Exploring the world of books at Oxford
Posts about ongoing student work in the History of the Book course.
By Lena Zlock Introduction “I cry: sensation!” With these words began our search for what might be an ‘unicum’: the only edition of its kind of Johann Amos Comenius’ Janua linguarum reserata. Ulrich Schäfer, Bibliographischer Berater at the Deutsche Comenius-Gesellschaft first contacted Helen Buchanan of the Bodleian Libraries to enquire about the 1662 copy of …
This term‘s focus is the research and writing of a project related to our course Palaeography, History of the Book and Digital Humanities. Having previously studied nineteenth-century carnival illustrations, I wanted to continue with the theme of festivals to trace identity formation through visual dialogue. Through SOLO’s, the Search Oxford Library Online Catalogue, tag listing eighteenth-century festival …
By Luise Morawetz After learning about different methods and difficulties of conservation (visit the Masterclass on Materiality post to read more about this part of the session), we got the chance to look at some manuscripts and to learn about the specifics of their materiality. What was especially intriguing for me was seeing the manuscript …
By Maximilian Krümpelmann Maximilian Krümpelmann explains the features of an unusual manuscript in the Taylor Institution Library, MS. 8° Germ. 1. Part of the History of the Book seminar series for Master students at the Faculty of Medieval and Modern Languages at the University of Oxford, lecturer: Prof. Henrike Lähnemann. For more information, follow the …
By Isabelle Riepe The ex libris of the book Trauerspiel by Voltaire suggests it was owned by Theodore Besterman and gifted to the University of Oxford, specifically the Taylor Institution Library. Theodore Besterman founded the Voltaire Foundation, which publishes the definite edition of the complete works of Voltaire and specialises in eighteenth-century scholarship, and bequeathed …
By Caroline Godard While studying in Paris a year and a half ago, I went to the Shakespeare & Company bookstore to hear Agnès Poirier speak about Left Bank, her newly published history of the Paris intellectual scene from 1940 to 1950. Her book intrigued me, but more than that, I was captivated by her …