York Minster Library

Library catalogue (printed books)

• Printed books, journals, and other material, are discoverable using the University of York catalogue and applying the filter for “York Minster Library” to your results
• By using YorSearch “Advanced search”, you can narrow your searches based on subjects, genres, or provenance (names of previous book owners)

Archives catalogue (documents and records)

• Use the Minster’s own online catalogue if you are looking for manuscripts, unpublished or original records relating to the Chapter of York and York Minster, or object collections  
• We may recommend that you book an appointment to consult some of our paper or card catalogues that have not yet been added to the online catalogue

Ask Collections staff via our email (collections@yorkminster.org) for further help if you can’t find what you are looking for

Visiting information

• We can be found in Dean's Park by York Minster (search for UK postcode YO1 7JQ): we are sometimes known as the “Old Palace” in tourist information
• If you are visiting, please use the intercom to the left of the door to gain access as the main door will be locked 
• You do not need a membership or an appointment to browse and use items in our public reference or loanable collections
• You can use our Reading Room as a quiet study space without membership or an appointment
• To borrow books, you will need to be a member of the University of York library (student, staff, or external), or join us directly for a £30.00 annual fee 
• To see material that is from the Archives or Library “Special Collections”, you will need to make an appointment

Making an appointment

• Email us (collections@yorkminster.org) and let us know when you wish to visit
• You should give a weeks' notice when booking material from Archives, and it is advisable to contact Archives with a general enquiry before considering a booking
• 24 hours' notice is usually sufficient for Library appointments, though larger requests require more time to retrieve and prepare

Facilities

• The Reading Room, Lower Hall and Hailstone Wing are all publically accessible; access to the older, historic library is not usually possible
• Wheelchair accessibility: the front door and the ground floor rooms are not accessible (steps). For wheelchair access, please ring the bell at the front door and staff will direct you to the rear access door. Wheelchair users will be able to access the Reading Room via a lift, but will need staff to retrieve items from other rooms in the building
• All visitors to the building must comply with basic collection and Reading Room security regulations, such as leaving coats and bags in lockers: these will be made available through booking communication or by front desk staff
• There are no eating areas in the building: bottled drinks can be consumed in the reception area if they are put away in lockers during the visit

Reading Room

• Non-bookable study space for around 16 people is available, however, visitors with appointments are given priority desk space
• Eduroam (wifi) is available in the Reading Room: this can be used by members of participating universities (including University of York)

Copying

• Copying of items is permitted with the purchase of a photography day permit (£10.00 per visit), subject to conditions of access, condition and any data protection issues
• No self-service photocopying or electronic scanning is available: there is a staff-mediated charged service (minimum £3.00 cost) for any copying request by this method
• Remote copying orders and prices quoted by contacting collections@yorkminster.org
• There are no University of York copying or IT facilities available in the building

Borrowing

• Members of the public can borrow books from the Minster Library for an annual fee of £30.00
• York residents may gain Minster Library borrowing rights for free via the University of York Community Membership scheme

University of York students can borrow books and access resources free of charge due to an agreement between the University and York Minster. You can also use the book delivery service to have borrowable items delivered to other University libraries for collection.

Nearly 30,000 books printed after 1850 are available for loan to University and fee-paying members, with particular strengths in:

• Medieval and Reformation histories
• Church, art and architectural histories
• Material for stained glass studies
• Early-modern literature
• Early 20th-century ethnography and folklore studies
• History of education and schools

Over 90,000 titles of printed books, of which around 32,000 were printed before 1851:

• 120 books printed before 1501 (known as incunables), the oldest from the 1470s
• early modern English and Continental printed works from the sixteenth- and seventeenth-centuries, many with original bindings
• a strong collection of Bibles, pre- and post-Reformation prayer books, and numerous works on church history, liturgy and reformation theology
• Civil War tracts: over 800 examples of printed pamphlets, books, and newspapers, printed mainly in London and York between 1640 and c1660
• atlases and regional map books
• significant titles in the history of science, medicine and natural history
• Some rare early printed music, including a unique printed works and compositions by Minster organists
• thousands of items relating to Yorkshire history, topography, people, society, culture and literature, mainly from the late 17th to the early 20th century, centred on the huge assembly of books and documents from the Hailstone Collection, donated in 1890
• York printing: including author and annotated copies, sales catalogues, scarce or unique copies of locally printed material, and ephemera including election squibs, chapbooks and theatre playbills (advertising performances on the Tate Wilkinson and Yorkshire theatre circuit, c1730s to c1840s)
• Newspapers: single issues, special editions / supplements, or longer runs of over 80 titles printed between 1719 and the present day, mostly 18th and 19th century
• books from British private presses of the late-19th and early 20th-century, as well as limited editions and fine bindings
• Around 1,200 items deposited from nearly 60 parish libraries, including many significant Reformation-damaged books
  

