Bodleian Library
Encyclopedia
The Bodleian Library the main research library
of the University of Oxford
, is one of the oldest libraries in Europe, and in Britain is second in size only to the British Library
. Known to Oxford scholars as "Bodley" or simply "the Bod", under the Legal Deposit Libraries Act 2003
it is one of six legal deposit
libraries for works published in the United Kingdom and under Irish Law it is entitled to request a copy of each book published in the Republic of Ireland. Though University members may borrow some books from dependent libraries (such as the Radcliffe Science Library
), the Bodleian operates principally as a reference library
and in general documents may not be removed from the reading rooms.
Today, the Bodleian also includes several off-site storage areas as well as many other libraries in central Oxford:
. The English text of the declaration is as follows:
This is a translation of the traditional Latin oath (the original version of which did not forbid tobacco smoking, though libraries were then unheated because fires were so hazardous).
. This small collection of chained books
was situated above the north side of the University Church of St Mary the Virgin
on the High Street. This collection continued to grow steadily, but when, between 1435 and 1437 Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester
(brother of Henry V of England
), donated a great collection of manuscripts, the space was deemed insufficient and a larger building was required. A suitable room was finally built above the Divinity School
, and completed in 1488. This room continues to be known as Duke Humfrey’s Library.
(a former fellow of Merton College
) wrote to the Vice Chancellor of the University offering to support the development of the library: "where there hath bin hertofore a publike library in Oxford: which you know is apparent by the rome it self remayning, and by your statute records I will take the charge and cost upon me, to reduce it again to his former use." Duke Humfrey’s Library was refitted, and Bodley donated a number of his own books to furnish it. The library was formally re-opened on 8 November 1602 under the name “Bodleian Library” (officially Bodley's Library).
Bodley’s collecting interests were varied; according to the library's historian Ian Philip, as early as June 1603 he was attempting to source manuscripts from Turkey, and it was during “the same year that the first Chinese book was acquired.” In 1610, Bodley made an agreement with the Stationers' Company
in London to put a copy of every book registered with them in the library. The Bodleian collection grew so fast that the building was expanded between 1610–1612, (known as the Arts End) and again in 1634–1637. When John Selden
died in 1654, he left the Bodleian his large collection of books and manuscripts. The later addition to Duke Humfrey’s Library continues to be known as the "Selden End".
: Doric
, Tuscan
, Ionic
, Corinthian
and Composite
.
The three wings of the quadrangle have three floors: rooms on the ground and upper floors of the quadrangle (excluding Duke Humfrey’s library, above the Divinity School) were originally used as lecture space and an art gallery. The lecture rooms are still indicated by the inscriptions over the doors (see illustration). As the library’s collections expanded, these rooms were gradually taken over. One of the schools is now used to host exhibitions of the library’s treasures, whilst the others are used as offices and meeting rooms for the library administrators.
and the Royal Library were the most extensive book collections in England and Wales.
The astronomer Thomas Hornsby
observed the transit of Venus
from the tower of the five orders in 1769.
. In 1861, the library’s medical and scientific collections were transferred to the Radcliffe Science Library
, which had been built farther north next to the University Museum
.
was designed by Nicholas Hawksmoor
and was built between 1711 and 1715, originally to house the printing presses of the Oxford University Press
. It was vacated by the Press in the early nineteenth century, and used by the university for administrative purposes. In 1975 it was handed over to the Bodleian Library, and now provides office and meeting space for senior members of staff.
(now superseded by the Legal Deposit Libraries Act 2003
) continued the Stationers' agreement by making the Bodleian one of the six (at that time) libraries covering legal deposit
in the United Kingdom
where a copy of each book copyrighted must be deposited.
Between 1909 and 1912, an underground bookstack was constructed beneath the Radcliffe Camera
and Radcliffe Square
. In 1914, the total number of books in the library’s collections breached the 1 million mark. By the 1920s, the Library needed further expansion space, and in 1937 building work began on the New Bodleian building, opposite the Clarendon Building
on the north-east corner of Broad Street.
The New Bodleian was designed by architect Sir Giles Gilbert Scott. Construction was completed in 1940. The building was of an innovative ziggurat design, with 60% of the bookstack below ground level. A tunnel under Broad Street connects the Old and New Bodleian buildings, and contains a pedestrian walkway, a mechanical book conveyor and a pneumatic Lamson tube system which was used for book orders until an electronic automated stack request system was introduced in 2002. The Lamson tube system was used by readers requesting manuscripts to be delivered to Duke Humfrey’s Library until it was turned off in July 2009. In 2010, it was announced that the conveyor, which has been transporting books under Broad Street since the 1940s would be shut down and dismantled. The shutdown date is 20 August 2010. The New Bodleian closed on 29 July 2011.
). The continued growth of the library has resulted in a severe shortage of storage space. Over 1.5 million items are currently stored in locations outside Oxford, including a disused salt mine
in Cheshire
. In 2007 and 2008, in an effort to obtain better and more capacious storage facilities for the library’s collections, Oxford University Library Services (OULS) tried to obtain planning permission to build a new book depository on the Osney
Mead site, to the south west of Oxford
city centre. However, this application was unsuccessful and the new Book Storage Facility was instead constructed at a site on the outskirts of Swindon
. This Book Storage Facility, which cost £26 million, opened in October 2010 and has 153 miles (246 kilometres) of shelving, including 3,224 bays with 95,000 shelf levels, and 600 map cabinets to hold 1.2 million maps and other items.
