Each year CPS members visit a different location of scientific interest on visits across the University of Cambridge and to other sites of scientific interest across the UK.

CPS members enjoyed a guided tour of the Parker Library at Corpus Christi College and were hosted by Donnelley Fellow Librarian Professor Philippa Hoskin and Parker Sub-Librarian Tuija Ainonen. Members were shown a number of items, including Alchemical Tracts, a book in Latin that dates from around 1400-1499. Another of item of great interest an astrolabe (CCCC SP.25(5)), used for astronomical calculations and navigation from an early printed book which dates from a sixteenth-century text on using an astrolabe. All the manuscripts are digitised and available to view on Parker on the Web.

The Parker Library is the College’s greatest national heritage treasure. It is internationally renowned for its important collection of medieval and renaissance manuscripts (including a substantial proportion of all extant Anglo-Saxon manuscripts), as well as valuable holdings of early printed books. It is one of the most significant surviving renaissance libraries in Europe. The collection, largely established by Matthew Parker (1504 -75) (Archbishop of ​Canterbury and Master of the College) in the late sixteenth century, includes such magnificent books as the sixth-century Gospels of Augustine, the earliest copy of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle which was carried by the Master of Corpus, Professor Christopher Kelly, at the King’s Coronation in 2024, the Bury Bible and the autograph copy of Matthew Paris’ Chronica majora. The College makes these treasures available through a programme of loans to exhibitions in museums and libraries around the world.

As a benefit of membership of the CPS, members take part in free visits throughout the year to various science related locations across the UK. To join the Cambridge Philosophical Society visit our membership page here

Photo: Parker Sub-Librarian Tuija Ainonen with CPS members viewing Alchemical Tracts, a book in Latin that dates from around 1400-1499.

Photo: An Astrolabe (CCCC SP.25(5)), used for astronomical calculations and navigation.