Editing Bodleian Library (section)

==History==
===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 14th century under the will of [[Thomas Cobham]], [[Bishop of Worcester]] (d. 1327). This small collection of [[chained library|chained books]] was situated above the north side of the [[University Church of St Mary the Virgin]] on the High Street.<ref>Philip, Ian (1983) ''The Bodleian Library in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries''. Oxford: Clarendon Press {{ISBN|0-19-822484-2}}; p. 5</ref><ref>''The Bodleian Library''. London: Jarrold & Sons, 1976 {{ISBN|0-900177-62-4}}.</ref> This collection continued to grow steadily, but when [[Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester]] (brother of [[Henry V of England]]) donated a great collection of manuscripts between 1435 and 1437, the space was deemed insufficient and a larger building was required. A suitable room was finally built above the [[Divinity School, Oxford|Divinity School]], and completed in 1488. This room continues to be known as [[Duke Humfrey's Library]].<ref name="Jarrold 1976">''The Bodleian Library'' 1976. See also Bodleian history page at https://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/bodley/about-us/history</ref> After 1488, the university stopped spending money on the library's upkeep and acquisitions, and manuscripts began to go unreturned to the library.<ref name="autogenerated5">{{cite book|last1=Clapinson|first1=Mary|title=A Brief History of the Bodleian Library.|date=2015|publisher=University of Oxford|location=Oxford, London|isbn=978-1-85124-273-3|pages=5–7|chapter=The Early Years}}</ref>

===Sir Thomas Bodley and the re-founding of the University Library===
The library went through a period of decline in the late 16th century: the library's furniture was sold, and only three of the original books belonging to Duke Humphrey remained in the collection.<ref name="Jarrold 1976"/> During the reign of [[Edward VI]], there was a purge of "superstitious" (Catholic-related) manuscripts.<ref name="autogenerated5"/> 

It was not until 1598 that the library began to thrive once more,<ref name="Philip, Ian 1983; p. 1">Philip, Ian (1983); p. 1</ref> when [[Thomas Bodley]] 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."<ref name="Philip, Ian 1983; p. 1"/> 

Bodley was a former fellow of [[Merton College, Oxford|Merton College]], who had recently married a wealthy widow,<ref>{{cite book|last1=Clapinson|first1=Mary|title=A Brief History of the Bodleian Library.|date=2015|publisher=University of Oxford|location=Oxford, London|isbn=978-1-85124-273-3|pages=1–4|chapter=The Early Years}}</ref> and the son of John Bodley (d. 15 Oct. 1591) a [[Protestant]] merchant who chose foreign exile rather than staying in England under the [[Catholic Church|Roman Catholic]] government of Queen [[Mary I of England|Mary]], and was thereby involved in [[Rowland Hill (MP)|Rowland Hill's]] publication of the [[Geneva Bible]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=John Shillingford, John Bodley, and Thomas Bodley blue plaque |url=https://openplaques.org/plaques/50444 |access-date=2023-02-21 |website=openplaques.org |language=en-GB}}</ref>

Six of the Oxford University dons were tasked with helping Bodley in refitting the library in March 1598.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Beddard |first1=R. A. |author-link=Robert Beddard |title=The Official Inauguration of the Bodleian Library on 8 November 1602 |journal=[[Bibliographical Society|The Library]] |date=2002 |volume=3|issue=3|pages=255–283 |doi=10.1093/library/3.3.255}}</ref> Duke Humfrey's Library was refitted, and Bodley donated some 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).<ref name="Jarrold 1976"/> There were around 2,000 books in the library at this time, with an ornate Benefactor's Register displayed prominently, to encourage donations. Early benefactors were motivated by the recent memory of the [[Reformation]] to donate books in the hopes that they would be kept safe.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Clapinson|first1=Mary|title=A Brief History of the Bodleian Library |date=2015|publisher=University of Oxford|location=Oxford, London|isbn=978-1-85124-273-3|pages=9–11|chapter=The Early Years}}</ref>