There are also plans to remodel the New Bodleian building, to provide improved storage facilities for rare and fragile material, as well as better facilities for readers and visitors. In March 2010 the group of libraries known collectively as "Oxford University Library Services" was renamed "The Bodleian Libraries", thus allowing those Oxford members outside the Bodleian to acquire the gloss of the Bodleian brand, albeit with some loss of their own identities in an Oxford in which the Bodleian has sometimes been seen as overshadowing other important libraries within the University.
copies have been made of many of the most fragile items in the library's collection, and these are substituted for the originals whenever possible. The library has a close relationship with the Oxford Digital Library, which is in the process of digitising some of the many rare and unusual items in the University's collection.
Individual manuscripts
Individual printed books
, was selected by Bodley in 1599, and the university confirmed James in his post in 1602. Bodley wanted his librarian to be "some one that is noted and knowen for a diligent Student, and in all his conuersation to be trustie, actiue, and discreete, a graduat also and a Linguist, not encombred with mariage, nor with a benefice of Cure", although James was able to persuade Bodley to let him get married and to become Rector of St Aldate's Church
, Oxford.
In all, 24 people have served as Bodley's Librarian; their levels of diligence have varied over the years. Thomas Lockey
(1660–1665) was regarded as not fit for the post, John Hudson (1701–1719) has been described as "negligent if not incapable", and John Price
(1768–1813) was accused by a contemporary scholar of "a regular and constant neglect of his duty". The current Librarian, Sarah Thomas
, was appointed in 2007; she is the first woman to hold the position, and the second Librarian (after her predecessor, Reginald Carr
) also to be Director of Oxford University Library Services. Thomas, an American, is also the first foreign librarian to run the Bodleian.
The Bodleian is used as background scenery in Dorothy L. Sayers
Gaudy Night
, features in Michael White
's Equinox, and is one of the libraries consulted by Christine Greenaway (one of Bodley's librarians) in Colin Dexter
's Inspector Morse
novel The Wench is Dead. The denouement of Michael Innes's Operation Pax (1951) is set in an imaginary version of the underground bookstack, reached at night by sliding down the 'Mendip cleft', a chute concealed in Radcliffe Square
.
Since J.R.R. Tolkien had studied philology at Oxford and eventually became a professor, he was very familiar with the Red Book of Hergest
which is kept at the Bodleian on behalf of Jesus College
. Tolkien later created his own fictional Red Book of Westmarch
telling the story of The Lord of the Rings
. Many of Tolkien's manuscripts are now at the library.
Historian and novelist Deborah Harkness
, set much of the early part of her 2011 novel, A Discovery of Witches, in the Bodleian, particularly the Seldon End. The novel also features one of the library's Ashmolean manuscripts (Ashmole 782) as a central element of the book.
Location filming
The Library's fine architecture has made it a favourite location for filmmakers, representing either Oxford University or other locations. It can be seen in Brideshead Revisited
(1981 TV serial), Another Country (1984), The Madness of King George III (1994), and the first two Harry Potter
films, in which the Divinity School doubles as the Hogwarts
hospital wing and Duke Humfrey's Library as the Hogwarts library. In The New World (2005), the library edifice is portrayed as the entrance to the Royal Court of the English monarchy. The Bodleian also featured in the Inspector Morse televised spin off Lewis, in the episode "And the Moonbeams Kiss the Sea", where a murder takes place in the basement.
Quotation
Also, the first few words of the Latin
version of the reader's promise seen above (Do fidem me nullum librum vel) can be found on the linguist's hat in the 1996 miniseries Gulliver's Travels
.
Research library
A research library is a library which contains an in-depth collection of material on one or several subjects . A research library will generally include primary sources as well as secondary sources...
of the University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
, is one of the oldest libraries in Europe, and in Britain is second in size only to the British Library
British Library
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom, and is the world's largest library in terms of total number of items. The library is a major research library, holding over 150 million items from every country in the world, in virtually all known languages and in many formats,...
. Known to Oxford scholars as "Bodley" or simply "the Bod", under the Legal Deposit Libraries Act 2003
Legal Deposit Libraries Act 2003
The Legal Deposit Libraries Act 2003 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which regulates the legal deposit of publications in the United Kingdom. It was a private member's bill which was passed to update the legislation on legal deposit to reflect the digital age.The previous...
it is one of six legal deposit
Legal deposit
Legal deposit is a legal requirement that a person or group submit copies of their publications to a repository, usually a library. The requirement is mostly limited to books and periodicals. The number of copies varies and can range from one to 19 . Typically, the national library is one of the...
libraries for works published in the United Kingdom and under Irish Law it is entitled to request a copy of each book published in the Republic of Ireland. Though University members may borrow some books from dependent libraries (such as the Radcliffe Science Library
Radcliffe Science Library
The Radcliffe Science Library is the main teaching and research science library at the University of Oxford, England.Being officially part of the Bodleian Library, although with a completely separate building, the library holds the Legal Deposit material for the sciences and is thus entitled to...
), the Bodleian operates principally as a reference library
Reference library
A reference library does not lend books and other items; instead, they must be read at the library itself. Typically such libraries are used for research purposes, for example at a university. See List of closed stack libraries...
and in general documents may not be removed from the reading rooms.
