Stained glass

In our latest post about the Collections in the University Library, Ilka Heale introduces a recently donated collection of books.

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After seven years of being cloaked in scaffolding, the fully restored stained glass in York Minster's Great East Window is now revealed. The preservation work involved dismantling the panels and cleaning each individual piece of glass and was done by York Glaziers Trust.

A restored panel from the East Window.
Photo by virtusincertus used under a
Creative Commons license.

It is the biggest medieval stained glass window in Europe, measuring 24 metres tall with 311 panes of stained glass. John Thornton, a glazier from Coventry, came to York to begin work on the window in 1405. He finished three years later, receiving a £10 bonus to his £56 fee for completing the work on time.

The University Library has recently added a collection of books to the catalogue about stained glass. Donated by Peter Gibson, York Glaziers Trust first secretary and superintendent. He supervised the preservation work on the Rose Window after the 1984 fire in the Minster's south transept.

Stained glass. Photograph by Paul Shields.

The collection covers books on stained glass techniques along with examples of stained glass and architecture. The books expand an already large collection of related books and images in the Library. For further details, please search for 'stained glass' in YorSearch (the Library catalogue) or search the shelves at LB 9.85.

The York Digital Library contains many images of stained glass, including a series of chromolithographs depicting windows from the Mariahilfkirche in Munich, on the theme of the life of the Virgin Mary.

Restoring stained glass. Photograph by Paul Shields.

Art from across the globe

As our Art literature collection continues to expand, Stephen Town adds a splash of diversity to the selection.

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This week's donations contain an eclectic mix
of art and illustration

I spent last weekend going through my late mother’s book collections. She would never have called it a library, but it was very substantial and varied, reflecting her interests, profession, causes and beliefs. It incorporated my late father’s collection and those of both their forbears, spanning nearly a century of commitment to Yorkshire education, a family tradition which of course I also continue until my retirement.

I have selected four items from her collection to add to my donations, all relating to the history of art. Most of her books will go to broader charitable causes, as she would have wished, and her almost complete set of twentieth century crime writing may well be available for purchase in a charity shop near you very soon.

Beach & Koch: King of the World: the Padshahnama

My mother loved India and continued to visit well past the time the rest of the family considered it safe and sensible. This large and beautifully illustrated book was published on the occasion of the exhibition of the Mughal manuscript from the Royal Library at Windsor Castle. The exhibition, organised by the Sackler Gallery, travelled across India, the UK and USA in 1997-98 and was part of the 5oth Anniversary celebrations of the independence of India and Pakistan. The book was the first time these illustrations had been published.

Neil MacGregor: Seeing salvation: images of Christ in Art

The Art section in our Library also has the National Gallery work arising from the millennial exhibition on which this book is based. But this work was produced by the BBC and accompanied a TV series shown in 2000, concentrating on the history of the artistic depiction of Christ. Parts of the holidays of my childhood were spent in galleries and churches across Europe, as a cultural alternative to walking and climbing. My mother had a strong faith, but as MacGregor suggests, these images can still speak powerfully to non-believers.

Pinkney: William Morris in Oxford

Like Morris, my mother was an Oxford student. Also like Morris, she was a strong believer in social justice, although in her later years this was expressed more through liberalism than socialism. This book focuses on Morris’ later life in Oxford, covering what the author describes as his campaigning years, as he took up architectural and social causes to transform the University and City.

Higgins & Robinson: William de Morgan

De Morgan was an arts and crafts potter, and a lifelong friend of William Morris. We already have a selection of works on De Morgan in the Library at LG 8.3, and this slim but copiously illustrated book will further enhance our collection. The pages contain some previously unillustrated designs for tiles, stained glass and pots, showing off his ‘fabulous animals, rich florals and flowing Persian curves’.