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",<ref>Philip, Ian (1983); p. 19</ref> despite no-one at Oxford being able to understand them at that time.<ref name="autogenerated14">{{cite book|last1=Clapinson|first1=Mary|title=A Brief History of the Bodleian Library|date=2015|publisher=University of Oxford|location=Oxford, London|isbn=978-1-85124-273-3|page=14|chapter=The Early Years}}</ref> In 1605, [[Francis Bacon]] gave the library a copy of ''[[The Advancement of Learning]]'' and described the Bodleian as "an Ark to save learning from deluge".<ref>{{cite web|title=Novum organum (New Instrument)|url=https://genius.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/exhibits/browse/novum-organum-new-instrument/|website=Marks of Genius|publisher=Bodleian Library|access-date=11 March 2017|archive-date=18 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170118154715/http://genius.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/exhibits/browse/novum-organum-new-instrument/|url-status=dead}}</ref> At this time, there were few books written in English held in the library, partially because academic work was not done in English.<ref name="autogenerated14"/> [[Thomas James]] suggested that Bodley should ask the [[Worshipful Company of Stationers and Newspaper Makers|Stationers' Company]] to provide a copy of all books printed to the Bodleian<ref>{{cite book|last1=Clapinson|first1=Mary|title=A Brief History of the Bodleian Library.|date=2015|publisher=University of Oxford|location=Oxford, London|isbn=978-1-85124-273-3|page=15|chapter=The Early Years}}</ref> and in 1610 Bodley made an agreement with the company to put a copy of every book registered with them in the library.<ref name=Jackson1969>{{cite journal|last1=Jackson|first1=Sidney L.|title=Bodley and the Bodleian: Collections, Use and Administration|journal=[[The Library Quarterly|The Library Quarterly: Information, Community, Policy]]|date=1 January 1969|volume=39|issue=3|pages=253–270|jstor=4305998|doi=10.1086/619766|s2cid=145797787}}</ref> The Bodleian collection grew so fast that the building was expanded between 1610 and 1612 (known as the Arts End),<ref name=Jackson1969/> 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".

By 1620, 16,000 items were in the Bodleian's collection.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Davis|first1=D. G.|title=Problems in the Life of a University Librarian: Thomas James, 1600–1620|journal=[[College & Research Libraries]]|date=1 January 1970|volume=31|issue=1|pages=43–49|doi=10.5860/crl_31_01_43|doi-access=free|hdl=2142/38489|hdl-access=free}}</ref> Anyone who wanted to use the Bodleian had to buy a copy of the 1620 library catalogue at a cost of 2 shillings and 8 pence.<ref name=Jackson1969/>

===Schools Quadrangle and Tower of the Five Orders===
By the time of Bodley's death in 1613, his planned further expansion to the library was just starting.<ref name="library-history">{{cite web|title=History of the Bodleian|url=http://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/about/history|website=Bodleian Libraries|access-date=7 November 2017}}</ref> 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 architecture]]: [[Tuscan order|Tuscan]], [[Doric order|Doric]], [[Ionic order|Ionic]], [[Corinthian order|Corinthian]] and [[Composite order|Composite]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Cole|first1=Catherine|title=The Building of the Tower of Five Orders in the Schools' Quadrangle at Oxford|url=http://oxoniensia.org/volumes/1968/cole.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://oxoniensia.org/volumes/1968/cole.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|journal=Oxoniensia |volume=23 |pages=92–107 |date=1968|access-date=7 November 2017}} {{open access}}</ref>

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, Oxford|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, the university lectures and examinations were moved into the newly created University Schools building.<ref name="library-history"/> The art collection was transferred to the [[Ashmolean]]. One of the schools was used to host exhibitions of the library's treasures, now moved to the renovated Weston Library, whilst the others are used as offices and meeting rooms for the library administrators, a readers' common room, and a small gift shop.

[[File:Architectural Study (Old Schools Hall, Oxford) LACMA M.2008.40.905.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.0|The Tower of the Five Orders photographed by [[Henry Fox Talbot]], {{Circa|1843/46}}]]
[[File:Radcliffe Camera, Oxford - Oct 2006.jpg|thumb|upright=1.0|left|The [[Radcliffe Camera]], viewed from the University Church]]

===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 Library]] 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.<ref>University of Oxford: Museum of the History of Science, [http://www.mhs.ox.ac.uk/venus/html/exhibition/oxford-observations.htm "The most noble problem in nature: the transit of Venus in the eighteenth century"] online catalogue of an exhibition held in 2004</ref>

The library was significantly supplied by the Strasbourg company [[Treuttel & Würtz]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Haß |first=Annika |url=https://heiup.uni-heidelberg.de/catalog/download/817/1349/110228 |title=Europäischer Buchmarkt und Gelehrtenrepublik: Die transnationale Verlagsbuchhandlung Treuttel & Würtz, 1750–1850 |date=2023-08-10 |publisher=Heidelberg University Publishing |isbn=978-3-96822-073-4 |language=de |doi=10.17885/heiup.817}}</ref> A large collection of medieval Italian manuscripts was bought from Matteo Luigi Canonici in 1817.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/weston/finding-resources/guides/medieval |title=Weston Library &#124; Classical & Medieval MSS |publisher=Bodleian.ox.ac.uk |access-date=12 March 2017}}</ref> In 1829, the library bought the collection of Rabbi [[David Oppenheim (rabbi)|David Oppenheim]], adding to its Hebrew collection.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/weston/finding-resources/guides/hebrew |title=Weston Library &#124; Hebraica, Judaica & Semitics |publisher=Bodleian.ox.ac.uk |access-date=12 March 2017}}</ref>