Sites and regulations
The Library occupies a group of five buildings near Broad Street: these range in date from the late medieval Duke Humfrey's Library to the New Bodleian of the 1930s. Since the 19th century a number of underground stores have been built below parts of these.Today, the Bodleian also includes several off-site storage areas as well as many other libraries in central Oxford:
- Alexander Library of Ornithology
- Bodleian Chinese Studies Library
- Bodleian Education Library
- Bodleian Health Care Libraries
- Bodleian Japanese Library
- Bodleian Latin American Centre Library
- Bodleian Law LibraryBodleian Law LibraryThe Bodleian Law Library is an academic library in Oxford, England. It is part of Oxford University, the Bodleian Libraries and is also the library of the Faculty of Law. It is situated in the Grade II-listed St Cross Building on St Cross Road in Holywell.It is one of the largest open-access law...
- Bodleian Library of Commonwealth and African Studies at Rhodes HouseRhodes HouseRhodes House is part of the University of Oxford in England. It is located on the south of South Parks Road in central Oxford, and was built in memory of Cecil Rhodes, an alumnus of the university and a major benefactor.- History :...
- Bodleian Music Faculty Library
- Bodleian Oriental Institute Library
- Bodleian Philosophy FacultyFaculty of Philosophy, University of OxfordThe Faculty of Philosophy, University of Oxford, was founded in 2001. Previously it was a sub-faculty of the Faculty of Literae Humaniores . Despite this, the teaching of philosophy at Oxford dates back to mediaeval times, while the faculty can boast 150 fulltime philosophers, building on the...
Library - Bodleian Social Science Library
- Bodleian Theology Faculty Library
- English Faculty Library
- History FacultyFaculty of History, University of OxfordThe Faculty of History at the University of Oxford organises the teaching and research of history in the University. Medieval and Modern History has been taught at Oxford for longer than at nearly any other University. The first Regius Professor of Modern History was appointed in 1724. It is part...
Library - Radcliffe Science LibraryRadcliffe Science LibraryThe Radcliffe Science Library is the main teaching and research science library at the University of Oxford, England.Being officially part of the Bodleian Library, although with a completely separate building, the library holds the Legal Deposit material for the sciences and is thus entitled to...
- Rewley HouseRewley HouseRewley House, located on the corner of Wellington Square and St John Street in the city of Oxford, England, is the primary base of Oxford University's Department for Continuing Education....
Continuing Education Library - Sackler LibrarySackler LibraryThe Sackler Library holds a large portion of the classical, art historical, and archaeological works belonging to the University of Oxford, England.- History :...
- Sainsbury Library at the Saïd Business SchoolSaïd Business SchoolSaïd Business School is the business school of the University of Oxford in England, located on the north side of Frideswide Square on the former site of Oxford Rewley Road railway station. It is the University's centre of learning for graduate and undergraduate students in business, management...
- Sherardian Library of Plant Taxonomy
- Social and Cultural Anthropology Library
- Taylor InstitutionTaylor InstitutionThe Taylor Institution comprises the buildings in Oxford which harbour the libraries dedicated to the study of the European Languages at Oxford University. It also includes lecture rooms used by the Faculty of Medieval and Modern Languages, University of Oxford...
Main Library - Taylor Institution Modern Languages Faculty Library
- Taylor Bodleian Slavonic and Modern Greek Library
- Vere Harmsworth LibraryVere Harmsworth LibraryThe Vere Harmsworth Library is a dependent library of the Bodleian Library at the University of Oxford. It is the university's principal research library for the study of US history and politics and is housed on the upper floors of the Rothermere American Institute, located on South Parks Road in...
(Rothermere American InstituteRothermere American InstituteThe Rothermere American Institute is an institution at the University of Oxford dedicated to the interdisciplinary and comparative study of the USA. It was opened in May 2001 by US President Bill Clinton and hosts regular conferences, lectures and seminars, particularly in the fields of American...
) - Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine Library
Admission
Before being granted access to the library, new readers are required to agree to a formal declaration. This declaration was traditionally oral, but is now usually made by signing a letter to the same effect — ceremonies in which readers recite the declaration are still performed for those who wish to take them, these occur primarily at the start of the University's Michaelmas termMichaelmas term
Michaelmas term is the first academic term of the academic years of the following British and Irish universities:*University of Cambridge*University of Oxford*University of St...
. The English text of the declaration is as follows:
- I hereby undertake not to remove from the Library, nor to mark, deface, or injure in any way, any volume, document or other object belonging to it or in its custody; not to bring into the Library, or kindle therein, any fire or flame, and not to smoke in the Library; and I promise to obey all rules of the Library.
This is a translation of the traditional Latin oath (the original version of which did not forbid tobacco smoking, though libraries were then unheated because fires were so hazardous).
14th and 15th centuries
Whilst the Bodleian Library, in its current incarnation, has a continuous history dating back to 1602, its roots date back even further. The first purpose-built library known to have existed in Oxford was founded in the fourteenth century by Thomas Cobham, Bishop of WorcesterBishop of Worcester
The Bishop of Worcester is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Worcester in the Province of Canterbury, England. He is the head of the Diocese of Worcester in the Province of Canterbury...
. This small collection of chained books
Chained library
A chained library is a library where the books are attached to their bookcase by a chain, which is sufficiently long to allow the books to be taken from their shelves and read, but not removed from the library itself...
was situated above the north side of the University Church of St Mary the Virgin
University Church of St Mary the Virgin
The University Church of St Mary the Virgin is the largest of Oxford's parish churches and the centre from which the University of Oxford grew...
on the High Street. This collection continued to grow steadily, but when, between 1435 and 1437 Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester
Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester
Humphrey of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Gloucester, 1st Earl of Pembroke, KG , also known as Humphrey Plantagenet, was "son, brother and uncle of kings", being the fourth and youngest son of king Henry IV of England by his first wife, Mary de Bohun, brother to king Henry V of England, and uncle to the...
