Donated by the Society of Friends. Most items in the Quaker Collection are concerned either with the history, principles and precepts of the Society of Friends or with the lives of outstanding Quaker personalities. But the collection also includes books on Christian life and religious instruction – and a few biographies (such as Dorothy Ripley’s) - written from a general Protestant rather than specifically Quaker perspective. The Society of Friends did not produce their own translation of the Bible; they were content to use the Geneva and King James versions. The collection contains several books by non-Quakers on social issues with which the Society of Friends has long been involved – temperance, pacifism, the anti-slavery movement, a federation of nations. There are also a few works by non-Christian philosophers, such Marcus Aurelius and Rabindranath Tagore, whose overall outlook is not incompatible with Quakerism. |
