The Bodleian Library

Famous Libraries - The Bodleian Library

The Bodleian Library is the library of Oxford University in England. It was restored by the English scholar and diplomat Sir Thomas Bodley in 1602. The original library had been destroyed about the middle of the 16th century during the reign of King Edward VI, and was formally reopened in 1603, receiving letters patent and its name form King James I in 1604. Bodley presented the Bodleian Library with a collection of books, purchased on the continent at an expense of 10,000 pounds. Among subsequent benefactors were the English notables William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke, who presented 250 volumes of valuable Greek manuscripts; Sir Thomas Roe; Sir Kenelm Digby; Robert Burton, author of the Anatomy of Melancholy; and Archbishop William Laud, who made a donation of 1300 manuscripts in 20 languages. The library is especially rich in Biblical codices, rabbinical literature, and materials of British history, and ranks first in Europe and maybe the world in Far Eastern literature. With the British Museum, it enjoys the right of receiving a copy of all books published in England. The Bodleian Library includes more than 8,000,000 volumes and other items and 40,000 volumes of manuscripts, besides valuable pictures and relics. Students at Oxford University pay a fee for use of the Bodleian Library at the time of their matriculation, and members of Oxford University who received a degree are allowed to use the Library for an additional fee. Literary men, who are properly recommended, have been allowed to make extracts from its works. Connected to the main library is a circular structure, called the Radcliffe Camera Bodleiana, used as the reading room.

In 1946 a new building was completed for the Bodleian Library resulting from the need for expansion. This new building is connected by a tunnel to the older Library buildings which contains a conveyor for books.