Bodley's Librarian

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Statue of Thomas Bodley in the courtyard of the Bodleian Library

Bodley's Librarian is the name for the head of the Bodleian Library in Oxford . The title goes back to Sir Thomas Bodley , who gave both the library and its directors their name.

History of the title

After the University of Oxford Library had to give up all Catholic-related collections in 1550 by order of the Dean of Christ Church , so few books remained that the library was no longer worth maintaining and its premises finally were adopted by medical school.

The salvation came in the form of Sir Thomas Bodley, who had the library rebuilt and employed Thomas James as the librarian and thus the first Bodley's Librarian. Bodley himself had very clear ideas about what the librarians of the Bodleian Library should be like and formulated care, trustworthiness, activity and discretion as necessary virtues for this profession. In addition, Bodley demanded that the librarians have a university degree, be well versed in linguistics, and be bound neither by marriage nor by regular spiritual obligations (Bodley meant parishes in particular).

List of Bodley's Librarians

The following is a list of all previous Bodley's Librarians from the beginning of the library to the present day. Since the history of Great Britain often has a direct or indirect influence on the situation of the Bodleian Library (especially with regard to budget, inventory and usage regulations), it is also taken into account in this table.

Surname Order as Bodley's Librarian Term of office College affiliation

(A stands for alumni, M for member)

