From its beginning the Whitby Literary and Philosophical Society has had a Library. Initially this was intended to comprise "a few books containing descriptions or illustrations of Fossils, Shells, and other things comprised in the Collection", and was primarily for the use of the curators, but throughout the nineteenth century it grew steadily as the result of gifts and bequests from members. In 1854, for instance, it acquired 23 volumes of the Numismatic Society and in 1873 the library of the late Mr Henry Belcher (a founder member). In 1887 it received the portraits and books from the dissolved Whitby Institute, and in 1935 the Society was allowed to select some 300 volumes from the closing Whitby Subscription Library (with which it had shared a building since 1826), largely on local history, shipping, travel and natural history, together with the minute and cash books of the Subscription Library. In 1899 a 49 pp octave "List of Books, Pamphlets and Manuscripts in the Whitby Museum" was published, to which a 7 page appendix was added in 1908.

• History and archaeology of Whitby and surrounding areas (mostly within 10 mile radius)
• People and buildings of the town of Whitby (from about 1600 to 1900)
• Maritime history (ships and ship-building, shipping, fishing, and its people)
• Geology (especially relating to the areas significant discoveries of its Jurassic fossils)
• Literature (novels and poetry written in and about Whitby) and biographies
• Industrial heritage (from Alum to Potash)
• Farms and farming (including enclosures and commons)
• Natural history

The Library also contains several series of archaeological journals, and a set of the local newspaper (the Whitby Gazette, founded 1854). In addition, the Library shares with the Museum collections of 2000 local maps, numerous prints and drawings, and 15,000 photographs extending over a century and ranging from those of the internationally famous Frank Meadow Sutcliffe and Tom Watson of Lythe in the later nineteenth century, through the Doran Brothers, to Hugh Lambert Smith.

The Library and Archives are open for research to members of the public, as well as members of the Society (who have the privilege of borrowing some of the books). The collection may be consulted during library opening hours.

There is a catalogue of the books and many of the documents. We have received funding from the National Lottery to catalogue these on an on-line database. The archives have been catalogued partially and this information is available through the Access to Archives database via the National Archives online. The book cataloguing is still in progress.

		Venerable Bede's "Ecclesiastical History" 1566 edition
Venerable Bede "Ecclesiastical History"		Gerard's "Herbal" - 1597 edition

Sheffield, John "Works of John Sheffield, Duke of Buckingham" - 1723

Goldsmith, Oliver "History of the Earth" (8 vols.) - 1774

Richards, William "Monasteries of Yorkshire" - 1843

Wyatt, Digby "Illustrations of the Great Exhibition of Industrial Arts" - 1851

Frontispiece and Picture from Digby, Illustrations of the Great Exhibition

Parkinson, James "Organic Remains of a Former World", 1804, 4 vols.

Phillips, John "Illustrations of Geology of Yorkshire", 1829

Young, Rev. George "A Geological Survey of the Yorkshire Coast" 1828
Simpson, Martin "A Monograph of the Ammonites of the Yorkshire Lias" - 1843

Simpson, Martin "The Fossils of the Yorkshire Lias" - 1855

Relating to Captain James Cook
Journals of HMS Endeavour (1768 - 1771) & HMS Resolution (1772 - 5);
Captain Cook's Second Voyage; Captain Cook's Third Voyage 1790;
Captain Cook's Voyage around the World 1790;
Captain Cook's Voyages around the World with Memoirs of his Life and Death.
Captain Cook's "Troisieme Journey" 1776 - 9 [undated, plates only]
Facsimile of Captain Cook's letters to Captain John Walker of Whitby, 1771 & 1775, with transcriptions.
Charts and Views of Captain Cook's Voyages, 3 vols.
Full set of Yale University Publications of Captain Cook's Voyages (Hakluyt Society)

Journals
Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological Society 1839 - Present
Yorkshire Archaeological Journal 1870 - Present
Yorkshire Archaeological Society, Record Series
Archaeological Journal 1882 - 1913
Antiquity 1927 - 1947
E Riding Antiquarian Society 1893 - 1923
Archaeologia Aeliana (Newcastle Archaeological Society) 1922 - 1950
Surtees Society publications 1835 - 1989
Mariner's Mirrors