User:Glanis/RGSTest/Full/L

The death of John Parkhurst, the Bishop of Norwich, in 1575 resulted in the founding of the school's chained library. In his will he gave "the most parte of all my Latten bookes whereof shall be made a catalogue as shortelie as I may God sendinge me lief", although obtaining these books was not without its difficulties. Initially the executors of his will used "all the cullerable shifts and practices" to prevent the books from moving to the school, to such an extent that the Mayor was forced to complain to the Lord High Treasurer, William Cecil, who summoned the executors to London. Upon a hearing with the executors the Lord Treasurer referred them to Sir Walter Mildmay who was Chancellor of the Exchequer at the time. He demanded that the executors give everything left in the Will to the school. Following the ruling, however, the books passed to Edmund Freke, the new Bishop of Norwich, who kept them for himself in his house. This continued until the school obtained letters from Her Majesty's Privy Council requiring the books be delivered. The books then finally arrived at the school a number of years late, although the Bishop kept a number of the best for himself. Since this date the library has been added to, most notably between 1600 and 1800. The library is housed within the Gallery (now the Headmaster's Study) in the Old Building, with the present bookcases dating from 1897. The oldest book within the library was printed in Venice around the year 1480, with the oldest English book printed in about 1500 bearing the imprint of Wynkyn de Worde. Today the library is one of the few remaining examples of a chained library located within a school.