Home > Stories > Rare Book Club: introducing the John Emmerson Collection

Rare Book Club: introducing the John Emmerson Collection

06 July 2023

Welcome to the Rare Book Club, a show-and-tell video series where we explore, inspect and marvel at some of the unique and extraordinary rare books in the Library’s collection.

Ranging from medieval manuscripts and early printed books, through to 20th century modernist literature and contemporary artists’ books, the Rare Books Collection is full of fascinating holdings just waiting to be shared.

In this episode, Anna Welch, Principal Librarian, History of the Book and Arts, gives us an introduction to the John Emmerson Collection – one of the world’s largest collections of rare British printed works. It features books and pamphlets from the 15th to 18th centuries, mostly produced in England, and was donated to the Library in 2015.

Watch the video above for a look at this significant collection, which was amassed over 40 years by the late John McLaren Emmerson QC (1938–2014), a bibliophile and brilliant scholar who had careers as both an Oxford physicist and a Melbourne barrister. 

About Rare Book Club

Welcome to the Rare Book Club, a show-and-tell video series where we explore, inspect and marvel at some of the unique and extraordinary rare books in the Library’s collection.

Ranging from medieval manuscripts and early printed books to 20th-century modernist literature and contemporary artist books, the Rare Books Collection is full of fascinating holdings just waiting to be shared.

Watch other episodes

More to explore