Provenance in books: recognising, reading and interpreting

Interest in historical book ownership has grown steadily in recent decades. We have become more aware of the cultural and research value of provenance evidence, which helps us understand not only what our documentary heritage comprises, but also what influence it may or may not have had. We can learn a lot from whole libraries and their patterns of ownership, or from marginalia in individual copies. Librarians record copy-specific markings more diligently, to meet the needs of researchers, while both collectors and dealers now often prefer annotated books to clean ones.

Provenance evidence takes many forms and the primary aim of this course is around developing a personal toolkit to identify and interpret it, as found in books before 1900. It will cover different manifestations of provenance – inscriptions, bookplates and book labels, armorials and other evidence from bindings – and include practical instruction on palaeography, heraldry and reference sources. With a focus on practical learning to take away, time will also be given to the theoretical and interpretative book historical context within which provenance evidence sits.

Learning about provenance needs hands-on experience, and a great benefit of this course is that it will be delivered at Shrewsbury School, with access to the historic Library there. This remarkable and rare survival of a historic school library contains over 8000 volumes, with a wide range of books from all periods, many in fine and unrestored condition. Course participants will have the opportunity to discover the riches of the collection as a whole, and of individual books. It builds on the success of a non-residential Rare Book School short course there in 2024; for 2025 the offer is being enhanced with the option to stay in School accommodation for the duration of the course.


LocationThe course is run in collaboration with Shrewsbury School and will be held at the School’s historic Taylor Library. This remarkable and rare survival of a historic school library contains over 8000 volumes, with a wide range of binding examples from all periods, many in fine and unspoilt condition; it was much used by the binding historian Basil Oldham as the base for his work.

Course participants will have the opportunity to discover the riches of this collection, whose books will be used to illustrate the teaching.

Directions on how to get to the school.  


Provisional Schedule

• Tuesday 1 April: 14.00-17.30
• Wednesday 2 April: 09.30-17.30 
• Thursday 3 April: 09.30-17.30 (dinner for all course attendees provided)
• Friday 4 April: 09.30-15.30  

The course will consist of thirteen classes of 90 minutes spread across the week. The final schedule will be confirmed shortly.

Course fees

Ticket Type	Course Fee
Standard- Non Residential	£650.00
Concession*- Non Residential	£500.00
Standard- Residential	£800.00
Concession*- Residential	£650.00

*student/unwaged

The course fee includes the provision of 4 lunches (Tuesday-Friday), refreshment breaks, and a dinner on the evening of Thursday 3 April. 


​Residential Option
If you opt to go for the residential ticket option, this will include: 

• 3-night stay (Tues-Thurs) - Bed & Breakfast and Dinner.

Dr David Pearson is a Distinguished Senior Fellow of the School of Advanced Study(Opens in new window), University of London. He retired from a long professional career in libraries and archives in 2017 and has since concentrated on work as a book historian. His English Bookbinding Styles 1450-1800 and other publications on binding and book ownership are well known as standard reference works in their fields. He has taught courses on bookbinding and book provenance for many years at the Rare Book Schools in London, Virginia and Sydney and is a regular tutor on the MA History of the Book programme in the Institute of English Studies. 

Bookings will close on the 23 March 2024.