Bodleian Libraries

It's been a very good year at the Bodleian Libraries.
We've had a record-breaking run with the unforgettable Tolkien: Maker of Middle-earth.
The inspirational Sappho to Suffrage has been arguably our most impressive and important Treasures exhibition yet.
... We built a custom gallery in Blackwell Hall for Martin Parr's exceptional photographs of Oxford.
Designing English showcased brilliantly curated Medieval manuscripts in one of the wittiest, most insightful and just straight-up good-looking shows to ever fill our ST Lee Gallery.
And those are just a few of the highlights. What a year it was.
Our exhibitions will have a lot to live up to in 2019, but we're going to try.
On 15 February we are opening Babel: Adventures in Translation, which will feature some very beautiful - and also rather unexpected - items to shatter your preconceptions of translation.
Thinking 3D will take up residence in the Treasury in the spring. Look forward to a visual feast, as well something a little more tactile than is usually possible.
Our big summer exhibition will be Talking Maps, drawing on our collection of over 1.3 million maps. From the oldest surviving map of Great Britain to an astonishing map of the South China sea and maps of fantasy worlds from our old friends J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, this is going to be an absolutely epic exhibition.
We're also planning to showcase the best in British comic books, centuries worth of retellings and visual re-imaginings of Cupid and Psyche, and some very special boxes and bags with particularly bookish histories.
But this isn't everything.
Not even nearly.
Don't forget that all of these exhibitions and displays will be completely free to visit, and aside from our Christmas break (24, 25, 26, 31 December and 1 January), open seven days a week.
We promise to keep you up to date with our new displays and exhibitions here on Facebook. You can also keep an eye on our What's On pages, follow us on Twitter or Instagram (@bodleianlibs), or sign up to our super-comprehensive, once-a-month e-news letter: https://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/whatson/wha ts-on/register
Thank you so much to everybody who visited us in 2018. You made it a very special year. Let's do it again in 2019.
See More

If you're stopping by any of the Bodleian Libraries for any reason at all this weekend, we'd love to hear about your plans. Let us know!

First impressions count.
The Bodleian Café, in the Weston Library’s Blackwell Hall, is our worst-kept secret. It’s right there at the front of the building, and it has absolutely massive windows.
Slightly less obvious, perhaps, is how important it is. Not only is it super-handy for readers looking to caffeinate mid-research, it’s an excellent pit-stop for visitors to our Treasury and exhibitions.
... We also know, however, that sometimes it can be a visitor’s first point of contact with what we do. They come in to meet friends at the cafe, for example, sometimes never even having seen inside the Weston Library before, and suddenly they’re up close with the Bodleian.
We’re glad it works both ways. The café is not just a lovely meeting, resting and relaxing place for our visitors; it’s also an ambassador for our libraries.
See More

The Bodleian Libraries' security team have been busy 'gramming and tweeting up a storm today.
Amongst the hot tea served was this brilliant little bit of Did You Know?
"It takes over an hour to open up the Weston Library each morning. There are over 110 locks to be opened along a 1.6 mile route through and around the building."
... Don't forget, of course, that this process then has to be undone at the end of every day. It's a big job. Kudos to the team, and whoever soles their shoes.
The takeover also brought us the following guidelines, alongside some photos of curiously-filled plastic bags:
Visitors to Duke Humfrey's Library and the Weston Library's reading rooms must leave their own bags in lockers and use only the clear bags provided.
In those bags - Food, drink, laptop cases or pens ❌ Cute mascots and fluffy hats ✔️
Rules do differ at other libraries and reading rooms across the whole set of Bodleian Libraries, but these rules hold for special collections reading rooms where we need to be especially careful.
Thanks again to our excellent security team for their social media takeover, not to mention all the work they do in caring for our readers and collections.
See More

Bodley's Librarian, Richard Ovenden, has been speaking to Cherwell, 'Oxford's independent student newspaper', about the Bodleian Libraries' place in the city and university, accessibility and adapting to the digital era.

