Magdalene College Libraries

10/10/2025

Listen to the latest episodes of Nicky Campbell on BBC Sounds.

11/08/2025

"‘A Disastrous Expedition’: I.A. Richards Caught Climbing the Roofs of Magdalene College". Check out our new article about the fabled practice of night climbing in Cambridge. Image ©Master and Fellows of Magdalene College Cambridge.

02/07/2025

Followers of Magdalene College Libraries may be interested in the following online event hosted by Professor Kate Loveman of the University of Leicester:

Find out how Pepys kept his secret diary and have a go at reading the shorthand he wrote it in for yourself!

16/05/2025

For mental health awareness week, we asked you which books you go to for comfort to help to make it through, and you came up with some cracking suggestions. These are all well worth a read (and several rereads after that!) In the midst of your revision this term, don’t forget to take care of yourself and your friends.

What’s your comfort read? Let us know in the comments!

14/05/2025

200 years ago today, Pepys’ Diary was first sent to print in two volumes priced at six guineas each, soon becoming a vital source for studying the Restoration period and a hallmark of British history. In celebration of this bicentennial, let’s take a look at the strange and remarkable history of this diary.
Did you know that efforts to have the diary published were far from easy? Firstly, the diary was composed in shorthand, the transcription of which was more like translation, as Kate Loveman notes in her recent work, ‘The Strange History of Samuel Pepys’s Diary’. This was especially true in certain cases where Pepys’s intentions were subtly encoded in his writing and easily missed. Secondly, the diary was frequently lewd and faced censorship for obscenity. Lastly, the diary is comprised of over 1 million words, spanning 3100 pages and meriting six volumes for the complete works. Thus, the abridged first edition required editing out around three quarters of the total.
Loveman also recalls the strangeness pointed out by Leigh Hunt in 1841, that a diary of such personal and sometimes scandalous information was written at all and so meticulously; stranger still that it be freely donated to his College where it contents were at risk of discovery.
Ultimately, we can only be grateful for this strange series of events. Almost 400 years after its composition, Pepys’s diary still fascinates and delights its readers for its passages on the plague, the Great Fire of London, and the scandals of the court of King Charles II.

07/05/2025

To mark the beginning of the Papal conclave, here are a few details from 'Nuova et esatta pianta del conclave..' published by Giovanni Giacomo de Rossi. It dates from 1691, and appears in Samuel Pepys's 'Stampe di Roma' print albums.

The print depicts the ceremonies associated with the death of Alexander VIII (Pietro Vito Ottoboni) and the conclave to elect the new Pope Innocent XII (Antonio Pignatelli) in 1691. In this instance, the conclave took five months to elect a new Pope - it concluded in the July of that year, when the cardinals were starting to suffer from the summer heat.

This print has been used to illustrate many other conclaves in the 17th century, with the images being 'recycled' and the names of the Popes replaced each time. These conclave prints were popular tourist souvenirs.

Alt Text:
Image 1: A black and white engraving of St Peter's Basilica, the Vatican, with angels above and lettering below.
Image 2: Two images of the cardinals processing for the start of the conclave and greeting the new Pope.
Image 3: An image of the whole print, in black and white, depicting a plan of the Vatican, St. Peter's Basilica, and scenes from the ceremonies associated with the death of Alexander VIII and the election of Pope Innocent XII at the edges.

07/03/2025

A new blog post for International Women's Day, featuring a book from the Old Library which was written, printed, and owned by three different women across three centuries.

Old Library H.20.178. Bathurst, Elizabeth: Truth Vindicated… London: Mary Hinde, 1773. For International Women’s Day 2025, we are showcasing a book with a unique trail of female authorship, p…

21/01/2025

New blog post: The Pontifex Collection, featuring first editions of Charles Dickens:

We are pleased to announce that the cataloguing of the Pontifex collection has been completed, and the book titles are now available to view on the University of Cambridge’s online library catalogu…

19/12/2024

New blog post about former Pepys Librarian Richard Ladborough, by our Graduate Trainee Librarian Connor Johnston:

Richard – or as he was usually known, Dick – Ladborough was a Fellow of French Literature and Pepys Librarian here at Magdalene for the greater part of the 20th Century. He passed away in 1972, lea…

04/12/2024

If you happen to be in Paris in the next few months, check out the Ribera exhibition at the Petit Palais - where a reproduction of the Pepys Library's huge Map of Rome dating from 1625 is being displayed.

Plongez dans l’univers de Ribera avec l’ « Ribera, Ténèbres et Lumière » au !
Parmi les œuvres présentées, ne manquez pas « Lamentation sur le Christ mort » (1618-1623)
👼

✝️ Cette toile met en scène les trois figures les plus proches de Jésus : la Vierge Marie, à l'élégant manteau bleu, Marie Madeleine avec sa chevelure flamboyante, et saint Jean, le disciple bien-aimé. Ensemble, ils entourent le corps du Christ, tout juste décroché de la Croix. Le drap d’un blanc éclatant illumine la lividité du cadavre, créant un contraste saisissant avec le fond sombre.

👀 Un détail captivant : observez bien le cœur des plis du drap, juste à gauche de la signature, où un œil sévère semble nous fixer. Est-ce l’œil du diable qui s'insinue dans la composition ou celui de l’artiste, ajoutant une touche malicieuse à sa signature ? Une œuvre qui interroge et fascine, à découvrir sans tarder !

📆 Jusqu’au 23 février 2025
💳 Réservez dès maintenant : https://www.billetterie-parismusees.paris.fr/selection/timeslotpass?productId=10229256548412>mStepTracking=true

Jusepe de Ribera, Lamentation sur le Christ mort, 1618-1623. The National Gallery, Londres © The National Gallery, London.