SUTTON Travels: Bodleian Library Oxford England UK

12 August 2023

Bodleian Library Oxford England UK

The Bodleian Library at the University of Oxford

The Bodleian Library (aka The Bod) is the main library in the Bodleian Library group. Collectively, their collection of documents is above 13 million and ranks as the second largest in the UK.

William Herbert, third Earl of Pembroke, stands before the Bodleian’s main entrance. He was a former chancellor of Oxford university and donated to the Bodleian collection.

The first library opened in the 1400s with a collection of books from Humfrey, Duke of Gloucester, brother to King Henry V. The current building opened in 1602.

Given the age of the collection, you might expect, there are some incredibly old books. Pictured below is a book, which eleven year-old Princess Elizabeth gave to her stepmother, Katherine Parr, on 31 December 1544. The princess (later Queen Elizabeth I) translated a French poem into English. Scholars believe Princess Elizabeth created the book's binding.

An older volume contains a selection from the gospels, which belonged to the devout Christian, St Margaret, Queen of Scots (d. 1093). The work dates from about 1025 to 1050.

Another book is the autobiography of an extraordinary woman, Mary Lacy. The year was 1759 when she ran away from home and in stolen men's clothes, she began her naval career. She began as a ship's servant. By 1763, she completed an apprenticeship as a shipwright. After she retired and received her pension, she revealed her sex.