 | a bibliographical newsletter Issue 37 Easter 2025  |
My previous blogs have been under the heading of Devon Bibliography, but this has been taking up an increasingly lower proportion of my time. Nevertheless this issue starts with:
Devon bibliography
I have been continuing my work on adding archaeological reports to the database as, although describing themselves as unpublished, the texts and images are available on several websites and are often referred to in footnotes. They also provide detailed information on communities across the county which will be included in future issues of the Devon Communities Bibliography. I have also been investigating biodiversity reports, which should be covered by bodies such as the Devon Biodiversity Records Centre and Devon Wildlife Trust. The Open Research, Exeter repository (ORE) is also a potential data site that could be mined for local items.
I have also been recasting the format of the Devon bibliography to make the production of topographical and thematic listings of all or part of the collections easier and have produced a test listing for Exeter publications from 2000 to 2024, a total of 2870 titles. A selection was printed out for the Exeter History Book Festival. This clarified many thoughts on the future presentation of the collection. The printout of 408 titles relating to individual communities within Exeter took up 31 A4 pages. A database of 100,000 records would therefore require some 7,500 A4 pages!
The new format is used for the Devon bibliography 2025, the first draft of which was issued in March. Archaeological reports will not be added until later.
This year’s issue of the Devon Historian (volume 95) has as its theme “Devon in the 1920s” and has eight articles on various aspects of the county during that decade, part of Julia Neville’s ambitious project involving the Devon History Society, Devon Family History Society, South West Heritage Trust and The Box in Plymouth. At the end of the issue is a list of some seventy papers by individuals and teams of writers which will be placed in the Devon Heritage Centre and The Box in Plymouth, and posted on the Devon History Society’s website. These are just as much published items as the archaeological reports mentioned above and just as deserving of inclusion in the Devon Bibliography.
Exeter Cathedral Cloisters
While Archaeological Studies at Exeter Cathedral, 1975–2023. Volume 1: The Chapter House and Cloister, edited by John Allan, printed by Short Run Press was published late in 2024, its launch was delayed until the cloisters and café in the Chapter House were fully open. So, Devon Archaeological Society's monograph no. 3 was finally launched on 15 January. Only then did I receive my copy of the work in recognition of a minor contribution on the layout of the medieval Cathedral library in the North Cloisters which makes up about one per cent of the massive 300-page book. John Allan gave a presentation on the decades of work that had gone into the investigation, excavation and restoration of the cloisters of what must be one of the best-recorded cathedrals in the country, with each stone mapped, its type and origin traced and the period of use ascertained. Some of the stained glass panels in the great east window of the Cathedral had been traced back to their original position in the east window of the Chapter House. It is a magnificent achievement.
The medieval cathedral library of Notre-Dame, Paris
In March I visited the Musée de Cluny with its Roman baths and rich treasures of medieval art, my favourite Paris museum. Some of the sculptures on display looked a trifle over-cleaned, but they included many fragments from Notre-Dame recovered from various early rubbish tips in recent years. Of course I had to visit the wonderful series of tapestries of the Dame à la licorne (Lady with the unicorn) and on my way out discovered something quite unexpected “Feuilleter Notre-Dame de Paris: chefs d’œuvre de la bibliothèque médiévale” (Turning the pages of Notre-Dame: masterpieces from the medieval library), a special exhibition of 37 items from the Bibliothèque nationale de France linked to the re-opening of the Cathedral after the disastrous fire. There are a couple of illustrations here but I have produced a fuller account of the medieval library of Notre-Dame together with links to digital records of the complete manuscripts. It would be good to see something similar for the manuscripts that were once in Exeter Cathedral Library.
Vol. 1. Paris, c.1523-1525. BnF Manuscrits, Latin 1226 (1). Digitised on Gallica.
Vol. 2. Paris, c.1523-1525. BnF, Manuscrits, Latin 1226 (2). Digitised on Gallica.
In Renaissance style, this remarkable view of the west front of Notre-Dame serves to illustrate the consecration of a church. Originally written by Piccolomini in 1484, this French copy of the pontifical was decorated about 1523/5, probably by the Antwerp painter and illuminator Noel Bellemare who at that time occupied a house on the Notre-Dame bridge over the Seine.
3. Psalter, glossed. Paris, c.1140/1150. BnF, Manuscrits, Latin 17213. Digitised on Gallica.
With ex-libris of Notre-Dame: Istud psalterium est beate Marie Parisiensis. Quicumque illud celaverit vel cancellario Parisiensis non redidert vel istum titulum deleverit anathema sit. This psalter belongs to Notre-Dame de Paris. Whosoever hides it, does not return it to the Chancellor of Paris or destroys this item shall be put under a curse. The medieval manuscripts of Exeter Cathedral Library bear similar curses, some of them also in Old English to make sure there was no mistake.
