The Library at Charlecote is a collection of books that was slowly accumulated from the Sixteenth century. The 1681 catalogue already recorded 1400 volumes. It was a serious library with little light reading until the 19th Century. The library also grew by acquiring other libraries. Women often had their own libraries and when Colonel George Lucy married the two Bohun cousins (not at the same time) they both brought their own libraries with them. Reverend William Lucy who succeeded Colonel George brought his library which included a lot of theology books. Batchelor George Lucy enlarged the library because he bought books by subscription. When he died he was unmarried so Charlecote passed to his cousin John Hammond who brought his family library with him. This was a large library as his father (also John Hammond) was an excessive collector of books (ref. Summerson). Many of the early books got sold later during hard times. The Victorian Couple, George Hammond Lucy and Mary Elizabeth, set about restoring the library to its former glory by buying back some missing copies of books and also rebinding and restoring many of the old books. Most of the books they bought were supplied by a London dealer called William Pickering of Chancery Lane who supplied the sort of books that would suit a Gentleman’s library. Many of these were bought for show and remain unread which was certainly not the case with the early Lucy books. In the late 19th Century during the Agricultural depression a lot of really valuable books were sold
(Henry Summerson The Lucys of Charlecote and their Library National Trust Studies 1979 pp 149-59)

These are the books that afre in the library and that we can choose from for the book talks.

Len Mullenger 2020