agriculture-related issues over a period of nearly 150 years.

The library was deposited with the University of Bath in the 1970s.

The following articles provide information on the library's background and history:

A short history of the Royal Bath and West and Southern Counties Society This short history ofthe Royal Bath & West& Southern Counties Society was distilled from Kenneth Hudson’ s book “ The Bath & West” published in 1976 by the Moonraker Press in readiness for the Society’ s Bi-Centenary in 1977.
The Library and Archives of the Royal Bath & West The following text summarises at talk given by the author to the Council of the Society on 1st March 1984. While still substantially Mr. Bryant’s text, it has been edited slightly to reflect the current (2005) circumstances of the Library and Archives.
The Mohawk Chief: the lost portrait, and the Bath & West 'Teyoninhokarawen, alias Capt. Norton, North-America' is Iisted among the Society's Honorary and Correspondent Members. This article explains who he was and how he came to be a member.
William Sole: his life and published work William Sole (b. 1739) was a notable botanist and an apothecary who lived and worked in Bath from the 1760s until his death in 1802. This paper presents biographical information about Sole.

The Society's archive, containing minute books, accounts, correspondence, photographs, press cuttings and other unpublished material, is held at Bath Record Office.

Accessing the Royal Bath & West of England Society Library

The Bath & West Library collection is held within the University Library's special collections and not directly accessible by Library users. Users can request items from the collection by searching the Library catalogue and/or the list of journals before they visit. Items can then be read in the University Archivist's room.

Access to the Library is possible within office hours (Monday to Friday, 09:00 to 17:00 hrs). We will do our best to host requested dates, however appointments for visits are subject to the availability of the Archivist's room, Archivist, and the Honorary Librarian.

It is helpful if requests for resources are made at least 24 hours before your visit, although you can request additional items whilst on campus there may be a delay in retrieving them from the archive store.

If you have any questions please contact the Honorary Librarian. Enquiries can be made by phone or e-mail and limited factual questions may be answered without a visit, however we do not have the resources to do research on your behalf.

Honorary Librarian of the Society

Kate Ehrig-Page

she/her/hers

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