威尔士大学兰彼得学院的宝藏

An ancient book held within the Founders’ Library of the University of Wales Lampeter collections has been short listed in a British Library competition.

The British Library “Hidden Treasures Brought to Life” is a competition to locate unique items hidden amongst the collections of public libraries.  The entry submitted by Ceredigion Public Libraries, with the support and assistance of the University of Wales Lampeter as partner, has now been chosen as one of four entries put forward within Wales.  In total more than 80 entries were received from across the UK.

The short listed entry is Fischbuch, a German translation of Conrad Gesner’s (1516-1565) Historia Animalium Book 4.  Gesner's Historiae Animalium, which began to appear in 1551, was the first book since the time of Aristotle systematically to survey different types of animals, birds and fishes and it was also one of the first illustrated books on zoology.  Fischbuch describes all the different types of fish in the sea and elsewhere.

Fischbuch is an appropriate choice for a county with strong maritime traditions such as Ceredigion. The dramatic woodcut illustrations of the Fischbuch vividly document sixteenth-century notions of marine life and also convey a strong sense of contemporary human engagement with the sea. The Lampeter edition was published in Zurich by Christoffel Froschower in 1575, and is the only copy of this edition in Britain.

One winner from each region of the UK will have their nominated treasure digitised and converted into a 'virtual text' to be hosted online by the British Library, a prize worth £10 000. The winner for each region will be announced by the culture minister Margaret Hodge at a special ceremony at the British Library on 4 September 2007. 

Further details of the competition and the full short list is available at www.bl.uk/about/cooperation/workpublib.html.  Further details of the unique collections in the Founders’ Library at the University of Wales Lampeter, including other illustrated books on the natural world, are provided at www.lamp.ac.uk/founders_library/.

Notes for Editors:

Ceredigion Public Libraries work closely with the University of Wales Lampeter, the partner in this nomination, particularly through the Linc y Canolbarth consortium of libraries in mid Wales. The Linc y Canolbarth will be used to help promote this treasure if digitised, and access will be available through the websites of Linc y Canolbarth and member institutions. The University of Wales Lampeter has a very active programme of widening access, through close contacts with local schools and through its summer university. The digitised Treasure will be used to develop specific activities with local schools and with the summer university, both to explore the rich educational content of Gesner's volume and also to increase awareness among local schools and community groups of the importance and interest of the Founders Library at the University of Lampeter. As part of this programme, the University of Wales Lampeter will arrange a small public exhibition on the life and works of Gesner, which will incorporate the 'Turning the Pages' display. The availability of the treasure will also be publicised through other groups such as CYMAL and the Archives and Records Council of Wales, who will be encouraged to make use of the treasure in their educational activities.