===Radcliffe Camera===
By the late 19th century, further growth of the library demanded more expansion space. In 1860, the library was allowed to take over the adjacent building, the [[Radcliffe Camera]]. 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 [[Oxford University Museum of Natural History|University Museum]].

===Clarendon Building===
The [[Clarendon Building]] was designed by [[Nicholas Hawksmoor]] and 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 19th 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.<ref>Jenkins, S. [http://www.oxfordhistory.org.uk/broad/buildings/south/clarendon.html "Clarendon Building"]. Accessed 9 October 2013.</ref>

===20th century and after===
[[File:Bodleian Library and nearby buildings.jpg|thumb|The Library and nearby buildings in 2016]]
In 1907, the head librarian, Nicholson, had begun a project to revise the catalogue of printed books.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Clapinson|first1=Mary|title=A Brief History of the Bodleian Library.|date=2015|publisher=University of Oxford|location=Oxford, London|isbn=978-1-85124-273-3|page=126|chapter=A new century and a New Bodleian}}</ref> In 1909, the prime minister of Nepal, [[Chandra Shumsher Jang Bahadur Rana|Chandra Shum Shere]], donated a large collection of [[Sanskrit literature]] to the library.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/weston/finding-resources/guides/southasia |title=Weston Library &#124; South & Inner Asia |publisher=Bodleian.ox.ac.uk |access-date=12 March 2017}}</ref>

In 1911, the [[Copyright Act 1911|Copyright Act]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Geo5/1-2/46/contents |title=Copyright Act 1911 |publisher=legislation.gov.uk |access-date=11 March 2017}}</ref> (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 of Great Britain and Ireland|United Kingdom]] where a copy of each published book must be deposited.

Between 1909 and 1912, an underground [[bookstack]] was constructed beneath the [[Radcliffe Camera]] and [[Radcliffe Square]], known since 2011 as the [[Gladstone Link]].<ref name="exhibition-proposals">Oxford University Library Services: [http://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/_OULS_admin/?a=11910 "A university library for the 21st century: an exhibition of proposals by the Oxford University Library Services (OULS)"], (University of Oxford, 2005), accessed 2 April 2015 [https://web.archive.org/web/20131012074855/http://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk:80/_OULS_admin/?a=11910 archived].</ref><ref name="gladstone">{{citation |title=Project Information: Gladstone Link (previously Underground Bookstore) |url=http://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/about/buildings/underground-bookstore/details |access-date=13 November 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110618193107/http://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/about/buildings/underground-bookstore/details |archive-date=18 June 2011 |url-status=dead |publisher=Bodleian Libraries}}</ref> In 1914, the total number of books in the library's collections exceeded 1&nbsp;million.<ref name="exhibition-proposals"/> By 1915, only one quarter of the revised catalogue had been completed, a task made more difficult by library staff going into the [[History of the United Kingdom during the First World War|war effort]], either serving in the armed forces or volunteering to serve in the hospitals. In July 1915, the most valuable books had been moved into a secret location due to a fear that Oxford would be bombed, and a volunteer fire brigade was trained and ready, but Oxford escaped the [[First World War]] without being bombed.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Clapinson|first1=Mary|title=A Brief History of the Bodleian Library|date=2015|publisher=University of Oxford|location=Oxford, London|isbn=978-1-85124-273-3|pages=126–128|chapter=A new century and a New Bodleian}}</ref> 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 northeast corner of [[Broad Street, Oxford|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.<ref>{{citation |title=A university library for the twenty-first century: a report to Congregation by the Curators of the University Libraries |journal=Oxford University Gazette |publisher=University of Oxford |date=22 September 2005 |volume=4743 |url=http://www.ox.ac.uk/gazette/2005-6/supps/1_4743.htm |access-date=14 February 2012 |archive-date=2 September 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070902222824/http://www.ox.ac.uk/gazette/2005-6/supps/1_4743.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>Craster, H. H. E. (1941). "The Bodleian Library Extension Scheme". In ''[[Bulletin of the John Rylands Library]]'', vol. 25, pp. 83–96</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sers.ox.ac.uk/aboutsers.html |title=University of Oxford Systems and Electronic Resources Service|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070127232123/http://www.sers.ox.ac.uk/aboutsers.html |archive-date=27 January 2007 |access-date=10 February 2007}}</ref> The [[Lamson tube]] system continued to be 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 had been transporting books under Broad Street since the 1940s, would be shut down and dismantled on 20 August 2010.<ref name="gladstone"/><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.cherwell.org/content/10582 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120722190102/http://www.cherwell.org/content/10582 |url-status=dead |archive-date=22 July 2012 |newspaper=Cherwell.org |title=Radical revamp approved by Council |first=Sophie |last=Core |date=17 August 2010 }}</ref> The New Bodleian closed on 29 July 2011 prior to rebuilding.<ref name="Weston Timeline">{{cite web|url=https://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/our-work/estates-projects/weston/timeline|title=Timeline|publisher=bodleian.ox.ac.uk|access-date=21 November 2018}}</ref>

