Formed collections

Clifford collection

The Cliffords are one of the historic noble Roman Catholic families of England and members of it, of which Thomas of Cabal is best known, have distinguished themselves in political, ecclesiastical, scientific and literary circles. Other family members were lawyers, administrators, soldiers, sailors, architects, astronomers, travellers and Roman Catholic churchmen. The National Library acquired the library of the Clifford Family in 1963 and the collection is a fine example of an English country house library, assembled by several generations of the Clifford family of Ugbrooke Park, Devon.

The collection comprises more than 10,000 books, some 1,500 pamphlets and a small but interesting collection of manuscripts - reflecting the interests of the various family members: theology, English history and literature, law, science, philosophy, travel, art and architecture. A strength of the collection is the printed works from the 16th, 17th and 18th enturies, which include many rare items and there are splendid examples of early illuminated works amongst the manuscripts. 740 of the titles in the collection are listed in the Short Title Catalogue of Books Printed in Great Britain and Ireland, 1701-1800, in the Australian Capital Territory and these are especially concerned with the political, legal, economic and ecclesiastical sectors of English history.

The collection's religious material, particularly that on the special position of Catholics in England, is very extensive, and there are many tracts which constitute valuable sources for both English church history and political history. They document in detail the arguments for and against the removal of the various legal restrictions which were imposed on English Catholics for over two centuries and record the steps which culminated in the Catholics' eventual emancipation.

Books from the Clifford Collection are kept together in Rare Book Collection. Manuscript items are in the Manuscript Collection [MS 1097]. Access to the collection is available through the Petherick and Manuscript Reading Rooms.

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