THE 60,000-volume library of Spurgeon’s College is among the many lots being sold by administrators, after the 169-year-old Baptist theological college in south London suddenly closed last month (News, 8 August).
A “sales teaser” from the administrators, BDO, offers viewers a “rare opportunity to preserve and proceed [Charles Spurgeon’s] legacy and the impact each he and Spurgeon’s had within the Baptist community and the broader world”.
The assets could also be sold individually, or as a set, including theological texts and mental property comprising five written theology programmes. The document describes the library as “the most effective collection of theological textbooks within the UK”.
Artefacts on the market include the trowel that Spurgeon used to put the faculty’s foundation stone in 1856. The closing date for offers is eighteen September, and the removal date is by 3 October.
Separately, on 25 September, Forum Auctions is auctioning the faculty’s antiquarian texts, including a Coverdale New Testament, dated 1539, with an estimate of £10,000 to £15,000.
The closure of Spurgeon’s follows warnings concerning the long-term viability of the theological-education sector (News, 2 August 2024). In 2019, St John’s College, Nottingham, closed. Its library was transferred to St Mellitus College, East Midlands (News, 6 December 2019).
scott.bebbington@bdo.co.uk
