Search for Medley's books moves slowly: library director aims to reconstruct collection.An effort to reconstruct the late Bishop John Medley's library is moving slowly, with just 100 of 3,000 books recovered, said Eric Swanick, director of the New Brunswick New Brunswick, province, Canada New Brunswick, province (2001 pop. 729,498), 28,345 sq mi (73,433 sq km), including 519 sq mi (1,345 sq km) of water surface, E Canada. Legislative Library in Fredericton, who is leading the project. In June 1999, Mr. Swanick appealed to readers of the Anglican Journal, via a letter to the editor, to search for Bishop Medley's books or, at least, communicate their whereabouts. "Bishop Medley med·ley n. pl. med·leys 1. An often jumbled assortment; a mixture: "That night he dreamed he was traveling in a foreign country, only it seemed to be a medley of all the countries he'd ever been to and , bishop of Fredericton from 1845 to 1892, possessed one of the most important private libraries of 19th century New Brunswick," Mr. Swanick wrote. His collection included books on theology, literature, travel, music and architecture, in several languages. It was one of the most extensive collections of the time for the area. Bishop Medley died in 1892 at the age of 88. In 1904, his widow distributed his books to the six deaneries that then made up the diocese, said Mr. Swanick. She attached bookplates that read: "From the library of the late Most Rev. John Medley John Medley, (19 December 1804 – 9 September 1892), was a Church of England clergyman was educated at Oxford and became bishop of Fredericton in 1845. Prior to arriving in Canada to take up his post in Fredericton, Medley was an active priest in England. , D.D., Bishop of Fredericton and Metropolitan of Canada. Presented to ... By Mrs. Medley." Since 1997, when the project began under the auspices of the Diocese of Fredericton's archives, Mr. Swanick has spoken to provincial historical societies and spread the word through local radio and newspapers. However, it is likely, he said, that the books are widely scattered. "Some of his family went back to England, so it's likely some of the books could be there," he said. After Mr. Swanick's letter to the Journal, he received a call from a man in Florida who said that when he was a student at King's College King's College, former name of Columbia Univ. in Halifax, he had seen some Bishop Medley books at book auctions. The largest number were acquired when the St. Andrew's deanery sold a clergy residence and about 80 Medley books were found in the attic In the Attic can refer to:
When asked if he is disappointed that the search seems to be going so slowly, Mr. Swanick pointed out that "it is a century later." Another difficulty, he noted, is that libraries, naturally, don't catalogue books by bookplate bookplate, label pasted in a book to indicate ownership, also called ex libris [Lat.,=from the books of]. The bookplate is usually of paper on which heraldic or other designs are engraved or printed. The earliest printed bookplates date from c.1480 in Germany. . "People probably just walked off with a lot of them," he said. Contact Eric Swanick at swanick@gov.nb.ca or by phone during business hours BUSINESS HOURS. The time of the day during which business is transacted. In respect to the time of presentment and demand of bills and notes, business hours generally range through the whole day down to the hours of rest in the evening, except when the paper is payable it a bank or by a at (506) 453-2338. |
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