(brother of Henry V of England
Henry V of England
Henry V was King of England from 1413 until his death at the age of 35 in 1422. He was the second monarch belonging to the House of Lancaster....
), donated a great collection of manuscripts, the space was deemed insufficient and a larger building was required. A suitable room was finally built above the Divinity School
Divinity School, Oxford
The Divinity School is a medieval building and room in the Perpendicular style in Oxford, England, part of the University of Oxford. Built 1427–83, it is the oldest surviving purpose-built building for university use, specifically for lectures and discussions on theology...
, and completed in 1488. This room continues to be known as Duke Humfrey’s Library.
Sir Thomas Bodley and the re-founding of the University Library
The late sixteenth century saw the library go through a period of decline (to the extent that the library’s furniture was sold, and only three of the original books belonging to Duke Humfrey remained in the collection). It was not until 1598 that the library began to thrive once more, when Thomas BodleyThomas Bodley
Sir Thomas Bodley was an English diplomat and scholar, founder of the Bodleian Library, Oxford.-Biography:...
(a former fellow of Merton College
Merton College, Oxford
Merton College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 1260s when Walter de Merton, chancellor to Henry III and later to Edward I, first drew up statutes for an independent academic community and established endowments to...
) wrote to the Vice Chancellor of the University offering to support the development of the library: "where there hath bin hertofore a publike library in Oxford: which you know is apparent by the rome it self remayning, and by your statute records I will take the charge and cost upon me, to reduce it again to his former use." Duke Humfrey’s Library was refitted, and Bodley donated a number of his own books to furnish it. The library was formally re-opened on 8 November 1602 under the name “Bodleian Library” (officially Bodley's Library).
Bodley’s collecting interests were varied; according to the library's historian Ian Philip, as early as June 1603 he was attempting to source manuscripts from Turkey, and it was during “the same year that the first Chinese book was acquired.” In 1610, Bodley made an agreement with the Stationers' Company
Worshipful Company of Stationers and Newspaper Makers
The Worshipful Company of Stationers and Newspaper Makers is one of the Livery Companies of the City of London. The Stationers' Company was founded in 1403; it received a Royal Charter in 1557...
in London to put a copy of every book registered with them in the library. The Bodleian collection grew so fast that the building was expanded between 1610–1612, (known as the Arts End) and again in 1634–1637. When John Selden
John Selden
John Selden was an English jurist and a scholar of England's ancient laws and constitution and scholar of Jewish law...
died in 1654, he left the Bodleian his large collection of books and manuscripts. The later addition to Duke Humfrey’s Library continues to be known as the "Selden End".
Schools Quadrangle and Tower of the Five Orders
By the time of Bodley’s death in 1612, further expansion to the library was being planned. The Schools Quadrangle (sometimes referred to as the "Old Schools Quadrangle", or the "Old Library") was built between 1613 and 1619 by adding three wings to the Proscholium and Arts End. Its tower forms the main entrance to the library, and is known as the Tower of the Five Orders. The Tower is so named because it is ornamented, in ascending order, with the columns of each of the five orders of classical architectureClassical architecture
Classical architecture is a mode of architecture employing vocabulary derived in part from the Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, enriched by classicizing architectural practice in Europe since the Renaissance...
: Doric
Doric order
The Doric order was one of the three orders or organizational systems of ancient Greek or classical architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian.-History:...
, Tuscan
Tuscan order
Among canon of classical orders of classical architecture, the Tuscan order's place is due to the influence of the Italian Sebastiano Serlio, who meticulously described the five orders including a "Tuscan order", "the solidest and least ornate", in his fourth book of Regole generalii di...
, Ionic
Ionic order
The Ionic order forms one of the three orders or organizational systems of classical architecture, the other two canonic orders being the Doric and the Corinthian...
, Corinthian
Corinthian order
The Corinthian order is one of the three principal classical orders of ancient Greek and Roman architecture. The other two are the Doric and Ionic. When classical architecture was revived during the Renaissance, two more orders were added to the canon, the Tuscan order and the Composite order...
and Composite
Composite order
The composite order is a mixed order, combining the volutes of the Ionic order capital with the acanthus leaves of the Corinthian order. The composite order volutes are larger, however, and the composite order also has echinus molding with egg-and-dart ornamentation between the volutes...
.
The three wings of the quadrangle have three floors: rooms on the ground and upper floors of the quadrangle (excluding Duke Humfrey’s library, above the Divinity School) were originally used as lecture space and an art gallery. The lecture rooms are still indicated by the inscriptions over the doors (see illustration). As the library’s collections expanded, these rooms were gradually taken over. One of the schools is now used to host exhibitions of the library’s treasures, whilst the others are used as offices and meeting rooms for the library administrators.
Later 17th and 18th centuries
The agreement with the Stationers' Company meant that the growth of stock was constant and there were also a number of large bequests and acquisitions for other reasons. Until the establishment of the British Museum in 1753 the Bodleian was effectively the national library of England. By then the Bodleian, Cambridge University LibraryCambridge University Library
The Cambridge University Library is the centrally-administered library of Cambridge University in England. It comprises five separate libraries:* the University Library main building * the Medical Library...
and the Royal Library were the most extensive book collections in England and Wales.