Sir Kazuo Ishiguro is to receive the Bodley Medal, the Bodleian Libraries' highest honour.
Sir Kazuo will receive the award at the FT Weekend Oxford Literary Festival on 3 April 2019, when he will deliver the annual Bodley Lecture.
Past winners of the Bodley Medal include biographer Claire Tomalin, novelist and screenwriter William Boyd, classicist Mary Beard, physicist Stephen Hawking, film director Nicholas Hytner, novelist Hilary Mantel, the late poet Seamus Heaney, writer... and actor Alan Bennett and inventor of the World Wide Web Sir Tim Berners-Lee.
Sir Kazuo is an award-winning British novelist, screenwriter, short story writer and songwriter. He is widely considered one of the greatest contemporary fiction authors in the English-speaking world.
Sir Kazuo will appear in conversation with Richard Ovenden, Bodley's Librarian, at 6pm on 3 April 2019, at the University of Oxford's Sheldonian Theatre, as part of the FT Weekend Oxford Literary Festival. Following the event, Ovenden will present him with the Bodley Medal.
See More

The first window on our #BODvent calendar for 2018 can be opened now! What do you see?
Here's the page to bookmark: https://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/advent2018/
This year, each window will reveal another part of the same image, especially created for the Bodleian Libraries by the wonderful Imogen Foxell.
... As the calendar opens up, day by day and window by window, you can expect to see some familiar faces, famous Bodley icons and plenty of surprises.
We will also be using the Bodleian Libraries' social media throughout advent to share the items from our collections and stories from our history that relate to the details of our #BODvent image as they appear.
See More

Rules are rules so nobody will be able to open the first window on the 2018 #BODvent advent calendar before midnight tonight.
In the meantime, here's the link for you to bookmark, and a very heavily distorted preview image of some of the treats hidden away inside the calendar for later in the month.
https://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/advent2018/

Looking for the perfect Christmas gift? Our shop has a variety of products that are sure to match someone on your list, from beautiful stationery to bespoke furnishing and (of course) a carefully selected range of books produced by our award-winning publishers. Browse our products and find the perfect gift (or something for yourself...) in the Weston Library shop situated to the left of the café.

Every December since 2012, the Bodleian Libraries have shared a new online advent calendar.
You can look forward to another one this year, starting on Saturday...
...but this time, we'll be doing things just a little differently.
... #BODvent
See More

Now the sun has gone down and the mood is feeling moony and right, let's enjoy this video from the Talking Maps light show hosted in the Bodleian Old School Quad last weekend.
Talking Maps is going to be a major exhibition at the Weston Library in the summer of 2019. More details soon.

The evening includes -
- A 30 minute guided tour of the Duke Humfrey's Medieval library. - A chance to print your own set of five gift cards on one of the Bodleian Libraries' printing presses. - Festive refreshments.... - A 10% discount on all products in the Bodleian's shop, situated in the Olds School Quad. - The option to have one of your items gift wrapped by a professional gift wrapping service.
See More

A leisurely scroll across old London town.
Take a trip through the capital circa 1849, from Westminster Abbey to Portland Place. We have digitized this 'Grand architectural panorama of London' for you to explore, scroll back and forth, and zoom into for details.
https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/…/253 6de8d-9df7-4cc2-8889…

Experience the Old Schools Quad as never before with this spectacular light show based on the Bodleian Libraries' beautiful maps collections. Light show created by Luxmuralis.

We're taking part in two events during the Oxford Christmas Lights festival this weekend. Shiny!
First of all, you can join us at the Weston Library between 6pm and 9pm on Friday 16 November to create quirky, collaged Christmas cards, explore our Treasury, and hunt for unusual Christmas presents at the Bodleian gift shop.
The Oxford Bach Choir will sing carols in Blackwell Hall at 7pm and 8pm, and the café will be serving mulled cider, mince pies and other seasonal treats.
... Then on Sunday 18 November, we'll be bringing some of the most beautiful maps from the Bodleian Libraries' collections to life and letting them shine.
Drop into the Bodleian quad between 6pm and 9.30pm on Sunday evening for a very special #OxLightFest18 preview of next year's Talking Maps exhibition.
With a little help from Luxmuralis, we'll be taking a sample of our map room treasures and projecting them into an all-new, specially devised light show.
https://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/…/nove… /talking-maps-lightshow
See More

As the Armistice bells were ringing on 11 November 1918, Wilfred Owen’s parents received a telegram informing them that their son had been killed in action.
Visitors to our display, Wilfred Owen: The Pity of War, will see, amongst the other items, Owen's manuscript drafts of the poems Anthem for Doomed Youth (here 'Dead') and Dulce et decorum est.
These poems were drafted in Craiglockhart War Hospital, while Owen was being treated in 1917.
... Wilfred Owen: The Pity of War will be on display in the Bodleian Library Proscholium until 16 December.
https://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/…/wilfred -owen-the-pity-of-war
See More

