Annals of the Bodleian Library, Oxford, A.D. 1598-A.D. 1867

Macray, William Dunn, 1826-1916Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 3.8
Word count
772K words
Chapters
78

Tags

English Originals History Books Human GeographyHistorical ReappraisalAcademic StudyEclectic ReadingCultural Change

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Annals of the Bodleian Library, Oxford, A.D. 1598-A.D. 1867 by William Dunn MacrayAuthor: Macray, William Dunn, 1826-1916,Language: English, Class: Z: Bibliography, Library science, Release Date: Dec 16, 2011

Editor's review

Written by William Dunn Macray, this is a chronological history of the Bodleian Library, Oxford, covering nearly three centuries of the library's history from 1598 to 1867 and belonging to the public-domain English literature. It does not rely on popular storytelling; its value lies in linking the library's institutional development, sources of acquisitions, changes of personnel, and major events along a chronological thread, offering first-hand narrative material for the study of library history, book history, and Oxford's academic system. The book retains a large number of old-fashioned English expressions and proper names, making it demanding to read; it is better suited to consultation with specific questions in mind than to reading straight through. Readers interested in the history of book collecting or British academic institutions can use it as a reference work and index of historical sources, searching by period or person and then following the trail to related literature.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Not a good fit for

Reading tips

  1. Begin with the table of contents and chronological framework, identify the period or figures you care about, and then go deeper.
  2. Prepare notes and excerpt clues by theme, such as sources of acquisitions, personnel, and institutional changes.
  3. Mark old spellings and proper names as you encounter them and check them together, avoiding getting stuck page by page.
  4. Read alongside other works on library history for comparison, which helps assess the value of the sources.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

Contents

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. 12
  13. 13
  14. 14
  15. 15
  16. 16
  17. 17
  18. 18
  19. 19
  20. 20
  21. 21
  22. 22
  23. 23
  24. 24
  25. 25
  26. 26
  27. 27
  28. 28
  29. 29
  30. 30
  31. 31
  32. 32
  33. 33
  34. 34
  35. 35
  36. 36
  37. 37
  38. 38
  39. 39
  40. 40
  41. 41
  42. 42
  43. 43
  44. 44
  45. 45
  46. 46
  47. 47
  48. 48
  49. 49
  50. 50
  51. 51
  52. 52
  53. 53
  54. 54
  55. 55
  56. 56
  57. 57
  58. 58
  59. 59
  60. 60
  61. 61
  62. 62
  63. 63
  64. 64
  65. 65
  66. 66
  67. 67
  68. 68
  69. 69
  70. 70
  71. 71
  72. 72
  73. 73
  74. 74
  75. 75
  76. 76
  77. 77
  78. 78

FAQ

Which library's history does this book cover? It covers the history of the Bodleian Library at Oxford University, from 1598 to 1867, dealing with its administration, collections, and the people and events connected with it, in a year-by-year account of the library's history.
Can someone without a background in library science read it? Yes, but it will be demanding. This is an English-language historical account dense with terminology and proper names, and readers without background knowledge can easily lose their way. It is best to start with a basic understanding of the Bodleian Library, then read selected chapters with specific questions in mind.
Is this book suited to reading straight through? It is better for reference than for continuous reading. The annalistic structure is information-dense and has little narrative flow, so reading it cover to cover is tiring. It is more efficient to search by year, person, or topic and then read the relevant passages together.

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Macray, William Dunn, 1826-1916 Author · British · 1826–1916

William Dunn Macray (1826–1916) was a British librarian and scholar who served for many years at the Bodleian Library, Oxford. He is best known for his book Annals of the Bodleian Library, Oxford, A.D. 1598–A.D. 1867, which chronicles the development of this renowned academic library over more than two centuries, recording the growth of its collections, key personnel and institutional changes. It remains a foundational reference for the history of the Bodleian. Public information about Macray's personal life is limited, and his scholarship and contribution are known mainly through this institutional history. He was distinguished by careful use of historical sources and clear narration, writing in the service of scholarship with a plain style grounded in factual evidence, and his work is of value to students of library history and British academic culture.