The astronomer Thomas Hornsby
Thomas Hornsby
Thomas Hornsby FRS was a British astronomer and mathematician.Hornsby became a Fellow of Corpus Christi College, Oxford in 1760....
observed the transit of Venus
Transit of Venus
A transit of Venus across the Sun takes place when the planet Venus passes directly between the Sun and Earth, becoming visible against the solar disk. During a transit, Venus can be seen from Earth as a small black disk moving across the face of the Sun...
from the tower of the five orders in 1769.
Radcliffe Camera
By the late 18th century, further growth of the library demanded more expansion space. In 1860, the library was allowed to take over the adjacent building, known as the Radcliffe CameraRadcliffe Camera
The Radcliffe Camera is a building in Oxford, England, designed by James Gibbs in the English Palladian style and built in 1737–1749 to house the Radcliffe Science Library.-History:...
. In 1861, the library’s medical and scientific collections were transferred to the Radcliffe Science Library
Radcliffe Science Library
The Radcliffe Science Library is the main teaching and research science library at the University of Oxford, England.Being officially part of the Bodleian Library, although with a completely separate building, the library holds the Legal Deposit material for the sciences and is thus entitled to...
, which had been built farther north next to the University Museum
Oxford University Museum of Natural History
The Oxford University Museum of Natural History, sometimes known simply as the Oxford University Museum, is a museum displaying many of the University of Oxford's natural history specimens, located on Parks Road in Oxford, England. It also contains a lecture theatre which is used by the...
.
Clarendon Building
The Clarendon BuildingClarendon Building
The Clarendon Building is a landmark Grade I listed building in Oxford, England, owned by the University of Oxford. It was built between 1711 and 1715 to house the Oxford University Press. It stands in the centre of the city in Broad Street, near the Bodleian Library and the Sheldonian Theatre...
was designed by Nicholas Hawksmoor
Nicholas Hawksmoor
Nicholas Hawksmoor was a British architect born in Nottinghamshire, probably in East Drayton.-Life:Hawksmoor was born in Nottinghamshire in 1661, into a yeoman farming family, almost certainly in East Drayton, Nottinghamshire. On his death he was to leave property at nearby Ragnall, Dunham and a...
and was built between 1711 and 1715, originally to house the printing presses of the Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press is the largest university press in the world. It is a department of the University of Oxford and is governed by a group of 15 academics appointed by the Vice-Chancellor known as the Delegates of the Press. They are headed by the Secretary to the Delegates, who serves as...
. It was vacated by the Press in the early nineteenth century, and used by the university for administrative purposes. In 1975 it was handed over to the Bodleian Library, and now provides office and meeting space for senior members of staff.
Twentieth century and after
In 1911, the Copyright ActCopyright Act 1911
The Copyright Act 1911, also known as the Imperial Copyright Act of 1911, is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which received Royal Assent on 16 December 1911. The act established copyright law in the UK and the British Empire...
(now superseded by the Legal Deposit Libraries Act 2003
Legal Deposit Libraries Act 2003
The Legal Deposit Libraries Act 2003 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which regulates the legal deposit of publications in the United Kingdom. It was a private member's bill which was passed to update the legislation on legal deposit to reflect the digital age.The previous...
) continued the Stationers' agreement by making the Bodleian one of the six (at that time) libraries covering legal deposit
Legal deposit
Legal deposit is a legal requirement that a person or group submit copies of their publications to a repository, usually a library. The requirement is mostly limited to books and periodicals. The number of copies varies and can range from one to 19 . Typically, the national library is one of the...
in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....
where a copy of each book copyrighted must be deposited.
Between 1909 and 1912, an underground bookstack was constructed beneath the Radcliffe Camera
Radcliffe Camera
The Radcliffe Camera is a building in Oxford, England, designed by James Gibbs in the English Palladian style and built in 1737–1749 to house the Radcliffe Science Library.-History:...
and Radcliffe Square
Radcliffe Square
Radcliffe Square is a square in central Oxford, England. It is completely surrounded by historic Oxford University and college buildings. The square is cobbled, laid to grass surrounded by railings in the centre, and is pedestrianised except for access....
. In 1914, the total number of books in the library’s collections breached the 1 million mark. By the 1920s, the Library needed further expansion space, and in 1937 building work began on the New Bodleian building, opposite the Clarendon Building
Clarendon Building
The Clarendon Building is a landmark Grade I listed building in Oxford, England, owned by the University of Oxford. It was built between 1711 and 1715 to house the Oxford University Press. It stands in the centre of the city in Broad Street, near the Bodleian Library and the Sheldonian Theatre...
on the north-east corner of Broad Street.
The New Bodleian was designed by architect Sir Giles Gilbert Scott. Construction was completed in 1940. The building was of an innovative ziggurat design, with 60% of the bookstack below ground level. A tunnel under Broad Street connects the Old and New Bodleian buildings, and contains a pedestrian walkway, a mechanical book conveyor and a pneumatic Lamson tube system which was used for book orders until an electronic automated stack request system was introduced in 2002. The Lamson tube system was used by readers requesting manuscripts to be delivered to Duke Humfrey’s Library until it was turned off in July 2009. In 2010, it was announced that the conveyor, which has been transporting books under Broad Street since the 1940s would be shut down and dismantled. The shutdown date is 20 August 2010. The New Bodleian closed on 29 July 2011.
