Editing St Botolph's Church, Boston (section)

==Library==

As a centre of learning, St Botolph's has a library that is located above the porch. The height of this above ground level is perhaps to protect the precious books contained within from flooding, an event that was frequent when the church was originally built.

The library was re-founded in 1634, as a result of the metropolitical <!-- What? -->visitation the previous year. The books from that period were mostly donated, with donors' names recorded on the fly leaf. A later 17th-century vicar left his books to the library, about doubling its size. The bookshelves date from 1766. Indications from the book bindings show the library was not chained, although some books have been held in chained libraries. Catalogues were produced before the Archdeacon got rid of numerous books in 1819.

By 1950 this collection had more than 1,500 volumes. The majority of books (about 1,200) date to the 17th century, but about 150 books were printed before 1600, and there are a small number of [[Incunable|incunabula]] dating from 1501 or earlier. Many of these books are believed to be a gift of [[Anthony Tuckney]] (1599–1670), who was vicar when the library was first established.

The most notable titles are a 12th-century manuscript, [[Augustine of Hippo|St Augustine's]] ''Commentary on Genesis'', and a 1542 edition of the works of [[Geoffrey Chaucer]]. Religious books from the time of the early printing press include the [[Book of Common Prayer (1549)|''Book of Common Prayer'' from 1549]], and also a collection of books by Dutch philosopher and theologian [[Desiderius Erasmus|Erasmus]], published from 1545 to 1548.

Many sermons were recorded and are held by the library. Some considered to be of political and religious importance were given by preacher [[Robert Sanderson (theologian)|Robert Sanderson]], a royalist during the English Civil War. At one point, he served as the personal chaplain to King [[Charles I of England|Charles I]]. Such preachers who combined religion with politics, provided a unique viewpoint into the Royalist mindset.

Although the parish records from before 1900 were moved to Lincoln in 1988 for safe keeping, the parish library remains one of the ten biggest in England today. A dedicated cataloguer has been hired, and the library is being recorded and restored.