Lines of Thought
For six centuries, the collections of Cambridge University Library have challenged and changed the world around us." Anne Jarvis, University Librarian
In 2016, Cambridge University Library is celebrating 600 years as one of the world’s greatest libraries. The wills of William Loring and William Hunden, both proved in March 1416, bequeathed books to ‘the common library of all scholars of the University’. Over the course of the last six centuries, the Library’s collections have grown from a few dozen volumes on a handful of subjects into an extraordinary accumulation of over eight million books, maps, manuscripts and journals, enhanced by an ever-increasing range of electronic resources. From its beginnings as an asset for a tiny community of theologians and canon lawyers in the medieval university, the Library’s mission has expanded to serve the international scholarly community and now, through its digitisation projects, to reach new audiences across the world.
The Library marks the anniversary with a major exhibition entitled Lines of Thought: Discoveries that Changed the World. Across six themes, this exhibition highlights key moments in the evolution of human thought. They show how the collections here in Cambridge represent and underpin some of the most significant developments in human history. The books, manuscripts, archives and digital objects we house do not stand in isolation. Thousands of lines of thought run through them, back into the past and forward into tomorrow’s teaching, learning, research and innovation.
Many of these items are available in a free to download iPad app, with expert discussion and additional contextual materials. You can find out more about the Library's 600th celebrations here.
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Shāhnāmah (MS Add.269)
A richly illuminated and almost complete copy of the Shahnamah with less than a page missing of its prose introduction, … more -
al-Qurʼān (MS Add.1116)
Fragments of an Abbasid Qurʼān from the 3rd century A.H./ 9th century A.D. ( before 262/876), containing verses from the … more -
Devīkavaca (MS Add.1578)
A hymn in praise of the Goddess Durgā. Manuscripts containing this text were considered amulets (kavaca, lit. "armour"), … more -
Prajñāpāramitāstotra, Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā, Vajradhvajapariṇāmanā (MS Add.1643)
An 11th-century composite and multi-text manuscript containing three texts: Rāhulabhadra's Prajñāpāramitāstotra, the Aṣṭasāhasrikā … more -
Papers connected with the Principia (MS Add. 3965)
The large collection of papers gathered in Add. 3965 concerns the production, publication and revision of the Philosophiae … more -
Journal, 19 June 1917-6 July 1917 (MS Add.9852/1/11)
The volume is a ruled notebook and mostly comprises notes on war, on politics and on Sassoon's reading, together with transcripts … more -
Chinese Oracle Bones (CUL.1,52,155)
Over three thousand years old, the Chinese Inscribed Oracle Bones in the Hopkins Collection are by far the oldest written … more -
1842 Pencil Sketch; 1844 Essay Part 1, Draft A; and 1857 Outline of Species Theory: (DAR 6)
This item is included in the Library’s 600th anniversary exhibition Lines of Thought: Discoveries that changed the world … more -
Plant morphology Notes. Variation under domestication, pangenesis: (DAR 51)
This item is included in the Library’s 600th anniversary exhibition Lines of Thought: Discoveries that changed the world … more -
Descent Portfolios 1st edn, Scraps (including Man): (DAR 80)
This item is included in the Library’s 600th anniversary exhibition Lines of Thought: Discoveries that changed the world … more -
Notebook M: (DAR 125)
This item is included in the Library’s 600th anniversary exhibition Lines of Thought: Discoveries that changed the world … more -
Miscellaneous letters from and to C. R. Darwin and others. Also individual leaves and fragments of Cirripedia and Origin,... (DAR 185)
This item is included in the Library’s 600th anniversary exhibition Lines of Thought: Discoveries that changed the world … more -
Book of Hours (Use of Sarum) (Cambridge, University Library, MS Dd.4.17)
This fourteenth-century English Book of Hours is illustrated with several full-page portraits of saints at the beginning … more -
Vie de seint Aedward le Rei (Cambridge, University Library, MS Ee.3.59)
This is the only known surviving copy of an illustrated Anglo-Norman verse Life of St Edward the Confessor, written in England … more -
Book of Deer (MS Ii.6.32)
The Book of Deer (Evangelia) is a Gospel Book written in a hand that was current in the period c. 850-1000 and generally … more -
Codex Bezae (Cambridge, University Library, MS Nn.2.41)
There are half-a-dozen ancient manuscripts which are the foundation of our understanding of the text of the New Testament … more -
Nash Papyrus (MS Or.233)
The Nash Papyrus is a second-century BCE fragment containing the text of the Ten Commandments followed by the Šemaʿ. Prior … more -
Sidereus nuncius (Adams.5.61.1)
The Sidereus nuncius, a title commonly translated as the Starry messenger, is a book printed and published within a few months … more -
Philosophiæ naturalis principia mathematica (Adv.b.39.1)
A copy of the first edition of the Principia that Newton annotated in the margin and on interleaved sheets with his own amendments. … more -
The bloody tragedy, or, A dreadful warning to disobedient children: giving a sad and dreadful account of one John Gill, in... (CCD.7.50.8)
This item was included in the Library’s 600th anniversary exhibition Lines of Thought: Discoveries that changed the wor … more -
Mary, the maid of the inn: an interesting narrative, detailing the singular way she discovered her lover to be a robber and... (CCD.7.50.13)
This item was included in the Library’s 600th anniversary exhibition Lines of Thought: Discoveries that changed the wor … more -
De humani corporis fabrica. Epitome (CCF.46.36)
The Epitome was a companion piece to the Seven books on the fabric of the human body (commonly known as the Fabrica, both … more -
Hyakumantō darani (FG.870.1-4)
Commissioned by the Empress Shōtoku 称徳天皇 (718-770), a large number of the Buddhist invocations called Darani 陀羅尼 (dhāraņī) … more -
Gutenberg Bible (Inc.1.A.1.1[3761.1-2])
The Gutenberg Bible (better called Gutenberg-Fust Bible), the first large-scale production of the newly developed system … more -
Lodoici Vassæi Catalaune[n]sis, in anatomen corporis hvmani tabulæ quatuor (N*.3.17(B)(6))
This copy of Loys Vasse’s work on the human body belonged at one time to Thomas Lorkyn (1529-1591), Regius Professor of Physic … more -
Banknote (MS Parkes 8/1)
Paper currency first appeared in China during the 7th century, and was in wide circulation in the 11th century, 500 years … more -
The tale of Beowulf (Sel.3.231)
Beowulf is amongst the earliest pieces of vernacular European literature. It was written in Old English, the language spoken … more -
Shakespeare First Folio (SSS.10.6)
Shakespeare based many of his plots on the lives and deaths of historical rulers: titles of his plays name one Roman emperor, … more -
Tyndale's New Testament (Young.152)
Until the appearance in the 1380s of manuscripts of the Bible in English (translated by the circle of John Wycliffe in Oxford), … more -
Inventories of books, records and other movable property of the University (UA Collect. Admin. 4)
This is a volume of Inventories of books, records and other movable property of the University. From around 1300, the University's … more -
On the origin of species by means of natural selection, or, The preservation of favoured races in the struggle for life (CCA.24.17)
Topping a list compiled by publishers, librarians and academic retailers, Charles Darwin’s On the origin of species has been … more