Bodleian Library

The Bodleian Library was built in 1320 in the church of St Mary the Virgin as the University of Oxford's first purpose built library. It was taken over by Sir Thomas Bodley in 1602 who donated a collection of approximately 2,500 books and manuscripts.

The Bodleian collections amount to more than 11 million as well as tens of thousands of e-journals. Many of the library's archival collections were digitised and published online in 2015.


Johann Sebastian Bach manuscript

‘A testament to elegance’: Bach manuscript goes to Bodleian in lieu of inheritance tax

15 March 2024

A rare autograph manuscript by composer Johann Sebastian Bach has been acquired by the University of Oxford’s Bodleian Libraries.

Emily Brontë

Fundraising begins for Brontë Honresfield Library collection after Sotheby's postpones auction to give museums more time

17 June 2021

Sotheby’s has delayed the sale of a library collection related to the Brontë family to give a chance for institutions to raise funds to buy it.

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Bodleian Library gobbles up chocolate box mini-museum for ‘edible’ books collection

21 May 2020

The Bodleian Library has added an unusual piece of culinary history to its collection.

coffer

Oxford’s Bodleian Library buys 500-year-old book-box from Paris dealer

24 January 2019

The University of Oxford’s Bodleian Libraries has acquired a rare 15th-century French Gothic coffer – one of the largest-surviving examples of a late medieval box used for transporting precious books.

Duckers shoe shop

Details of the shoe buying habits of literary giants Waugh and Tolkien bought at auction by Oxford’s Bodleian Library

24 March 2017

The Bodleian Library in Oxford has bought the historic customer ledgers of venerable Oxford shoemaker Ducker & Son.

Siege of Gibraltar

The (Regency) play's the thing for new Bodleian Library exhibition

20 August 2016

A new exhibition at Oxford’s Bodleian Library examines how historical events appeared on stage in Regency Britain.

Middle-earth map annotated by Tolkien and Baynes

Tolkien's Middle-earth map bought by the Bodleian

09 May 2016

Oxford’s Bodleian Library has acquired a map of Middle-earth annotated by JRR Tolkien (1892-1973).

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Fox Talbot archive goes to Bodleian Library after appeal brings success

27 October 2014

The Bodleian Library in Oxford has bought the personal archive of William Henry Fox Talbot, the British ‘founder of photography’, after a successful appeal.

Bodleian boosted by Fox Talbot funding

19 August 2013

The Bodleian Library have moved a step closer to buying the personal archive of photography pioneer William Henry Fox Talbot (1800-77) after the Art Fund pledged £200,000 towards the total needed.

Bodleian acquire Hopkins poem

07 May 2013

The original autograph draft manuscript for Gerard Manley Hopkins’ 1879 poem ‘Binsey Poplars’ has been acquired by the Bodleian Libraries.

Funding boost could help Bodleian secure the Fox Talbot Archive

14 January 2013

The Bodleian Library has been given a £1.2m boost in its bid to raise £2.2m by the end of February to buy an important slice of photographic history.

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