Bodleian Libraries

31/08/2026

Happy to those who have one today!



Featuring:
- Book of Hours. Use of Rome: Bodleian Library MS. Douce 276
- Le Roman de la Rose: Bodleian Library MS. Douce 371
- Hesperides: Bodleian Library MS. Canon. Class. Lat. 81
- Psalter: Bodleian Library MS. Douce 118
- Le Roman de la Rose: Bodleian Library MS. Douce 332
- Offices, prayers for private use: Bodleian Library MS. Douce 8
- Book of Hours. Use of Rome: Bodleian Library MS. Douce 31

Find out more about the images in the Alt text, and view them online at digital.bodleian!

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29/08/2026

Inspired by the return of the devilishly difficult BBC quiz show , we've put together our own Bodleian Libraries-themed Connecting Wall for the Bank Holiday weekend.

No answers in the comments please, but do let us know how you get on.

RULES: (Imagine Victoria Coren Mitchell reading this out for the complete immersive experience.)

Sort the 16 clues into four groups of four, and work out what connects each group. Some clues might fit into more than one of the groups, but there is (or at least *should* be) only one perfect solution. Some light research may be needed!

ANSWERS BELOW
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ANSWERS:

CATEGORY: FIRST WORDS OF BODLEIAN SPACES
Radcliffe (The Radcliffe Camera)
Duke (Duke Humfrey's Library
Old (Old Library, or Old Schools Quadrangle)
Weston (Weston Library)

CATEGORY: ACTORS WHO HAVE BEEN FILMED AT BODLEIAN SPACES FOR FILM AND TV
Thaw (John, Inspector Morse)
Coleman (Olivia, The Favourite)
Chalamet (Timothée, Wonka)
Robbie (Margot, Mary Queen of Scots)

CATEGORY: AUTHORS WHOSE WORKS CAN BE FOUND AT THE BODLEIAN:
Austen (Jane)
Tolkien (J.R.R.)
Shelley (Mary and Percy)
Lewis (C.S.)

CATEGORY: BODLEY'S LIBRARIANS (PAST AND CURRENT)
Hyde (Thomas, 1665–1701. Fun fact: Hyde resigned when 'tired of "the toil and drudgery of daily attendance in all times and weathers"'.)
Nicholson (Edward, between 1882–1912)
Cowley (Sir Arthur, between1919–31)
Ovenden (Richard, 2014-)

28/08/2026

Many of us are having an , with the aim of slowing down and being more present.

As we enter the last few weeks of the season, why not dip your toes into the trend, too?

🪡 Get crafty and embroider your very own Radcliffe Camera
📝 Create, reflect and unwind with bespoke stationery
📖 Or find your next favourite read with Bodleian Publishing

All this and more at https://bodleianshop.co.uk

27/08/2026

Birds flying together create one of nature’s most compelling orchestrations - a symphony of flocks in motion. 🪽

Join us online, or in person, for this upcoming talk, in which Dr Steve Portugal will explain how birds maintain cohesion and navigate complex landscapes, while balancing aerodynamic costs and social benefits.

The Symphony of Flocks: Collective Behaviour in Birds
📆 4 September 2026
🕐 13.00 – 14.00 (UK time)
📍 At the Weston Library and online
£5, booking required https://visit.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/event/2026/sep/the-symphony-of-flocks

Steve's research not only deciphers the mechanics of group flight, but highlights how simple local interactions can coalesce into coordinated, adaptive global patterns.

Talk at the Weston Library and online. Why do birds gather in groups? How do they behave when they do? What advantages do they gain from this behaviour?

26/08/2026

Pawsitively cute photos!


These wonderful images are actually postcards, collected by the artist Tom Phillips (1937-2022) and part of the archive donated to the Bodleian Libraries.

Dating from the c1890s - 1960s, they capture different relationships between people and the animals around them.

As part of our ‘Pets & their People’ exhibition (open until 27 Sep at the Weston Library), we’d like your help to create a modern record of people and their pets. We’d love for you to submit photos of you with your pet – either recreations of these or something new.

Send them as DMs or to [email protected]

When you submit please let us know:
⁃ Your name/handle
⁃ Your pet’s name
⁃ A rough geographic place and date

T&Cs @ https://visit.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/event/pets-and-their-people

Privacy Notice @ https://www.glam.ox.ac.uk/privacy-notice-glam

About the exhibition: https://visit.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/event/pets-and-their-people

26/08/2026

The dog days are NOT over, as we celebrate with some of the stars of our Pets & Their People exhibition - Oxford college pups!

These charismatic canines are just some of those that offer wellbeing and a sense of homeliness to students coming to study at Oxford.

Have you spotted any of them?

Harris Manchester College Library, Oxford
University of Oxford
Keble College, Oxford
New College, Oxford
Reuben College, Oxford

About the Pets & their People exhibition:

Open until 27 September 2026
ST Lee Gallery, Weston Library, Oxford
Free admission, no ticket required

We have been domesticating animals for over ten thousand years. But why do we want tame wolves in our homes or wild cats on our laps?

Pets & their People explores the relationship between pets and their humans. It draws on depictions of pets in stories, imagery and poetry in the Bodleian's collection – from one of the earliest recorded depictions of an assistance dog for the blind to a rare copy of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland that has never been displayed in the UK before.

