The Casimir Lewy Library is the library of the

Faculty of Philosophy A faculty is a division within a university or college comprising one subject area or a group of related subject areas, possibly also delimited by level (e.g. undergraduate). In North America, academic divisions are sometimes titled colleges, sc ...

at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

. The library is located in the Raised Faculty building on the

Sidgwick Site The Sidgwick Site is one of the largest sites within the University of Cambridge, England. Overview and history The Sidgwick Site is located on the western side of Cambridge city centre, near the Backs. The site is north of Sidgwick Avenue an ...

Sidgwick Avenue Sidgwick Avenue is a road located in western Cambridge, England.Sidgwick Avenue

History

The Moral Sciences (now Philosophy) Tripos was founded in 1861 at a time of rapid educational reform. Moral Sciences was interdisciplinary and included five subjects: moral philosophy, political economy, modern history, general jurisprudence and English law. In 1885, a small moral sciences (or moral science) library was created in one of the Literary lecture rooms in the Divinity School opposite St John's College. This was created by

Alfred Marshall Alfred Marshall (26 July 1842 – 13 July 1924) was an English economist and one of the most influential economists of his time. His book ''Principles of Economics (Marshall), Principles of Economics'' (1890) was the dominant economic textboo ...

and

Henry Sidgwick Henry Sidgwick (; 31 May 1838 – 28 August 1900) was an English Utilitarianism, utilitarian philosopher and economist and is best known in philosophy for his utilitarian treatise ''The Methods of Ethics''. His work in economics has also had a ...

largely through the donation of their own books for student use. The library was mainly intended to be for students who were reading for the Moral Sciences Tripos but it was also open to members of the University and to students of Girton and Newnham Colleges. Application for admission had to be made to the Porter. In 1910, the Arts School (University Lecture rooms) was built and provided accommodation for Moral Sciences and other departments. Marshall died in 1924 and the majority of his personal library of books was given to the economics library (now the

Marshall Library of Economics The Marshall Library of Economics is a library of the University of Cambridge, England. History The library is the outgrowth of a Moral Sciences Library begun in 1885 by Professor Alfred Marshall and Professor Henry Sidgwick, consisting largel ...

). In the 1920s, the Moral Sciences library was still located in the Arts School. The librarian at this time was Professor

William Ritchie Sorley William Ritchie Sorley, FBA (; 4 November 1855 – 28 July 1935), usually cited as W. R. Sorley, was a Scottish philosopher. A Gifford Lecturer, he was one of the British Idealist school of thinkers, with interests in ethics. He was opposed to w ...

and there were about 400 volumes on philosophy and psychology. From the 1930s to 1960s the Moral Sciences library was located in the

Old Schools The Old Schools are part of the University of Cambridge, in the centre of Cambridge, England. The Old Schools house the Cambridge University Offices, which form the main administration for the University. The building is Grade I listed.

, Trinity Lane.

Moral Sciences Club The Cambridge University Moral Sciences Club, founded in October 1878, is a philosophy discussion group that meets weekly at the University of Cambridge during term time. Speakers are invited to present a paper with a strict upper time limit of 4 ...

meetings were sometimes held there. In the 1950s the Sidgwick site was developed for the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences subjects. In 1960 the Raised Faculty Building, designed by Sir

Hugh Casson Sir Hugh Maxwell Casson (23 May 1910 – 15 August 1999) was a British architect, also active as an interior designer, an artist, and a writer and broadcaster on twentieth-century design. He was the director of architecture for the 1951 Fest ...

was opened. It housed the Faculties of English, Moral Sciences and Modern and Medieval Languages. The English and Moral Sciences libraries were co-located in the South Wing. In 1970 the Moral Sciences Tripos was renamed 'Philosophy'. Raised Faculty Building - Sidgwick Site - geograph

Raised Faculty Building - Sidgwick Site - geograph

In 1996 plans to refurbish the Raised Faculty Building began to take shape. After fundraising £6.5 million, the modernization and refurbishment of the Raised Faculty Building could finally go ahead. In January 2000, the English and Philosophy libraries moved into temporary accommodation. Several months later the two libraries moved back into the building and for the first time in 40 years they housed in separate buildings. The refurbished building was officially opened on 23 September 2000 by

Onora O'Neill Onora Sylvia O'Neill, Baroness O'Neill of Bengarve (born 23 August 1941) is a British philosopher and a crossbench member of the House of Lords. Early life and education Onora Sylvia O'Neill was born on 23 August 1941 in Aughafatten. The daug ...

. The newly refurbished Philosophy Library was renamed the Casimir Lewy Library and opened by Edward Craig on 23 September 2000.

Casimir Lewy Casimir Lewy (; ; 26 February 1919 – 8 February 1991) was a Polish philosopher of Jewish descent. He worked in philosophical logic but published scantly. He was an influential teacher; several of his students went on to be prominent philosoph ...

was a University Reader and Fellow of

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

who had been an inspirational teacher. Many of his former students made donations towards the refurbishment of the Library. It was located on the third floor of the Raised Faculty Building. In 2006, the Raised Faculty Building had a second phase of refurbishment. The English Faculty and library moved into new premises on the Sidgwick site and the Casimir Lewy Library moved to its present location on the second floor of the Raised Faculty Building and reopened in September 2006 On 1 August 2014 the Casimir Lewy Library became an affiliated library of the

University Library An academic library is a library that is attached to a higher education institution, which supports the curriculum and the research of the university faculty and students. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, there are an es ...

References

External links

Library website

Casimir Lewy Library Twitter

Casimir Lewy Library Facebook
{{Authority control Libraries of the University of Cambridge Institutions in the School of Arts and Humanities, University of Cambridge Libraries in Cambridge