The present Library, begun after the foundation of the Abbey
as a collegiate church in 1560, has been housed in part of the
former monastic dormitory since 1591. In 1623 Dean John Williams
furnished the library with book presses (at his own expense) and
with some 2,000 volumes. Thereafter the collections grew by gift,
bequest and purchase throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries. The Library now holds around 14,000 pre-1801 printed
books, about 60 manuscripts (mostly medieval) and a collection of
printed and manuscript music. In addition there is an extensive
collection of printed books and articles on the history of
Westminster Abbey, St Margaret’s Church, coronations and related
topics.
For a more detailed account of the Library and its holdings
see A Directory of Rare Book and Special Collections in the
United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, edited B.C.
Bloomfield, 2nd edition (London: Library Association Publishing:
1997). The following publications deal with particular aspects of
the Library’s collections:
J. Armitage Robinson and Montague Rhodes James, The
Manuscripts of Westminster Abbey (Cambridge University Press:
1909)
N.R. Ker, Medieval manuscripts in British Libraries, vol.I
(Oxford, 1969)
N.R. Ker, Medieval Libraries of Great Britain: a list of
surviving books, 2nd edition (London: Royal Historical Society:
1964) [Supplement, ed. Andrew G. Watson, 1987]
Howard M. Nixon, British Bookbindings presented by Kenneth H.
Oldaker to the Chapter Library of Westminster Abbey (London:
Maggs Bros : 1982)