Note: around 450 pre-1801 Minster books are temporarily stored with the University of York Rare Books collection - you can view these on campus (look for "Minster Collection (in Rare Books Collection)" in catalogue record)

Archives

An overview of the archival collections here can be found via The National Archives. Much of our collection of archives and artefacts is searchable via a separate online catalogue. If you are able to visit but unable to find what you are looking for in the catalogue, please let us know (collections@yorkminster.org) and we may recommend that you book an appointment to consult some of our paper catalogues that have not been added to the online catalogue yet.

Reference books

The Reading Room (first floor) contains:

• Crockford’s Clerical Directories and clerical guides (1817-2015)
• Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (2004 edition)
• Heraldry, armorials, ecclesiastical heraldry, peerage, seals
• Sources of English history, English Historical Documents (c500-1874)
• Handbooks of dates
• Clergy - offices held 1066-1857 (Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae) and alumni lists
• Biographical dictionaries - British architects, organists, Grove’s music & musicians (1995 edition), authors, Latin writers
• Manuscript catalogues, indexes, bibliographies (local, national and international historical collections), including Ker, Medieval Manuscripts and Medieval Libraries
• Printed book and library catalogues, indexes, bibliographies (local, national and international historical collections), including Wing/STC, Franks on bookplates, Oldham on binding
• Raine’s first printed catalogue of York Minster Library (1896)
• Hailstone library catalogue (ms, 1902)
• Bible bibliographies
• Copies of Torre manuscripts (originals held in York Minster Archives)
• Copies of Cathedral fabric rolls (originals held in York Minster Archives)
• Green photography collection (stained glass, monuments, excavations)
• Prints (topographical, portrait) catalogues
• Seals catalogue
• YAYAS Evelyn collection catalogue
• Hailstone archive catalogue, n.d.(ms)
• Specialist sections on York Minster and York-related publications:
  • Friends of York Minster Annual Reports (1929 to present)
  • Stained glass
  • York Minster architecture, sculpture and church design, engravings and illustrations (19th century)
  • York Minster monuments and remembrance engravings
  • York Minster fabric, Fabric Roll transcriptions, restoration
  • Facsimiles of Drake’s Eboracum and the York Gospels
  • York Minster Library and Archives music and printed manuscript catalogues
  • York printing
  • Handbooks, guides and histories of City of York and York Minster
  • Birth, marriage, death registers for York Minster
  • York excavation reports and archaeology
  • York Minster Library and Archives music and printed manuscript catalogues
  • Victoria County History of Yorkshire
  • City of York social and cultural histories
  • RCHM (Royal Commission Historic Monuments) for City of York
  • York Archaeological Society Record Series, including Early Charters
  • York Historian (journal)
  • Borthwick Institute (York) publications

The Hailstone Wing (ground floor) contains:

• Various Public Record Office papers (e.g. state papers, charter rolls, close rolls, fine rolls, patent rolls), Parliamentary Debates, Pipe Roll Society, Rolls Series
• Serial titles, including:
  • Corpus Christianorum
  • Early English Text Society, Surtees Society, Camden Society, Canterbury and York Society, Harleian Society, Henry Bradshaw Society, Lincoln Record Society, Oxford Historical Society, Royal Historical Society Transactions, Selden Society, Surtees Society, Thoresby Society
  • Pipe Roll Society, Rolls Series, Public Record Office (e.g. state papers, charter rolls, close rolls, fine rolls, patent rolls), Parliamentary Debates
  • Church of England Record Society
  • Yorkshire Parish Registers (printed, not original)