Significant inventory increases Historical context further remarks
Thomas James 1 1599-1620 New College (A, M) Outbreak of the Thirty Years War James was chosen as a librarian by Bodley himself in 1599 and officially hired on April 13, 1602. On December 12, 1610, James agreed a kind of deposit copy rule with the Stationer's Company of London for all books printed by the Company.
John Rouse 2 1620-52 Balliol College (A), Oriel College (M) Thirty Years War and Peace of Westphalia , English Civil War , Interregnum (1649–1660) Rouse was a friend of John Milton . After Robert Burton's death, Rouse was allowed to choose all the items from his library that were still missing in the library, thus expanding the holdings many times over. The anecdote is also known that Rouse refused to borrow a manuscript to King Charles I during the English Civil War , which he accepted benevolently.
Thomas Barlow 3 1652-60 Queen's College (A, M) John Selden's Library ( online ) Interregnum (1649-1660) Barlow issued a borrowing ban to prevent the numerous book thefts. He tried to open the library to Jews and, despite criticism, invited the Catholic scholar Abraham a Sancta Clara . Barlow also campaigned for the Hebraist Thomas Smith .
Thomas Lockey 4th 1660-65 Christ Church College (A, M) Lockey, who was described by the historian Anthony Wood as "not altogether fit for that office", saw the office more as a burden and resigned after almost five years. His last official act as Bodley's Librarian was a Latin speech given to the 1st Earl of Clarendon .
Thomas Hyde 5 1665-1701 Queen's College (A, M) Great Plague of London , Great Fire of London , Dutch War , Bill of Rights , War of Palatinate Succession Hyde operated his office as a sideline, as he was also a clergyman in Salisbury and Gloucester and Laudian Professor of Arabic and Regius Professor of Hebrew . He resigned after six years because he was tired of the "hassle and drudgery" of everyday library work.
John Hudson 6th 1701-19 Queen's College (A), University College (M) Writings of Edward Bernard ( online ) War of Spanish Succession , unification of England and Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain , Québec expedition Hudson was an avid bibliophile and stood with numerous scholars and exchanged ideas in this area with Thomas Smith , Hans Sloane , Jacobus Perizonius and Lorenzo Alessandro Zaccagni, among others . However, since he had little practical knowledge of the library system and made his purchases without considering the budget, contemporaries nicknamed him "bookseller".
Joseph Bowles 7th 1719-29 Hart Hall (today: Herford College , A), St Mary Hall (A), Oriel College (M)
Robert Fysher 9 1729-47 Christ Church College (A), Oriel College (A, M) Jacobite Rising in Scotland Robert Fysher, a Tory , narrowly won the Bodley's Librarian election against Francis Wise , the Whigs candidate . Together with his colleagues Thomas Hearne and Moses Williams , he devoted himself to the creation of a new library catalog, which was widely praised for its accuracy.
Humphrey Owen 10 1747-68 Jesus College (A, M) Clarendon State Papers ( online ), Carte Papers ( online ), collection of George Ballard ( online ), Furney Manuscripts ( online ), St. Amand's Adversaria ( online ), manuscripts by Richard Rawlinson ( online ) Seven Years War and Peace of Hubertusburg Owen had extensive renovations carried out during his tenure and took great care of the existing building. He was in contact with well-known contemporaries such as Francis Wise , Browne Willis and William Stukeley .
John Price 11 1768-1813 Jesus College (A) Gough map , later further parts of Richard Gough's collection ( online ) Boston Tea Party and United States Declaration of Independence , American War of Independence , Mutiny on the Bounty , Battle of Trafalgar Price had been Owen's agent from 1765 to 1767 and received his salary. Still, he narrowly won the election against William Cleaver . Price's management methods were controversial: Thomas Beddoes sharply criticized him for his negligence, and John Nichols praised him as a pioneer.
Bulkeley Bandinel 12 1813-60 New College (A, M) Manuscript collection by Matteo Luigi Canonici ( online ), manuscript collection by Giovanni Saibante ( online ), music collection by Gore Ouseley ( online ), collection by David Oppenheimer Wars of Liberation , Congress of Vienna , Copyright Act of 1814 (this gave the Bodleian Library a deposit copy of every British publication), Treaty of London , Economic Crisis of 1857 Bandinel soon after his election increased the staff, extended the opening hours and increased the salaries of the employees. He had a new library catalog prepared and bought more and more foreign and rare books.
Henry Octavius ​​Coxe 13 1860-81 Worcester College (A) Opening of the Suez Canal During his tenure, Coxe dealt a lot with reforms in the field of legal deposit regulations and the cataloging and listing of books. He completed the library catalog started by Bandinel and made parts of the Radcliffe Camera usable for the library.