Exeter History Book Festival
This all-day event took place on 1 February 2025 at the Mint Methodist Church Centre. Stalls from a dozen of Exeter’s leading heritage bodies explained how individuals could feed their curiosity about Exeter’s history and be personally involved in exploring the city’s past. There were 160 attenders (no attendees thankfully) and four excellent speakers, historians who had recently published books: Professor Mark Stoyle on the history of witchcraft, John Allan on the cloisters of the cathedral, Dr Richard Batten on the city during the Great War and Dr Todd Gray on the creation of the waterwog, Exeter’s version of the controversial golliwog. I managed to squeeze in with a stall packed with my publications over almost half a century, including a couple produced specially for the Festival. There was much interest, many questions, and some food for thought. Exeter's newly elected MP Steve Race attended part of the Festival during his busy schedule and received a copy of one of my publications. It was good to see so many organisations at work promoting the City's heritage.
The writing of local history: an experiment at Exeter
This is a reprint of paper read by Professor W. J. Harte at the annual meeting of the Historical Association held at Exeter, 3 — 6 January 1923. When Hazel Harvey retired as President of Exeter Civic Society in November 2024, after half a century of involvement in the Society, she handed me a 23-page typescript of Harte's lecture given to the Historical Association in 1923. Hazel or her late husband David must have received it through their links with the University, where both were lecturers. The author, W. J. Harte, was Professor of History at the University College of South West England.
Dr Julia Neville succeeded Hazel as President of Exeter Civic Society, so it is particularly appropriate that this document on Exeter’s historiography should emerge almost exactly a century after it was written. It is revealing to compare the range of resources available and the historians active in the 1920s to the situation in the 2020s. It also provides the opportunity to pay tribute to the half-century of dedication Professor Harte gave to the cause of local history in Exeter and the Westcountry. For this reason I dedicated this little booklet to him and also his successors Hazel Harvey and Dr Julia Neville. I will add a copy to the collections of papers that will be deposited in the Devon Heritage Centre and The Box in Plymouth. It was launched at the Exeter History Book Festival.
A little-known Devon bibliography
For most years between 1910 and 1946 Harry Tapley-Soper contributed to the Devonian yearbook a series of articles entitled "Some recent Devonian literature", a series which was supplemented in 1951 by W. J. Harte. He aimed to cover works about Devon or by Devonians, excluding works of fiction, but including poetry and drama. The publishers only allowed him limited space, sufficient for perhaps forty titles, but listing in all some 1,500 titles. I have transcribed these for the 1920s, about 325 titles, but hope to extend this to the whole period covered. It is interesting in giving the price of most of the titles, information that would have appeared on the missing stock cards. Once completed, they will be linked to the Devon bibliography, a Tapley-Soper reference being a helpful addition to the DUL (Devon union list) reference as a pre-BNB, pre-ISBN and post ESTC, USTC, STC or Wing control number.
The Exeter Plan 2021-2041
It is to be hoped that the Devon Heritage Centre obtains a copy of the plan and linked documents, although the time for making representations is past. Access to early maps was important for me in making nimby representations about land almost on my doorstep.
There is a large area of land fronting Matford Lane which was not shown as green space on the map and which completely surrounds a proposed site for residential development. Until the building of the temporary Matford Lane offices in the 1960s the entire area had been open space as far back as maps extend. From at least 1905 to the 1960s a public footpath passed diagonally across the site, directly through the site of the temporary offices. When demolition took place it was stated that the area would revert to green space. The footprint of the recently demolished Matford Lane huts is far smaller than the area proposed for residential development of 21 units which will encroach on existing green space with two listed mature trees. I therefore submitted copies of the relevant area of the Exeter plan map side by side with the site as it is. I also marked on the location of the two listed trees and footpaths, including the community paths through the woodlands and the former path from Matford Lane to Coaver to show that the entire green space has been enjoyed for many years by local residents. I also suggested an alternative site for at least 18 residential units on the County Hall estate.
Websites such as Know your place Devon, Open Street Map and the Devon public rights of way map are a great help in such research and it was interesting to receive a response asking whether my submission was made in a private capacity or as a representative of "Devon Library and Information Services" a body defunct for more than a decade.