Present and future of the libraries
The Bodleian Group now cares for some 11 million items on 117 miles of shelving, and has a staff of over 400. It is the second largest library in the UK (behind the British LibraryBritish Library
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom, and is the world's largest library in terms of total number of items. The library is a major research library, holding over 150 million items from every country in the world, in virtually all known languages and in many formats,...
). The continued growth of the library has resulted in a severe shortage of storage space. Over 1.5 million items are currently stored in locations outside Oxford, including a disused salt mine
Salt mine
A salt mine is a mining operation involved in the extraction of rock salt or halite from evaporite deposits.-Occurrence:Areas known for their salt mines include Kilroot near Carrickfergus, Northern Ireland ; Khewra and Warcha in Pakistan; Tuzla in Bosnia; Wieliczka and Bochnia in Poland A salt mine...
in Cheshire
Cheshire
Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...
. In 2007 and 2008, in an effort to obtain better and more capacious storage facilities for the library’s collections, Oxford University Library Services (OULS) tried to obtain planning permission to build a new book depository on the Osney
Osney
Osney, Osney Island, or Osney Town is a riverside community in the west of the city of Oxford, England. It is located off the Botley Road, just west of the city's main railway station, on an island surrounded by the River Thames, known in Oxford as the Isis. Osney is part of the city council ward...
Mead site, to the south west of Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
city centre. However, this application was unsuccessful and the new Book Storage Facility was instead constructed at a site on the outskirts of Swindon
Swindon
Swindon is a large town within the borough of Swindon and ceremonial county of Wiltshire, in South West England. It is midway between Bristol, west and Reading, east. London is east...
. This Book Storage Facility, which cost £26 million, opened in October 2010 and has 153 miles (246 kilometres) of shelving, including 3,224 bays with 95,000 shelf levels, and 600 map cabinets to hold 1.2 million maps and other items.
There are also plans to remodel the New Bodleian building, to provide improved storage facilities for rare and fragile material, as well as better facilities for readers and visitors. In March 2010 the group of libraries known collectively as "Oxford University Library Services" was renamed "The Bodleian Libraries", thus allowing those Oxford members outside the Bodleian to acquire the gloss of the Bodleian brand, albeit with some loss of their own identities in an Oxford in which the Bodleian has sometimes been seen as overshadowing other important libraries within the University.
Copyright and preservation of material
The library operates a strict policy on copyright. Until fairly recently, personal photocopying of library material was not permitted, as there was concern that copying and excessive handling would result in damage. However individuals may now copy most material produced after 1900, and a staff-mediated service is provided for certain types of material dated between 1801 and 1900. Handheld scanners and digital cameras are also permitted for use on most post-1900 publications and digital cameras may also be used, with permission, with older material. The Library will supply digital scans of most pre-1801 material. MicroformMicroform
Microforms are any forms, either films or paper, containing microreproductions of documents for transmission, storage, reading, and printing. Microform images are commonly reduced to about one twenty-fifth of the original document size...
copies have been made of many of the most fragile items in the library's collection, and these are substituted for the originals whenever possible. The library has a close relationship with the Oxford Digital Library, which is in the process of digitising some of the many rare and unusual items in the University's collection.
Treasures of the library
Manuscript collections- The Ashmole Manuscripts (including the Ashmole BestiaryAshmole BestiaryThe Ashmole Bestiary is a late 12th or early 13th century English illuminated manuscript Bestiary containing a creation story and detailed allegorical descriptions of over 100 animals...
), collected by Elias AshmoleElias AshmoleElias Ashmole was a celebrated English antiquary, politician, officer of arms, astrologer and student of alchemy. Ashmole supported the royalist side during the English Civil War, and at the restoration of Charles II he was rewarded with several lucrative offices.Ashmole was an antiquary with a... - The Carte ManuscriptsCarte ManuscriptsThe Carte Manuscripts are archived historical papers collected by Thomas Carte . They are held in the Bodleian Library, at the University of Oxford, England.Among Carte's collection were many documents relating to the history of Ireland...
, collected by Thomas CarteThomas CarteThomas Carte was an English historian.-Life:Carte was born near Clifton upon Dunsmore...
(1686–1754) - The Douce Manuscripts, donated to the library by Sir Francis DouceFrancis DouceFrancis Douce was an English antiquary.-Biography:Douce was born in London. His father was a clerk in Chancery. After completing his education he entered his father's office, but soon quit it to devote himself to the study of antiquities...
in 1834 - The Laud Manuscripts, donated to the library by Archbishop William LaudWilliam LaudWilliam Laud was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1633 to 1645. One of the High Church Caroline divines, he opposed radical forms of Puritanism...
between 1635 and 1640 - The letters of the poet Percy Bysshe ShelleyPercy Bysshe ShelleyPercy Bysshe Shelley was one of the major English Romantic poets and is critically regarded as among the finest lyric poets in the English language. Shelley was famous for his association with John Keats and Lord Byron...
.
Individual manuscripts
- The Codex BodleyCodex BodleyThe Codex Bodley is an important pictographic manuscript, and example of the native Mixtec historiography. It was named after the colloquial name of the Bodleian Library, where it has been stored since the 17th century...
- The Codex EbnerianusCodex EbnerianusCodex Ebnerianus, Minuscule 105 , δ 257 , is a Greek language illuminated manuscript of the New Testament, though missing the Book of Revelation.Formerly it was labeled by 105e, 48a, and 24p.- Description :...
