The Parkes Library remains unique since it is the only collection devoted to the relationships between the Jewish and non-Jewish worlds.
Parkes Library
The Parkes Library has its origins in the working library of Reverend Dr James Parkes, who in 1929 began collecting books to support his research into the growing problem of anti-Semitism. Parkes maintained the collection as an independent library for many years until in 1964 it was transferred to the University of Southampton. Consisting of over 27,000 books and journals and ranging from early printed books to recent publications, it is unique in having as its focus the relationship between the Jewish and non-Jewish worlds.
The Library's strengths include the areas of Jewish history - ranging from broad chronological surveys to detailed studies of individual communities, Jewish-Christian relations throughout the centuries, the origins and development of anti-Semitism, the study of the Holocaust in all its aspects, the development of Zionism and the history of Jews and Judaism in Palestine from the earliest times to the period of the British Mandate.
