A Brief History of the Bodleian Library


Book Description

How did a library founded over four hundred years ago grow to become the world-renowned institution it is today, home to over thirteen million items? From its foundation by Sir Thomas Bodley in 1598 to the opening of the Weston Library in 2015, this illustrated account shows how the Library's history has been involved with the British monarchy and political events throughout the centuries. The history of the Library is also a history of collectors and collections, and this book traces the story of major donations and purchases, making use of the Library's own substantial archives to show how it came to house key items such as early confirmations of the Magna Carta, Shakespeare's First Folio, and the manuscript of Jane Austen's earliest writings, among many others. This revised edition brings the history of the Bodleian Library up to the present moment. Beautifully illustrated with prints, portraits, manuscripts, and archival material, this book is essential reading for anyone interested in the history of libraries and collections.







Burning the Books


Book Description

The director of the famed Bodleian Libraries at Oxford narrates the global history of the willful destruction—and surprising survival—of recorded knowledge over the past three millennia. Libraries and archives have been attacked since ancient times but have been especially threatened in the modern era. Today the knowledge they safeguard faces purposeful destruction and willful neglect; deprived of funding, libraries are fighting for their very existence. Burning the Books recounts the history that brought us to this point. Richard Ovenden describes the deliberate destruction of knowledge held in libraries and archives from ancient Alexandria to contemporary Sarajevo, from smashed Assyrian tablets in Iraq to the destroyed immigration documents of the UK Windrush generation. He examines both the motivations for these acts—political, religious, and cultural—and the broader themes that shape this history. He also looks at attempts to prevent and mitigate attacks on knowledge, exploring the efforts of librarians and archivists to preserve information, often risking their own lives in the process. More than simply repositories for knowledge, libraries and archives inspire and inform citizens. In preserving notions of statehood recorded in such historical documents as the Declaration of Independence, libraries support the state itself. By preserving records of citizenship and records of the rights of citizens as enshrined in legal documents such as the Magna Carta and the decisions of the US Supreme Court, they support the rule of law. In Burning the Books, Ovenden takes a polemical stance on the social and political importance of the conservation and protection of knowledge, challenging governments in particular, but also society as a whole, to improve public policy and funding for these essential institutions.













Along Came Google


Book Description

An incisive history of the controversial Google Books project and the ongoing quest for a universal digital library Libraries have long talked about providing comprehensive access to information for everyone. But when Google announced in 2004 that it planned to digitize books to make the world's knowledge accessible to all, questions were raised about the roles and responsibilities of libraries, the rights of authors and publishers, and whether a powerful corporation should be the conveyor of such a fundamental public good. Along Came Google traces the history of Google's book digitization project and its implications for us today. Deanna Marcum and Roger Schonfeld draw on in-depth interviews with those who both embraced and resisted Google's plans, from librarians and technologists to university leaders, tech executives, and the heads of leading publishing houses. They look at earlier digital initiatives to provide open access to knowledge, and describe how Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page made the case for a universal digital library and drew on their company's considerable financial resources to make it a reality. Marcum and Schonfeld examine how librarians and scholars organized a legal response to Google, and reveal the missed opportunities when a settlement with the tech giant failed. Along Came Google sheds light on the transformational effects of the Google Books project on scholarship and discusses how we can continue to think imaginatively and collaboratively about expanding the digital availability of knowledge.




Tutankhamun


Book Description

In 1922, as Egypt became an independent nation, the tomb of the young king Tutankhamun was discovered at Luxor, the first known intact royal burial from ancient Egypt. The excavation of the small but crowded tomb by Howard Carter and his team generated enormous media interest and was famously photographed by Harry Burton. These photographs, along with letters, plans, drawings and diaries, are part of an archive created by the excavators and presented to the Griffith Institute, University of Oxford after Carter's death. These historic images and records present a vivid and first-hand account of the discovery, of the spectacular variety of the king's burial goods and of the remarkable work that went into documenting and conserving them. The archive enables a nuanced and inclusive view of the complexities of both the ancient burial and the excavation, including often overlooked Egyptian members of the archaeological team. This selection of fifty key items by the staff of the Griffith Institute provides an accessible and authoritative overview of the archive, drawing on new research on the collection and giving an intimate insight into the records of one of the world's most famous archaeological discoveries.




Titanic Calling


Book Description

Drawing on the Marconi Archives in the Bodleian Library, the most extensive record of wireless communications, this book recounts the fateful events of April 1912 using complete transcripts of the messages to re-tell this legendary story as it was first heard.




The Bodleian Library at Oxford (Classic Reprint)


Book Description

Excerpt from The Bodleian Library at Oxford (All readers must at their first coming be entered in the Admission Registers and make the usual declaration.) The Bodleian Library was founded in 1602, and for size and importance (together) ranks first among University libraries, second among English-speaking peoples, and about eighth in the world. Readers are therefore requested to use it, not for trivial purposes, but for study and research. The Old Reading Room (O.R.R.) and Upper Reading Room (U.R.R.) are open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Jan. Nov. Dec.; to 4 p.m. in Feb. Mar. Aug. Sept. Oct.; to 5 p.m. in Apr. May, June, July. The Camera Reading Room is open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. The Camera contains most books printed since 1883, except Bibliography, Law, Music, English Drama, British Topography and Antiquities, with a few other sections. At Bodley there is a Reference library (books marked R and ), and at the Camera a large Select and Reference library (marked S). General Catalogue of Printed Books. There is a copy in the U.R.R (Bodley), and at the Camera. Catalogues of MSS. The official copies are in the O.R.R.: working copies are also in the O.R.R. and in the Cam. R.R. Forms for ordering Books and MSS. are in each Reading Room. Seats. Any unoccupied desk may be taken by a reader, except that twelve desks at the Selden End are assigned by the Librarian. The number of seats is, in O.R.R. 63, in U.R.R. 24, in Cam. R.R. 74 (+12 for Music students and 12 in the Science Room). Reserving books. MSS. and rare books should be used in the O.R.R. and cannot be reserved, but should be given up each time that the reader leaves. An ordinary book or an orderly pile of books, if reserved by a slip of paper bearing name and date, is left, in O.R.R. 3 days at seat, 7 days more in an adjacent reserve (but at Selden End, 10 days at seat): in U.R.R. 3 days at seat, 7 in reserve: in the Cam. R.R. books to be reserved should be brought to the Assistant's table (each work with the reserving slip), and will there be reserved for 7 days. Unreserved books and all Reference and Select books are cleared away daily. A reasonable limit for reserved books is in general twenty volumes. Tracing and painting need special permission. Photography is undertaken by the Clarendon Press: order forms are supplied on application. For further information see a Manual for Readers, supplied gratis on application. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works."