Nicholas Ferrar (1592-1637). Painting by the circle of Cornelius Janssen, 1617.
Welcome
Welcome to our information page bringing together current scholarship on Magdalene College Old Library’s Ferrar Collection, the ‘Ferrar Forum’. The Forum is an outcome of Magdalene College’s 2016 conference, ‘Ferrars of Little Gidding‘.
The Ferrar Collection
The Ferrar collection of papers and prints came to the College via Martha Peckard, nee Ferrar, married to Peter Peckard (Master of Magdalene 1781-1797). It is through this connection that the papers and prints of the Ferrar family, Martha’s ancestors, came to be left to Magdalene. The collection includes 17th and 18th century documents of the Virginia Company; private correspondence of the Ferrar Family (the family associated with Little Gidding, the religious community founded by Nicholas Ferrar the Younger in 1628)l and an exceptionally interesting array of prints mostly on religious topics.
Online Forum
If you wish to discuss particular aspects of the Ferrar Collection with other scholars, please use our ‘Ferrar Forum’ below.
Collaborative Handlist
Our annual internships at Magdalene College Old Library in 2018-2019 will be focused on compiling a collaborative ‘Google Doc’ handlist of the Ferrar Papers – an informative, user-friendly online document giving information about the individual papers in the collection. It is available for researchers to search and record further information and bibliography about each paper, and further scholarly collaboration.
Below is a series of links to our collaborative handlist (viewing only). If you would like to apply to add further information to the handlist, please email the Deputy Librarian (Pepys Library and Special Collections) to set you up with the correct access.
Ferrar Papers 101-200 (including 295 & 296)
Ferrar Papers 301-400 (including 272 & 273)
There is also a quick-reference guide to the principal Ferrar family members available to download, entitled the Ferrar Papers table of names .
The collaborative handlist was completed by our 2018 and 2019 Old Library Interns, Charlotte Westdijk and Mhairi Rutherford. It is hoped that a similar handlist about the Ferrar Prints will follow in due course.