The Royal Oak Foundation Presents: A Feast of Treasures and Curiosities- The Collections at Windsor Castle by the Librarian Emeritus of Windsor Castle.
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Oliver Everett
Librarian Emeritus, Royal Library, Windsor Castle
In addition to his British academic credentials from Cambridge University and the London School of Economics, Oliver Everett spent a year studying at Western Reserve Academy in Ohio and later attended Tufts University where he received an M.A. in International Relations.
While in America, he developed a great love of baseball and later formed a team at Windsor Castle.
He enjoyed a long career in British government service, including diplomatic postings in New Delhi and Madrid. He later served as Assistant Private Secretary to HRH The Prince of Wales and as Private Secretary to HRH the late Princess of Wales.
He assumed his position of Librarian, Windsor Castle and Assistant Keeper of the Queen’s Archives in 1985 and retired in 2002. He wrote the official Windsor Castle guidebook and contributed to several books on the Royal Collection.
He is now Librarian Emeritus, Windsor Castle and regularly lectures in the UK and around the world.
“A Feast of Treasures and Curiosities”: The Collections at Windsor Castle”
Windsor Castle is the oldest and largest continuously occupied castle in the world. It has been modified throughout its 900 year history to reflect the ambitions and styles of the monarchy, evolving from an impregnable fortress into a royal country residence. It is said to be the Queen’s favorite home; one she regularly uses for spectacular state occasions.
Housed within the walls of the Castle is the Royal Library, described as “a feast of treasures and curiosities.” The Library occupies three rooms, originally built for Queen Elizabeth I, King Henry VII and King Charles II.
It is more a remarkable museum of the British monarchy than a traditional library. The Library has one of the world’s finest collections of Old Master Drawings, including the largest group of drawings by Leonardo da Vinci, as well as fans, clocks, jewelry, miniatures, over 4,500 military maps and documents, and even the shirt in which King Charles I was executed.
Fine bindings, manuscripts and rare books include the Mainz Psalter, 1457; the Sobieski Book of Hours, 1420; and annotated copies of books by Sir Walter Scott and Benjamin Disraeli.
Oliver Everett, Librarian Emeritus for the Royal Library, Windsor Castle, will discuss many of these remarkable objects, some usually only seen by Her Majesty, her guests and visiting scholars.