Exploring the world of books at Oxford
Welcome to the Taylor Institution Library! The Taylor Institution is the University of Oxford’s library for Modern Foreign Languages. It was funded by Sir Robert Taylor in a codicil to his will in 1788. Due to his will being contested, the University didn’t have access to the funds until 1834, when it was also considering …
By Isidor Acton, MSt student in Medieval French (2026). The header image feature MS Douce f.1 This week, we assembled in the Weston Library for the second instalment of our crash-course in palaeography with Dr Laure Miolo, who encouraged us to adopt an all-encompassing approach to reconstructing the history of each book we encounter. We …
by Leena Khabanda, MSt. Modern Languages (2026) What is palaeography? This is the question that stood at the very centre of this seminar. Taken literally, ‘paleo’ means ancient and ‘graphy’ means writing, suggesting that palaeography means the history of writing. However, it soon becomes clear that the discipline extends far beyond the mere deciphering of …
WeChat, Emojis, and Beyond Thursday 12 November 2026 at 2pm in the Platnauer Room, Brasenose College Michael Szurawitzki (Regensburg) AI, Future and Frontiers of Translation in Computer-Mediated Communication: WeChat, Emojis, and Beyond As Artificial Intelligence (AI) penetrates digital communication, the question arises as to whether translation as a traditional means of fostering intercultural understanding ceases …
When: Friday, 30 October 2026, 5-6:30pmWhere: Taylor Institution Library, Room 2 450 years ago, Hans Sachs (1494–1576), one of the most influential German authors intervening in the Reformation debate, died. In 1524, he had published four highly successful polemical dialogues in pamphlet form. The first of these, the debate between a canon and a cobbler, …
by Paul Oswalt, German Graduate Exchange Student This year’s History of the Books course began, as in previous years, with a “Show and Tell” session. After arranging four tables to create a presentation space, each of us placed in the centre the object we had brought to the session. The simple prompt to “bring a …
Thursday 16th – Friday 17th July 2026Room 2, Taylorian Institute, University of OxfordSt Giles’, Oxford, OX1 3NA directions On the occasion of the two-day international conference ‘E. T. A. Hoffmann and Other Bodies’ organised Dr Joanna Neilly (University of Oxford) and Dr Eleoma Bodammer (University of Edinburgh) in the author’s 250th anniversary year.in Oxford, the …
Editor’s Introduction (Isabel Parkinson) We wanted to end in madness and joy. Onward. Onward. They thought. One hundred years since her birth in Austria, and a little over fifty since her death in Rome, Ingeborg Bachmann is still one of the most celebrated German-language writers. She turned to writing after completing her doctorate at the …
Applications are invited for grants to support creative projects with a German theme, to be undertaken alongside the main activities of the Year Abroad. Students who wish to enter this competition should submit a one-side description of a creative or scholarly project which they can undertake in a German-speaking country. They should also go into …
by Jana Christin Lammerding (Vienna, Research Intern Oxford Hilary Term 2026) In Oxford, witches are everywhere. They peek out from the windows of tourist shops on Broad Street, screen-printed onto tote bags and dangling from keychains. They fly across the facades of buildings that doubled as Gothic film sets, trailing the memory of film crews …
FROM SHAME TO FAME. CELESTINA’S VISUAL CULTURE IN OXFORD LIBRARIESVOLTAIRE ROOM, TAYLOR INSTITUTIONMonday 11 May 2026 (Week 3), 9–11.309–9.45: Guided visit to the exhibition, Dr María Bastianes and Dr Amaranta Saguar García (Universidad Complutense de Madrid)9.45–10.10: Break10.10–10.40: Celestina as Theatre, Dr María Bastianes10.45–11.15: Celestina and the History of the Book, Dr Amaranta Saguar García11.20–11.30: General …