Edward Nicholson 14th 1882-1912 Trinity College (A) Heligoland-Zanzibar Treaty , British-Zanzibarian War , German-British naval arms race , Faschoda crisis , formation of the Entente cordiale , Treaty of Saint Petersburg Nicholson was the first Bodley's Librarian without any previous linguistic or palaeographic training, but with a lot of experience in librarianship. He put the acquisition of space and more staff over the cataloging work and was therefore heavily criticized by Falconer Madan.
Falconer Madan 15th 1912-19 Brasenose College (A, M) First World War Madan was the author of numerous anonymous pamphlets against Nicholson and was ultimately elected his successor. Under him, the Bodleian Library went debt free and began publishing its own quarterly journal.
Arthur Cowley 16 1919-31 Trinity College (A, M) and a member of Magdalen College Salt March , Great Depression Cowley continued the austerity measures of his predecessor and united several libraries of the University of Oxford, including the Radcliffe Camera and the Indian Institute Library, under his direction. Cowley was very popular with young and old, which gave him numerous influential contacts.
Edmund Craster 17th 1931-45 Balliol College (A), All Souls College (M) Great Depression , World War II Craster's tenure, like that of his predecessors, was marked by austerity measures. He oversaw the construction of the New Bodleian designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott .
Harry Creswick 18th 1945-47 Christ Church College (M) Decolonization
Nowell Myres 19th 1948-65 New College (A), Christ Church College (M) Decolonization , Suez crisis , flower power movement Myres made it his goal to bring the Bodleian Library national and international renown. He began hosting regularly and founded the Society of Bodley's American Friends.
Robert Shackleton 20th 1966-79 Oriel College (A), Brasenose College (M) Decolonization , flower power movement Shackleton continued to strive for the positive external image of the Bodleian Library, but without attaching much importance to internal improvements, which earned him criticism from some colleagues.
Richard Fifoot 21st 1979-81 Exeter College (M)
John Jolliffe 22nd 1982-85 Nuffield College (M) Joliffe took over the management of the Bodleian Library under strict austerity requirements, but nevertheless took care of the use of modern technical means in the area of ​​cataloging. His tenure ended abruptly with death at the age of 55.
David Vaisey 23 1986-96 Exeter College (A, M) Vaisey was a busy lecturer, archivist, and author who particularly sought to network the Bodleian Library with other archival institutions.
Reginald Carr 24 1997-2006 Balliol College (M) Carr founded the Oxford Digital Library, unified the Oxford University Libraries under the name Bodleian Libraries, and was also involved in the renovation of the library.
Sarah Thomas 25th 2007-13 Balliol College (M) Publications by Edward Snowden Thomas was the first woman and the first non-British woman to serve as Bodley's Librarian.
Richard Ovenden 26th since 2014 Balliol College (M) Publications by Edward Snowden , Brexit debate In parallel to his work as Bodley's Librarian, Ovenden is Treasurer of the Consortium of European Research Libraries , President of the Digital Preservation Coalition and a member of the Council on Library and Information Resources.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b History of the Bodleian. In: Bodleian Library & Radcliffe Camera. Bodleian Libraries, 2020, accessed April 16, 2020 .
  2. ^ A b Falconer Madan: The Bodleian Library at Oxford . Duckworth & Co., London 1919, p. 18 ( archive.org ).
  3. ^ A b Richard Julian Roberts: James, Thomas (1572 / 3–1629), librarian and religious controversialist . In: Henry Colin Gray Matthew, Brian Howard Harrison (Eds.): The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography: from the earliest times to the year 2000 . 1st edition. tape 29 : Hutchins-Jennens. Oxford 23 September 2004, doi : 10.1093 / ref: odnb / 14619 (English).
  4. ^ A b c Richard Julian Roberts: Rouse, John (1574-1652), librarian . In: Henry Colin Gray Matthew, Brian Howard Harrison (Eds.): The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography: from the earliest times to the year 2000 . 1st edition. tape 47 : Rippon-Rowe. Oxford 23rd September 2004.
  5. ^ A b c John Spurr: Barlow, Thomas (1608 / 9-1691), bishop of Lincoln . In: Henry Colin Gray Matthew, Brian Howard Harrison (Eds.): The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography: from the earliest times to the year 2000 . 1st edition. tape 3 : Avranches-Barnewall. Oxford September 23, 2004 (English).
  6. ^ A b E. T. Bradley, Nigel Ramsay: Lockey, Thomas (1602? –1679), librarian and Church of England clergyman . In: Henry Colin Gray Matthew, Brian Howard Harrison (Eds.): The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography: from the earliest times to the year 2000 . 1st edition. 34: Liston-McAlpine. Oxford September 23, 2004 (English).
