THE University of York has acquired a notebook formerly belonging to a celebrated glass artist, which includes some of his techniques and recipes.

The notebook belonged to William Peckitt, who lived though the 1700s.

Peckitt, who was from York, went on to paint windows of multi-coloured light across the country.

Some of his work can been seen on either side of the south transept in the York Minster.

Sarah Brown, from the department of history of art at the university, said: “This extraordinary book contains Peckitt’s notes on what he was learning as a young artist.

“He writes about how to paint details, what colours should be used and how paints should be mixed.”

The university took the opportunity to save the book for the city following a sale at an auction over the summer.

The Terry Trust, the York Glaziers’ Trust and Friends of the Library and Archive supported it in doing so.

Conservation experts at the university’s Borthwick Institute for Archives will restore the 90 page, hand-stitched vellum notebook, before digitising its contents and making them freely available to the public.