- The Codex LaudianusCodex LaudianusCodex Laudianus, designated by Ea or 08 , α 1001 , called Laudianus after the former owner, Archbishop William Laud. It is a diglot Latin — Greek uncial manuscript of the New Testament, palaeographically assigned to the 6th century...
- The Codex LaudCodex LaudThe Codex Laud, or Laudianus, is an important sixteenth century manuscript associated with William Laud, an English archbishop who was the former owner of this ancient Mexican codex...
- The Codex MendozaCodex MendozaThe Codex Mendoza is an Aztec codex, created about twenty years after the Spanish conquest of Mexico with the intent that it be seen by Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain...
- The Codex Tischendorfianus IIICodex Tischendorfianus IIICodex Tischendorfianus III – designated by siglum Λ or 039 , ε 77 – is a Greek uncial manuscript of the Gospels on parchment...
- The Codex Tischendorfianus IVCodex Tischendorfianus IVCodex Tischendorfianus IV – designated by Γ or 036 , ε 70 – is a Greek uncial manuscript of the Gospels, dated palaeographically to the 10th century...
- The Huntington MS 17Huntington MS 17Huntington 17, bilinguical Bohairic-Arabic, uncial manuscript of the New Testament, on a paper. It is dated by a colophon to the year 1174. It is the oldest manuscript with complete text of the four Gospels in Bohairic.- Description :...
, the oldest manuscript with complete text of the four Gospels in BohairicCoptic languageCoptic or Coptic Egyptian is the current stage of the Egyptian language, a northern Afro-Asiatic language spoken in Egypt until at least the 17th century. Egyptian began to be written using the Greek alphabet in the 1st century...
(Coptic). - The Magna CartaMagna CartaMagna Carta is an English charter, originally issued in the year 1215 and reissued later in the 13th century in modified versions, which included the most direct challenges to the monarch's authority to date. The charter first passed into law in 1225...
(four copies) - The Song of Roland.
- The Vernon Manuscript (Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Eng. poet.a.1), the longest and most important surviving manuscript written in Middle EnglishMiddle EnglishMiddle English is the stage in the history of the English language during the High and Late Middle Ages, or roughly during the four centuries between the late 11th and the late 15th century....
.
Individual printed books
- A Gutenberg BibleGutenberg BibleThe Gutenberg Bible was the first major book printed with a movable type printing press, and marked the start of the "Gutenberg Revolution" and the age of the printed book. Widely praised for its high aesthetic and artistic qualities, the book has an iconic status...
, ca. 1455, one of only 42 surviving complete copies. - Shakespeare's First folioFirst FolioMr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. is the 1623 published collection of William Shakespeare's plays. Modern scholars commonly refer to it as the First Folio....
, 1623
Bodley's Librarians
The head of the Bodleian Library is known as "Bodley's Librarian". The first librarian, Thomas JamesThomas James
Thomas James was an English librarian, first librarian of the Bodleian Library, Oxford.James became a fellow of New College, Oxford in 1593...
, was selected by Bodley in 1599, and the university confirmed James in his post in 1602. Bodley wanted his librarian to be "some one that is noted and knowen for a diligent Student, and in all his conuersation to be trustie, actiue, and discreete, a graduat also and a Linguist, not encombred with mariage, nor with a benefice of Cure", although James was able to persuade Bodley to let him get married and to become Rector of St Aldate's Church
St Aldate's Church
St Aldate's is a Church of England parish church in the centre of Oxford, in the Deanery and Diocese of Oxford. The church is on the street named St Aldate's, opposite Christ Church and next door to Pembroke College. The church has a large congregation and has a staff team of about 35 which...
, Oxford.
In all, 24 people have served as Bodley's Librarian; their levels of diligence have varied over the years. Thomas Lockey
Thomas Lockey
Thomas Lockey was an English librarian and Anglican priest, who was Bodley's Librarian from 1660 to 1665.-Life:Lockey's parentage is unknown, as is his date of birth, which was probably sometime in 1602. He was a scholar at Westminster School, proceeding to Christ Church, Oxford in 1618...
(1660–1665) was regarded as not fit for the post, John Hudson (1701–1719) has been described as "negligent if not incapable", and John Price
John Price (librarian)
John Price was a Welsh librarian and Anglican priest, who was in charge of the Bodleian Library at the University of Oxford for 45 years.-Life:...
(1768–1813) was accused by a contemporary scholar of "a regular and constant neglect of his duty". The current Librarian, Sarah Thomas
Sarah Thomas (librarian)
Sarah E. Thomas is a university librarian. She has held the office of Bodley's Librarian and Director of the Bodleian Libraries at the University of Oxford since February 2007...
, was appointed in 2007; she is the first woman to hold the position, and the second Librarian (after her predecessor, Reginald Carr
Reginald Carr (librarian)
Reginald Philip Carr is an English librarian, who was Bodley's Librarian from 1997 until his retirement in 2006...
) also to be Director of Oxford University Library Services. Thomas, an American, is also the first foreign librarian to run the Bodleian.
Cultural associations
NovelsThe Bodleian is used as background scenery in Dorothy L. Sayers
Dorothy L. Sayers
Dorothy Leigh Sayers was a renowned English crime writer, poet, playwright, essayist, translator and Christian humanist. She was also a student of classical and modern languages...