Let Bodley's Librarian, Richard Ovenden, take you on a journey into the Bodleian's Phi collection of 'restricted' books, the items once deemed too sexually explicit or morally questionable.
https://www.theguardian.com/…/inside-th e-bodleian-library-e…

In the Victorian age, the Bodleian created a restricted library within the Library, a special category for books that were deemed by librarians to be too sexually explicit.
These books were given the shelfmark Φ, which is the Greek letter Phi. Students had to submit a college tutor's letter of support in order to read Phi materials.
Now, books from this 'Restricted Collection' will go on display in our new display The Story of Phi: Restricted Books, a series of sociological s...napshots that will chart how perceptions of sexuality and appropriateness have changed over time.
The Story of Phi will be on display in the Weston Library's Blackwell Hall from 15 November to 13 January.
https://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/news/2018/n ov-06
See More

Went to this library this summer! Amazing library and tour! But one employee, a guy (where you put your bags before entering the library) was extremely rude to one woman! Even the guide was embarrassed by his behavior!

We did the extended tour today. I'd recommend it we had a brilliant tour guide who was a former architect and explained in detail about the craftsmanship that went into the building he was funny and clearly had a passion for the libraries. He made the experience wonderful and I would come back to do it again. Magical place if you are a bibliophile like me and a lovely dynamic tour guide.

The special collections librarians are truly amazing! I brought them an incredibly obscure question about some lost map indices from Lesotho and they came back to me within a couple of hours with incredibly detailed information and suggestions for how to extract the data that I needed. Thanks so much to the entire staff!

The librarian was so helpful. The rare books are amazing. Pretty much everything you need is there or in a library near the Bodleian.

The architecture and history of The Bodleian is breathtaking. Our guide was incredibly knowledgeable ang very interesting. A must for visitors to Oxford

Thank you to Richard our tour guide today, we only did the short tour but it was great, educational and inspiring!

Thank you to Lucy for her witty and magical tour yesterday. My second time in a week. If you're a history lover this is a must. To follow in the footsteps of King Charles I & many other famous names worth every penny �

Really nice and helpful librarians. I could consult everyone of the mss I needed and took pictures of them for my research.

New collection for sale!

Original Soviet posters of the 1960s-1980s (propaganda, social posters - about 200 units).

Very rare posters of the Higher Party School on the History of the USSR (1940's, the cult of the personality of Stalin I.) and posters "Economic plans of the USSR" (the beginning of the 1960s, quotes and images of Khrushchev N.). These posters were destroyed in the following years and are a rarity. More images can be seen on my page.

My boyfriend and I just visited today and had the standard tour of the library. It was amazing. Our guide was very nice, answered all our questions, had a very thorough knowledge of the place and the history of it and the place in itself is beautiful. The architecture is stunning and being in those gorgeous rooms, so heavy with history and prestige, it was wonderful. Couldn't recommend it enough. Our guide also recommended us to visit the Weston library and the visitor centre, as well as St Mary's church and The Vaults tea shop, which used to be the original Convocation House back in the 15th century. Just stunning.

If you visit, do book a tour. They are not expensive and they offer access to rooms that are otherwise not open to visitors.

Lacking words to express how amazing the libraries are, how fascinated I felt. I must return; to continue looking for words.

Just book a tour and see for yourself.

I´have fallen in love with the Bodleian Libraries since the first day I stepped in the Radcliffe Camera and the Duke Humphrey´s Library. The magic held in every bookshelf, the mistery awaiting in every corner, and the magnificent spirit of the enlightenment and the knowledge, withheld and developed by centuries in this magnificent luminous castles. An astonishing adventure through the past, the present and the future. Amazing resources that I could not find elsewhere. I still feel grateful and honoured for the opportunity to be a member of The Bodleian Libraries to do my Master Research in Theatre. And above all, I thank Dolly, Wendy Isobel McLaughlin, who first introduced me the possibility to travel to the city and join the libraries.

I love Oxford and I will keep it in my heart forever. :)

I have never had the delight of actually discovering this beautiful bookshop, at least not yet but I am absolutely and totally fascinated by these places its history. For me, it's one of the Seven Wonders of the World.

Having been given a short tour of the Bodleian twelve years ago on an Evan Evans day trip to Oxford, a full tour is first on my list when I go back to the UK. A marvelous place.