The exhibition asks how the special bond between owners and their pets has evolved over time, and what that evolution tells us about who we really are.

Are we taming our pets, or are they bringing us back to our wild roots?

24/08/2026

Dating from the time of Queen Elizabeth I, the four Sheldon Tapestry maps show central counties in England woven in wool and silk.

Here are six fun facts about the maps - and the Oxfordshire map in particular, which is on public display at Oxford's Weston Library until Friday 4 September. Stop by and see it while you can!

1. The Sheldon maps were commissioned by landowner Ralph Sheldon in around 1590. He aimed to show his house and places where he had land holdings, as well as properties of friends and relatives. The maps could be described as 'late Tudor bling'!

2. There was nothing quite like the maps in England at the time. (Certainly no Sat Navs, anyway.) They must've been a revelation to the people who saw them!

3. Each map measured roughly 15 feet high and 20 feet wide. Each tapestry would have probably taken at least a year to weave with four weavers working on each one.

4. On the Oxfordshire map, you can find a white horse - representing the abstract Bronze Age chalk white horse found at Uffington!

5. Find St Paul's Cathedral and you'll see the old spire which burnt down in the 1666 Great Fire of London.

6. The Bodleian takes conservation seriously. The tapestries in the Bodleian's collection have even been to Belgium for a bath!

Learn more about the Sheldon Oxfordshire tapestry map from our Map Room team in our video here. https://youtu.be/xU4X9rIkNKs?si=pVCFTbGzv28OQHc0

Read more in the Map Room blog here: https://blogs.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/maps/2026/06/18/the-sheldon-tapestries-tudor-masterpieces/

And don't forget to drop into the Weston Library to view it before it comes down on Friday 4 September!

21/08/2026

Meet the muse of epic poetry, Calliope, and her sisters Clio and Polyhymnia!

In 2023, these statues descended from the roof of Oxford's Clarendon Building for restoration, and will soon return to make it look as it did at the beginning of the 18th century.

Drop into Oxford's Weston Library before Friday 4 September, and you can enjoy for a once-in-many-lifetimes opportunity to see them up close.

John Rolfe is an art historian and advisor on the restoration project. He follows the Morellian school of art history, the analytical method said to have inspired Arthur Conan Doyle’s creation of Sherlock Holmes.

By applying this technique of detecting clues overlooked by others, he has revealed the identities of sitters in portraits at the Ashmolean, Tate, and other UK collections; rediscovered a forgotten 'masterpiece' hidden in the National Gallery of Canada’s basement; and, most recently, identified the missing Muse that once held pride of place on Oxford’s Clarendon Building.

https://visit.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/event/display/muddle-of-the-muses

20/08/2026

How did the Bodleian grow from a single book collection into one of the world’s largest and most respected library systems?

Join us on an upcoming exclusive 'Origins of the University of Oxford Tour' for
📖 after-hours access to the famous Duke Humfrey's Library
⛪ a look inside University Church of St Mary the Virgin
🎶 drinks and a choral performance

Next tour: 16:00-17:30, Thursday 27 August

ℹ️ 11+ (Under 18s must be accompanied by a responsible adult);
The tour includes a number of stairs. We regret there is no lift.

Find more information and book here:

An exclusive tour of the historic Bodleian Library and the University Church

19/08/2026

It's ! 📷

Photography has been a part of the University of Oxford's Bodleian Library’s collections ever since the medium was invented. The Bodleian acquired the first commercially published book illustrated with photographs in 1844.

In the last decade, the Bodleian has begun to collect more works of photography. This both builds on historic ties to the medium, and through contemporary collecting, providing an important social record of post-war Britain.

Here's some info about the images we're sharing today.

📷 One of The Bodleian’s most recent acquisitions is the ‘Miller - Beaton scrapbook’ featuring works by Lee Miller and Cecil Beaton. The Lee Miller Archives preserves and makes accessible the work and legacy of American photographer, journalist and war correspondent Lee Miller, whose photographs continue to shape our understanding of twentieth-century history and culture.

Pictured here:
1. Lee Miller in Hitler's bathtub, Hitler's apartment, Munich, Germany, 1945 by Lee Miller with David E. Scherman
2. The Link-Up: Lee Miller examines a Russian officer's medal, Torgau, Germany 1945 by David E. Scherman
3. St Malo: Col. Von Aulock being escorted to jeep after surrender of Citadel, Rue de la Cité, St Malo, France 1944 by Lee Miller

All images © Lee Miller Archives, England 2026. All rights reserved.

📷 One of the earliest examples of photography, by William Henry Fox Talbot (MS. 21088 Photogr. 2 item 9)

📷 Helen Muspratt - an Oxford based photographer – shot strikingly experimental portraits like this one of the Surrealist artist Eileen Agar (MS. 16176 Photogr. 2 item 20)

📷 From the John Koh Collection of Early Photographs of Dogs, this nineteenth century image shows that people wanted an image of their pets almost as soon as photography was invented. (MS. 23892/1/1)

📷 ‘John Payne with Friends and his Pigeon Checker’ 1974 © Daniel Meadows, Learn more about this image: https://www.strongisland.co/2012/06/25/daniel-meadows-photo-john-payne-with-friends-and-his-pigeon-checker-1974/