We took a train to Oxford for a day trip to visit the Bodleian Library. We got to see a lot of the behind the scenes operations at the library, which was amazing. The college is self-governed, with 125 other colleges in the University. It was first opened in 1220 as a divinity school taught by friars, and became a teaching college in 1750.
The library's history is fascinating. It originally started as a library in 1320, in what is now a vestry and meeting room for the church. Between 1424-1488, Humfrey, Duke of Gloucester, donated over 281 manuscripts, and a new library was added to house them. This library is now in the second floor of the Divinity School. Duke Humfrey's Library was then cleaned out in 1550 by a visiting Dean of the Christ Church. Sir Thomas Bodley visited the library in the 1590s and then offered the library money to refurbish the collection as well as repair the building. A collection of over 2,500 books were added and a librarian was hired. It opened in 1602, with a printed catalog made available in 1605. In between 1634-1637, another extension was built called Selden End, after John Selden, who donated 8,000 book. Dr. John Radcliffe then left funding to purchase land for a new building, books, and a librarian, so in between 1737-1749, the Radcliffe Camera was built (this is the building most people see pictures of and think is the Bodleian, it is pictured above). It was not until 1860 that the Radcliffe and Bodleian were combined.
In the early 1900s there were an average of 100 people using the library per day, and by the end of the 1800s there were over 1 million books in the collection. Between 1909-1912, the underground storage area was created for shelving. This was the first of its kind.
The class was split up into 2 groups for our tour of the Bodliean, and, luckily, I was on the "super-deluxe tour", because our guide, Mr. John Cross took us to see many parts of the library.
He took us to the Duke Humfrey Library, and explained that the Coat of Arms created for and displayed in the library had an open book and Latin words for "God is my illumination." He explained that all of the books contained in the original collection were chained to the bookcase to keep them from being stolen. He then took us into the Radcliffe Camera and gave us a tour of the first floor reading room, and informed us that there were some computers in the middle for research use and some "ready-reference" items also available for quick access. The catalog does an author search only, so the research must know detailed information particular to what they are searching for. He then lead us to the underground stacks beneath the camera, where he explained that the Bodliean was the first legal repository in England, so they have everything published in England from 1610 to the present. He then took us through the underground tunnel that connects the camera to the main library building, and showed us the vacuum tubes that book requests were made through before electronic means were available. He also showed us the mechanical conveyor system that routed books through the underground tunnel from one part of the library to another, and the lift that assured the book would arrive in the reading room it was requested from. He then toured us through several of the 7 floors of stacks, including one floor which contained metal cages for housing microfiche and other formats.
At the end of the tour, Mr. Cross informed us that the Bodleian currently houses five copies of the Magna Carta, two of Shakespeare's first folios, a papyrus marriage proposal from Egypt, theatrical production programs; and he briefly discussed the issues of e-resources and told us that, although e-resources are becoming more popular, in England the publication of books has doubled in the past 20 years.
I was very impressed with the amount of "behind-the-scenes" areas that we got to see and tour, and was excited that I had the once-in-a-lifetime chance to visit the world-renowned Bodleian Library.
The Bodleian's website is: http://www.ouls.ox.ac.uk/bodley
I then went with some other library students to the English Faculty Library of Oxford University for another once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. We actually got to view some of J.R.R. Tolkien's personal papers and collections. One of the items we saw was his personal copy of Beowulf. I, unfortunately, went to the upstairs section at one point to do some personal research on Lewis Carroll, and found quite a few resources, so I took notes and made copies. I was glad that I got some of my own research done, but sad, at the same time, because I was not able to view all of the items in Tolkien's personal collection. I was happy with the couple of items and real signatures of his that I did see, though.
The website for the English Faculty Library is: http://www.efl.ox.ac.uk/
We then went to the "Eagle & Child" pub, which is where C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien used to meet and have drinks. I had a pint while looking at the memorabilia on display there.
For more information on the pub, please refer to this site: http://www.headington.org.uk/oxon/stgiles/tour/west/48_49_eagle.htm
Also, I went by Alice's Shop and purchased a few items. It was packed in the store, but totally worth a visit for any Lewis Carroll or Alice fan, which I am. This is supposedly the store that Alice Liddell used to visit for sweets, also called the Old Sheep Shop in the books.
No comments:
Post a Comment