Fabulous library and I love libraries! My favourite will always be Kenny but this place is world class!

Excellent tour. The tour guild a retired schoolteacher had excellent knowledge and was passionate about the building. Happy to answer questions and explain. Made it more enjoyable. Definitely worth a visit. Thank you. Would love to go back

Amazing place. A must see whenever in Oxford.



History and beauty in every corner

Great place, free exhibition of Bodleian Treasures including Magna Carta, priceless books and writings.

Went to this library this summer! Amazing library and tour! But one employee, a guy (where you put your bags before entering the library) was extremely rude to one woman! Even the guide was embarrassed by his behavior!

We did the extended tour today. I'd recommend it we had a brilliant tour guide who was a former architect and explained in detail about the craftsmanship that went into the building he was funny and clearly had a passion for the libraries. He made the experience wonderful and I would come back to do it again. Magical place if you are a bibliophile like me and a lovely dynamic tour guide.

The special collections librarians are truly amazing! I brought them an incredibly obscure question about some lost map indices from Lesotho and they came back to me within a couple of hours with incredibly detailed information and suggestions for how to extract the data that I needed. Thanks so much to the entire staff!

The librarian was so helpful. The rare books are amazing. Pretty much everything you need is there or in a library near the Bodleian.

The architecture and history of The Bodleian is breathtaking. Our guide was incredibly knowledgeable ang very interesting. A must for visitors to Oxford

Thank you to Richard our tour guide today, we only did the short tour but it was great, educational and inspiring!

Thank you to Lucy for her witty and magical tour yesterday. My second time in a week. If you're a history lover this is a must. To follow in the footsteps of King Charles I & many other famous names worth every penny �

Really nice and helpful librarians. I could consult everyone of the mss I needed and took pictures of them for my research.

New collection for sale!

Original Soviet posters of the 1960s-1980s (propaganda, social posters - about 200 units).

Very rare posters of the Higher Party School on the History of the USSR (1940's, the cult of the personality of Stalin I.) and posters "Economic plans of the USSR" (the beginning of the 1960s, quotes and images of Khrushchev N.). These posters were destroyed in the following years and are a rarity. More images can be seen on my page.

My boyfriend and I just visited today and had the standard tour of the library. It was amazing. Our guide was very nice, answered all our questions, had a very thorough knowledge of the place and the history of it and the place in itself is beautiful. The architecture is stunning and being in those gorgeous rooms, so heavy with history and prestige, it was wonderful. Couldn't recommend it enough. Our guide also recommended us to visit the Weston library and the visitor centre, as well as St Mary's church and The Vaults tea shop, which used to be the original Convocation House back in the 15th century. Just stunning.

If you visit, do book a tour. They are not expensive and they offer access to rooms that are otherwise not open to visitors.

Lacking words to express how amazing the libraries are, how fascinated I felt. I must return; to continue looking for words.

Just book a tour and see for yourself.

I´have fallen in love with the Bodleian Libraries since the first day I stepped in the Radcliffe Camera and the Duke Humphrey´s Library. The magic held in every bookshelf, the mistery awaiting in every corner, and the magnificent spirit of the enlightenment and the knowledge, withheld and developed by centuries in this magnificent luminous castles. An astonishing adventure through the past, the present and the future. Amazing resources that I could not find elsewhere. I still feel grateful and honoured for the opportunity to be a member of The Bodleian Libraries to do my Master Research in Theatre. And above all, I thank Dolly, Wendy Isobel McLaughlin, who first introduced me the possibility to travel to the city and join the libraries.

I love Oxford and I will keep it in my heart forever. :)

I have never had the delight of actually discovering this beautiful bookshop, at least not yet but I am absolutely and totally fascinated by these places its history. For me, it's one of the Seven Wonders of the World.

Having been given a short tour of the Bodleian twelve years ago on an Evan Evans day trip to Oxford, a full tour is first on my list when I go back to the UK. A marvelous place.

Fabulous library and I love libraries! My favourite will always be Kenny but this place is world class!

Excellent tour. The tour guild a retired schoolteacher had excellent knowledge and was passionate about the building. Happy to answer questions and explain. Made it more enjoyable. Definitely worth a visit. Thank you. Would love to go back

Amazing place. A must see whenever in Oxford.



History and beauty in every corner

Great place, free exhibition of Bodleian Treasures including Magna Carta, priceless books and writings.