Gaudy Night
Gaudy Night
Gaudy Night is a mystery novel by Dorothy L. Sayers, the tenth in her popular series about aristocratic sleuth Lord Peter Wimsey, and the third featuring crime writer Harriet Vane....
, features in Michael White
Michael White (author)
Michael White is a British writer based in Sydney, Australia. He has been a science editor of British GQ, a columnist for the Sunday Express in London and, 'in a previous incarnation', he was a member of the band the Thompson Twins and Colour me Pop...
's Equinox, and is one of the libraries consulted by Christine Greenaway (one of Bodley's librarians) in Colin Dexter
Colin Dexter
Norman Colin Dexter, OBE, is an English crime writer, known for his Inspector Morse novels which were written between 1975 and 1999 and adapted as a television series from 1987 to 2000.-Early life and career:...
's Inspector Morse
Inspector Morse
Inspector Morse is a fictional character in the eponymous series of detective novels by British author Colin Dexter, as well as the 33-episode 1987–2000 television adaptation of the same name, in which the character was portrayed by John Thaw. Morse is a senior CID officer with the Thames Valley...
novel The Wench is Dead. The denouement of Michael Innes's Operation Pax (1951) is set in an imaginary version of the underground bookstack, reached at night by sliding down the 'Mendip cleft', a chute concealed in Radcliffe Square
Radcliffe Square
Radcliffe Square is a square in central Oxford, England. It is completely surrounded by historic Oxford University and college buildings. The square is cobbled, laid to grass surrounded by railings in the centre, and is pedestrianised except for access....
.
Since J.R.R. Tolkien had studied philology at Oxford and eventually became a professor, he was very familiar with the Red Book of Hergest
Red Book of Hergest
The Red Book of Hergest is a large vellum manuscript written shortly after 1382, which ranks as one of the most important medieval manuscripts written in the Welsh language. It preserves a collection of Welsh prose and poetry, notably the tales of the Mabinogion, Gogynfeirdd poetry...
which is kept at the Bodleian on behalf of Jesus College
Jesus College, Oxford
Jesus College is one of the colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is in the centre of the city, on a site between Turl Street, Ship Street, Cornmarket Street and Market Street...
. Tolkien later created his own fictional Red Book of Westmarch
Red Book of Westmarch
The Red Book of Westmarch is a fictional manuscript written by hobbits, a conceit of author J. R. R...
telling the story of The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings is a high fantasy epic written by English philologist and University of Oxford professor J. R. R. Tolkien. The story began as a sequel to Tolkien's earlier, less complex children's fantasy novel The Hobbit , but eventually developed into a much larger work. It was written in...
. Many of Tolkien's manuscripts are now at the library.
Historian and novelist Deborah Harkness
Deborah Harkness
Deborah Harkness is an American scholar, novelist and wine enthusiast. She is a well-regarded historian of science and medicine, specializing in the fifteenth through seventeenth centuries...
, set much of the early part of her 2011 novel, A Discovery of Witches, in the Bodleian, particularly the Seldon End. The novel also features one of the library's Ashmolean manuscripts (Ashmole 782) as a central element of the book.
Location filming
The Library's fine architecture has made it a favourite location for filmmakers, representing either Oxford University or other locations. It can be seen in Brideshead Revisited
Brideshead Revisited (TV serial)
Brideshead Revisited is a 1981 British television serial produced by Granada Television for broadcast by the ITV network. The teleplay is based on Evelyn Waugh's novel Brideshead Revisited...
(1981 TV serial), Another Country (1984), The Madness of King George III (1994), and the first two Harry Potter
Harry Potter
Harry Potter is a series of seven fantasy novels written by the British author J. K. Rowling. The books chronicle the adventures of the adolescent wizard Harry Potter and his best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, all of whom are students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry...
films, in which the Divinity School doubles as the Hogwarts
Hogwarts
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry or simply Hogwarts is the primary setting for the first six books of the Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling, with each book lasting the equivalent of one school year. It is a fictional boarding school of magic for witches and wizards between the ages of...
hospital wing and Duke Humfrey's Library as the Hogwarts library. In The New World (2005), the library edifice is portrayed as the entrance to the Royal Court of the English monarchy. The Bodleian also featured in the Inspector Morse televised spin off Lewis, in the episode "And the Moonbeams Kiss the Sea", where a murder takes place in the basement.
Quotation
Also, the first few words of the Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
version of the reader's promise seen above (Do fidem me nullum librum vel) can be found on the linguist's hat in the 1996 miniseries Gulliver's Travels
Gulliver's Travels (TV miniseries)
Gulliver's Travels is a U.S. TV miniseries based on Jonathan Swift's novel of the same name, produced by Jim Henson Productions and Hallmark Entertainment. This miniseries is notable for being one of the very few adaptations of Swift's novel to feature all four voyages. The miniseries aired in the...
.
See also
- OLIS (Oxford Libraries Information System)
- Convocation HouseConvocation HouseThe lower floor of the 1634–37 westward addition to the University of Oxford's Bodleian Library and Divinity School in Oxford, England, is known as Convocation House....
- Google Books Library ProjectGoogle Books Library ProjectThe Google Books Library Project is an effort by Google to scan and make searchable the collections of several major research libraries. The project, along with Google's Partner Program, comprise Google Books . Along with bibliographic information, snippets of text from a book are often viewable...
- Codex BaroccianusCodex BaroccianusBaroccianus is an adjective applied to manuscripts indicating an origin in the Baroccianum, a Venetian collection assembled by the humanist Francesco Barozzi...