English conceptualisations of ‘public’ libraries, c. 1690s–1710s

Shamgunova, Nailya (2025) English conceptualisations of ‘public’ libraries, c. 1690s–1710s. Cultural and Social History, 22 (5). pp. 607-633. ISSN 1478-0038

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Abstract

This paper examines the transcultural aspects of English conceptualisations of ‘public’ libraries in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. The article employs keyword-based approach. It discusses a proposal for a public library in New York by John Sharpe, the significance of holistic and connected approaches to the Bray library projects and the discourses surrounding libraries in early modern published travel accounts included by Bray in his suggested library curriculum. The article is informed by and contributes to literatures on the global dimension of the history of early modern Anglicanism and the role of libraries in early modern English travel and encounter narratives. Not only can the ‘global’ help us understand early modern English ideas of the ‘public library’, but ‘public libraries’ can help us rethink some of the ways in which England engaged with the ‘globe’.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	Funding: UKRI Project Reference Number UKRI (MR/W009609/1); UK Research and Innovation.
Uncontrolled Keywords:	early modern,john sharpe,libraries,thomas bray,travel,cultural studies,history,sociology and political science ,/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/3300/3316
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Arts and Humanities > School of Literature, Drama and Creative Writing
Related URLs:	http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?...
Depositing User:	LivePure Connector
Date Deposited:	14 Nov 2025 14:30
Last Modified:	10 Dec 2025 00:59
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/100975
DOI:	10.1080/14780038.2025.2567102

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