A tiny sample

(Rogers 1991)

This image is thought to have been drawn by St Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury from 960 to 988, who is also the figure kneeling in this picture. He was also a key figure in the "renaissance of English learning" (Rogers 1991). The manuscript containing this drawing was given to the Bodleian in 1601, just before it opened. The top caption attributes it to Dunstan, although the authenticity can not be absolutely proven, and the bottom one says (in Latin), "I pray Thee, Christ, protect me, Dunstan, in Thy mercy and suffer not the dark storms to swallow me" (Hassall 1976).

(de la Mare and Barker-Benfield 1980)

This is a page from the earliest Latin translation of Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics, from the 12th century.

 (Rogers 1991)

The book containing this painting of Marco Polo leaving Venice combined The Romance of Alexander and Marco Polo's Travels. Created in the 15th century, it was acquired by the Bodleian around 1603-4. The donor is not recorded, so is thought to be Bodley himself. The first owner was Richard Woodville, father of Queen Elizabeth, until his execution in 1469.

 (Rogers 1991)

This was bought by Bodley, "perhaps ultimately through some sailor back from the East" (Rogers 1991), with money given to the library from the Earl of Northumberland the previous year. The writing below the page is that of Bodley recording this in the book, although he wrote is upside down at the back of the book because he did not understand it. In fact, no one at Oxford did and it was left in a cupboard uncatalogued until a Chinese scholar visited Oxford in 1687. However, acquiring material in a wide range of languages was a major priority for Bodley.

(Hassall 1976)

This is from the Ormesby Psalter, one of the most famous English illuminated manuscripts. It is a book of psalms that was extremely popular in the Middle Ages.

REFERENCES

Ormesby Psalter n.d., viewed September 30, 2010, <http://pics.livejournal.com/lapelosa/gallery/00006ypb>

de la Mare AC & Barker-Benfield BC (ed) 1980, Manuscripts at Oxford: an exhibition in memory of Richard William Hunt (1908-1979), Keeper of Western Manuscripts at the Bodleian Library Oxford, 1945-1975, on themes selected and described by some of his friends, Bodleian Library, Oxford.

Hassall AG & WO 1976, Treasures from the Bodleian Library, Gordon Fraser, London.

Rogers D 1991, The Bodleian Library and its Treasures 1320-1700, Aidan Ellis, Oxford.