===Present and future of the libraries===
[[File:New Bodleian Library.JPG|thumb|The New Bodleian Library (now the Weston Library)]]
The New Bodleian building was rebuilt behind its original façade to provide improved storage facilities for rare and fragile material, as well as better facilities for readers and visitors.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ouls.ox.ac.uk/buildings |title=Buildings Update |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070907022509/http://www.ouls.ox.ac.uk/buildings |archive-date=7 September 2007 |access-date=10 February 2007|publisher=Oxford University Library Services}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ouls.ox.ac.uk/about/buildings/new_bodleian |title=New Bodleian (the Weston Library) |publisher=Bodleian Libraries|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120907162425/http://www.ouls.ox.ac.uk/about/buildings/new_bodleian |archive-date=7 September 2012 |access-date=28 December 2009}}</ref> The new building concept was designed by [[WilkinsonEyre]] and the MEP{{clarify|date=February 2024}} design was undertaken by engineering consultancy [[Hurley Palmer Flatt]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Ljeh |first1=Ike |date=7 April 2015 |title=Bodleian library: The new edition |url=http://www.bdonline.co.uk/bodleian-library-the-new-edition/5074741.article |work=bdonline.co.uk}}</ref> It reopened to readers as the [[Weston Library]] on 21 March 2015.<ref>{{cite news|title=Weston Library opens to academics after £80m revamp|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-29384945|work=BBC News|location=Oxford|date=29 September 2014|access-date=1 October 2014}}</ref> In March 2010, the group of libraries known collectively as "Oxford University Library Services" was renamed "[[Bodleian Libraries|The Bodleian Libraries]]", thus allowing those Oxford members outside the Bodleian to acquire the gloss of the Bodleian brand.{{clarify|date=February 2024}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/notices/2010_mar_02|publisher=Bodleian Libraries |title=OULS changes name to BODLEIAN LIBRARIES|work=ox.ac.uk}}</ref> The building was nominated for the 2016 [[Stirling Prize|Sterling Prize]].<ref>{{cite news|last1=Mills|first1=Eleanor|title=RIBA announces Stirling Prize Shortlist|url=https://www.museumsassociation.org/museums-journal/news/20072016-riba-announces-stirling-shortlist|work=Museums Association|date=20 July 2016}}</ref>

In November 2015, its collections topped 12&nbsp;million items with the acquisition of [[Percy Bysshe Shelley|Shelley's]] "[[Poetical Essay on the Existing State of Things]]". Thought lost from shortly after its publication in 1811 until a copy was rediscovered in a private collection in 2006, the Bodleian has digitised the 20-page pamphlet for online access. The controversial poem and accompanying essay are believed to have contributed to the poet being sent down from [[Oxford University]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Flood |first=Alison |date=10 November 2015 |title=Lost Shelley poem execrating 'rank corruption' of ruling class made public |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/nov/10/lost-shelley-poem-execrating-rruling-class-public-poetical-essay-on-the-existing-state-of-things |access-date=18 November 2015 |website=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Furness |first=Hannah |title='Lost' Shelley poem which helped get him expelled from Oxford to be seen at last |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/11986952/Lost-Shelley-poem-which-helped-get-him-expelled-from-Oxford-to-be-seen-at-last.html |archive-date= |access-date=15 January 2025 |website=[[The Daily Telegraph]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=10 November 2015 |title=Percy Bysshe Shelley's lost poem acquired by Oxford University |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-berkshire-34777871 |access-date=18 November 2015 |website=[[BBC News]] |ref={{harvid|BBC News|2015}}}}</ref>