Bodley's Librarians

As another example of Bodley’s continuing influence on his library, to this day the Head Librarian is also called Bodley’s Librarian.

This was not an easy job for the first Librarian, Thomas James, with Bodley looking over his shoulder. Bodley believed that the Librarian should devote all their time and energy to the library, and that “marriage is too full of domestical impeachements” to allow that (Vaisey 2000). James did eventually got him to relent, but the Librarian after James, John Rous, was partly chosen because of his batchelor status, and also because “not being of orders, he was unlikely ever to become a pluralist” (Craster 1954-61).

The requirements for the Librarian, in Bodley’s own words, were that they were “noted and known for a diligent Student … Trusty, Active and Discreet; a Graduat also, and a linguist” (Jackson 1969).

He regarded the role of the Librarian “somewhat as the book selector”, but more so “the registrar of donations, arranger, and cataloguer”, and the servant of patrons “skilled in classical languages and in finding what they wanted; as defender of the holding and furnishings against losses to man or lower forms of life but not a maker of decisions about the collection or premises”. James did all this for little more than a shilling more per week than the average carpenter wage of the time. His starting wage was 8 2/3 shillings per week (Jackson 1969).

Thomas James’ catalogues, published in 1605 and 1620, “became standards by which all others were measured for at least a century”(Vaisey 2000). Below is a scan from the front page of the first edition. I plan to revisit this when I look at the Bodleian’s collection later, but as it is all in Latin, I can only research what is written about it.

Another lasting legacy of James’ was that he gave Bodley the idea to set up a legal deposit agreement with the Stationers’ Company in London for books published in the United Kingdom (Vaisey 2000). This was the first of its kind in the world, but the practice continues today.

The role of Bodley’s Librarian is currently held by Sarah Thomas. She is the first woman and, as an American, the first non-British person in the job.

REFERENCES

‘Bodleian Library’ 2010, Wikipedia, viewed September 4 2010, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodleian_Library>

The First Printed Catalogue of the Bodleian Library 1605: a facsimile 1986, Clarendon Press, Oxford.

Craster E 1954-61, ‘John Rous, Bodley’s Librarian 1620-52’, Bodleian Library Record, vol. 5-6, pp. 130-146.

Jackson SL 1969, ‘Bodley and the Bodleian: Collections, Use and Administration’, The Library Quarterly, vol. 39, no. 3, pp. 253-270.

Vaisey D 2000, ‘The Legacy of Sir Thomas Bodley’, Bodleian Library Record, vol. 17, pp. 419-429.