  7. ^ A b Peter James Marshall: Hyde, Thomas (1636–1703), oriental scholar . In: Henry Colin Gray Matthew, Brian Howard Harrison (Eds.): The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography: from the earliest times to the year 2000 . 1st edition. tape 29 : Hutchins-Jennens. Oxford September 23, 2004 (English).
  8. ↑ a b Theodor Harmsen: Hudson, John (1662-1719), librarian and classical scholar . In: Henry Colin Gray Matthew, Brian Howard Harrison (Eds.): The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography: from the earliest times to the year 2000 . 1st edition. tape 28 : Hooppell – Hutcheson. Oxford September 23, 2004 (English).
  9. ^ A b Dorothy M. Moore: Fysher, Robert (bap. 1698, d. 1749), librarian . In: Henry Colin Gray Matthew, Brian Howard Harrison (Eds.): The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography: from the earliest times to the year 2000 . 1st edition. tape 21 : Freud – Gibberd. Oxford September 23, 2004 (English).
  10. ^ A b David Vaisey: Owen, Humphrey (1701 / 2–1768), librarian and college head . In: Henry Matthew Colin Gray, Brian Howard Harrison (Eds.): The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography: from the earliest times to the year 2000 . 1st edition. 42: Osborne – godfather. Oxford September 23, 2004 (English).
  11. ^ A b c David Vaisey: Price, John (1735-1813), librarian . In: The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography: from the earliest times to the year 2000 . 1st edition. tape 45 : Pote-Randles. Oxford September 23, 2004 (English).
  12. ↑ a b Mary Clapinson: Bandinel, Bulkeley (1781-1861), librarian . In: The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography: from the earliest times to the year 2000 . 1st edition. tape 3 : Avranches-Barnewall. Oxford 23 September 2004, doi : 10.1093 / ref: odnb / 1275 (English).
  13. ↑ a b Mary Clapinson: Coxe, Henry Octavius (1811-1881), librarian . In: Henry Colin Gray Matthew, Brian Howard Harrison (Eds.): The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography: from the earliest times to the year 2000 . 1st edition. tape 13 : Constable-Crane. Oxford September 23, 2004 (English).
  14. ↑ a b Mary Clapinson: Nicholson, Edward Williams Byron (1849-1912), librarian . In: Henry Colin Gray Matthew, Brian Howard Harrison (Eds.): The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography: from the earliest times to the year 2000 . 1st edition. tape 40 : Murrell-Nooth. Oxford September 23, 2004 (English).
  15. ^ Richard Julian Roberts: Madan, Falconer (1851-1935), librarian and bibliographer . In: Henry Colin Gray Matthew, Brian Howard Harrison (Eds.): The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography: from the earliest times to the year 2000 . 1st edition. tape 36 : Macquarie-Martin. Oxford September 23, 2004 (English).
  16. ^ The Bodleian Library Record. In: Bodleian Library & Radcliffe Camera. Bodleian Libraries, 2020, accessed April 21, 2020 .
  17. ^ A b Steven Tomlinson: Cowley, Sir Arthur Ernest (1861-1931), orientalist and librarian . In: Henry Colin Gray Matthew, Brian Howard Harrison (Eds.): The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography: from the earliest times to the year 2000 . 1st edition. tape 13 : Constable-Crane. Oxford September 23, 2004 (English).
  18. ^ A b Alan Bell: Craster, Sir (Herbert Henry) Edmund (1879-1959), librarian and historian . In: Henry Colin Gray Matthew, Brian Howard Harrison (Eds.): The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography: from the earliest times to the year 2000 . 1st edition. tape 14 : Cranfield-Dalwood. Oxford September 23, 2004 (English).
  19. ^ A b Arnold Taylor: Myres, (John) Nowell Linton (1902-1989), archaeologist and librarian . In: Henry Colin Gray Matthew, Brian Howard Harrison (Eds.): The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography: from the earliest times to the year 2000 . 1st edition. tape 40 : Murrell-Nooth. Oxford September 23, 2004 (English).
  20. ^ Giles Barber: Shackleton, Robert (1919-1986), French scholar and librarian . In: Henry Colin Gray Matthew (ed.): The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography: from the earliest times to the year 2000 . 1st edition. tape 49 : Sartorius – Sharman. Oxford September 23, 2004 (English).
  21. ↑ a b John W Jolliffe. In: Bodleian Library & Radcliffe Camera. Bodleian Libraries, 2020, accessed April 22, 2020 .
  22. ↑ David George Vaisey. In: Bodleian Library & Radcliffe Camera. Bodleian Libraries, 2020, accessed April 22, 2020 .
  23. ^ Reginald Philip Carr. In: Bodleian Library & Radcliffe Camera. Bodleian Libraries, 2020, accessed April 22, 2020 .
  24. ^ Sarah E. Thomas. In: Bodleian Library & Radcliffe Camera. Bodleian Libraries, 2020, accessed April 22, 2020 .
  25. ↑ Meet Bodley's Librarian. In: Bodleian Library & Radcliffe Camera. Bodleian Libraries, 2020, accessed April 17, 2020 .