A stake through the heart of a Devon vampire
Around Halloween 2024, a query arrived in Devon from the chairman of the Vampire Studies Association, safely located in Australia, remote from Transylvania and the Balkans where vampires chiefly manifest themselves. He was in search of a book on vampires written by Sabine Baring Gould (1834-1924). Sabine Baring-Gould is perhaps best remembered as a pioneering collector of the folk songs of Devon and Cornwall and as a hymn writer but his was a magpie mind, and his interests extended to folklore, legends and superstitions on which he published several books and many articles. In his preface to The book of were-wolves: being an account of a terrible superstition (1865), Sabine Baring-Gould wrote: “I propose making this the first of a series on Popular Superstitions, to be followed by Treatises on Marine Monsters, as Mermaids and Sea Serpents, Vampires, the Wild Huntsman, the Wandering Jew, &c.” Among SBG’s fiction there are at least four stories in the vampire genre: “The Valley of Shadows” (1863), renamed “Glámr” (1904); the novel Margery of Quether (1884); “A Professional Secret” (1904); and “A Dead Finger” (1904). The enquirer had pursued every avenue in quest of the vampire book, contacting several Baring-Gould experts and custodians of collections which contained Baring-Gouldiana but without success until he came upon The Baring-Gould Library: The Books at Lewtrenchard : a shelf list and guide (2022) which in turn led to Exeter Working Papers in Book History; 26: The library of Sabine Baring-Gould which revealed that there is in the Devon Heritage Centre in Exeter “The vampyre”, a handwritten draft of ten leaves on plain paper (DRO: 5203M/34), tentatively dated “1900?”. This had been missed because of the archaic spelling that had been used for the title. It was transcribed by Martin Graebe and is published as “Did Sabine Baring-Gould Write a Book about Vampires?” Journal of Vampire Studies, volume 4, (2024), pages 47-71. Appendices A-D “The Vampyre”, pages 112-140, contain the text, transcribed by Martin Graebe, with introduction and notes. So, Baring-Gould’s Book of vampires should cease to haunt us; it is not one of the bibliographical undead because it is one of the unborn, a bibliographical ghost laid to rest.
The New Cut, a missing terrace of houses in the heart of Exeter
Another query, this time from America, wanted a picture of the house "on this site" mentioned on the blue plaque in the Cathedral Close commemorating John Graves Simcoe, the first Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada, who died in Exeter in 1806. There are few prints or drawings of Exeter buildings that early, and it had been missed by Todd Gray in Exeter's lost buildings: destruction from 1800 to 1899 (2023). My first resort was the impressive model of Exeter within the walls as it was in the 1760s, made by Caleb Hedgeland between 1817 and 1824 which showed several houses leading up to the iron bridge constructed in 1814 to span the gap in the city wall made in 1763. There are none there now and none appear on maps as far back as 1835. Coldridge's massive map of 1819 in the Devon Heritage Centre shows several houses, but the footprint is difficult to reconcile with other, smaller-scale eighteenth-century plans. Work in progress, but there is an article with maps in the forthcoming issue of Devon and Cornwall notes and queries.
Hull History Centre
I welcomed the New Year in Beverley where the excellent Champney Treasure House, recently refurbished, was closed but visited Hull and its excellent series of museums and galleries, all open free of charge and warm in the chill limbo days between Christmas and New Year. I also visited the Hull History Centre and was stunned by the contrast with Exeter. The Public Library, Record Office and University combine to provide a seamless service both for local studies lending and reference, with two enquiry desks, each with two staff from different services in a modern building (about 2005, I think) located in the heart of the city with space for exhibitions, activities, talks, school and university groups. What a contrast with Exeter, isolated in an industrial estate by the motorway. And I did notice that, like Libraries Unlimited, they applied withdrawn stamps to the items they were selling. Perhaps some of Exeter's duplicates could be brought back to the heart of Exeter as some sort of pop-up Exeter Literary Heritage Centre rather then being sold off at auction. At least a reserve collection could go some way to secure the community's published heritage from the ravages of war, fire and flood that affected Hull, Plymouth and Exeter in the last century.
A collection of Exeter publications.
I have just been given access to a wide-ranging collection of books about Exeter and its region which has been given to Exeter Civic Society by a leading Exeter historian and have listed some 300 titles. These could form the basis of a public access local heritage reference collection in the heart of Exeter. I will complete the listing and match it against holdings in Exeter libraries. I have added a few items from my own collection to fill some gaps. Hopefully there will be sufficient interest to get something off the ground. Might a heritage lottery grant kick-start an Exeter Literary Heritage Centre? Perhaps unitary status and the presence of the UNESCO City of Literature will bring something for Exeter.
Wider perspectives
I said that, following events last year, I am turning away from the Devon bibliography to capturing other memories, and am embarking on a project to compare the 18th century book trades in Devon and the Westcountry with the provincial book trades in France and Germany. I have selected Basse-Normandie in France and Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach in Germany as regions to compare, picking up on long-standing links with both those places which have led me in search of seditious literature imported into France and gained me a record in the Stasi files on suspicion of importing seditious literature into the German Democratic Republic. Should be an interesting summer.
