Are you curious about what manuscripts can tell us beyond their texts? Join Digital Scholarship @ Oxford and the Bodleian Libraries for a hands-on workshop using data from manuscript catalogues to explore trends and patterns in medieval manuscript production. You’ll learn: You’ll have the opportunity to work directly with manuscripts from the Bodleian’s collections, learning …
Category: Around Oxford
Posts about ongoing research in book history at Oxford.
Bamberg Anthology
The anthology of poems and pictures based on the Year Abroad project by Tara Williams, sponsored by a Lidl GB award from the Faculty of Medieval and Modern Languages. Download the eBook as two-on-one pdf or read it on Google Books. Update: Tara Williams won an Universitätspreis for International Students at Bamberg with the anthology! …
Call for Survey Responses: Enabling Digital Research on Manuscript Catalogue Data
A new DiSc-funded project within the Bodleian Libraries is working to transform the Bodleian’s TEI-encoded medieval manuscript catalogues into accessible tabular formats such as CSV, to support innovative research in manuscript studies and the digital humanities. By making these data more user-friendly, the team hope to foster new research avenues and collaborations. We kindly invite you …
Early Modern German Culture Seminar
The South-East UK Early Modern German Network is delighted to announce its 2025 programme which focusses on early modern printing practices and material culture. All welcome! Monday 20 January, 13:30-15:00, Zoom OnlineJacqui Pearce (Museum of London Archaeology) Bartmann Goes Global! How German stoneware travelled round the known world in the 16th/17th century Monday 3 February, …
Caring for Collections at St Edmund Hall
Week five’s class at St Edmund Hall offered a fascinating glimpse into the world of library management and the art of caring for collections. Guided by James Howarth, the Hall Librarian, and Emma Carter, the Assistant Librarian, we delved into the practical and philosophical aspects of preserving books—not just for their content, but also for …
Star-struck: A stellar session on mediaeval astronomical instruments
By Edie Young (MSt in Modern Languages) Last week, History of the Book students had the rare opportunity to examine Merton College’s collection of mediaeval astronomical instruments, which were exceptionally out of their cases. Dr Laure Miolo gave a dazzling presentation on mediaeval astrolabes, equatoria, quadrants, and astronomical manuscripts. Laure brought her very own replica …
In the beginning was the book
by Charlie Burrows (MSt. Modern Languages) Over the holidays, this year’s History of the Book class was set the simple but daunting task of choosing a book to present to the class during their first session of Michaelmas Term. Students might have been lured into thinking this to be an easy task when compared to …
Of a Certain Type: Dialogues and Dancing Death in the Bodleian Bibliographical Press
By Molly Bray (MSt in Medieval Studies) For our first session as book-historians-in-training, we asked the question, ‘what is a book?’ Is it the form, the function? Now, for our second session, we get to see and, indeed, operate the mechanics that make one. Held behind a large wooden door and the once-accurate waymarker of …
Hans Sachs in Oxford
On the 500th anniversary of their first publication, the first of the four hilarious, successful and witty Reformation Dialogues by Hans Sachs is reissued in a new edition. This includes a new English translation, a historical introduction, linguistic footnotes, and also the 15th century Dutch and English translations. The launch event comes in three parts, …
10 rules for an Oxford internship you’d regret not knowing
Oxford, more than many other cities, is like a game. To merely observe is fascinating. As an Oxford intern you will get the chance to play a little yourself. You won’t have to know all the rules and moves since there’ll be lots of kind players to help you and time to learn as you …






