Wren Library, Trinity College

The Wren Library at Trinity College is one of the finest rooms in Cambridge — a long, galleried hall built by Christopher Wren between 1676 and 1695 and still used as a working library. The lower bookcases contain many of the library's most important manuscripts and printed books in open display cases: Newton's handwritten papers on calculus and gravity, a first edition of the Principia, manuscripts by Byron and Tennyson, Wittgenstein's annotated books, and medieval manuscripts including a 12th-century copy of the Epistles of St Paul.

The library is open to visitors Monday to Saturday 12–2pm during term time, and Saturday only in vacations. Admission is free but you must pass through Trinity's main court to reach it, which requires paying the college admission fee or holding a valid university card.

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The Wren Library holds Newton's own annotated copy of the Principia Mathematica, open to a page of calculations in his handwriting. It also holds Wittgenstein's copy of Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, Tennyson's notebook, and manuscripts by Byron, Milton, and Thackeray — all Trinity men. The library was Christopher Wren's first major commission after St Paul's Cathedral.

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