Day 6
Today (July 3) we went to Oxford. We took a nice train ride out.
The University of Oxford is not a typical campus. It is spread out over the city. The Bodleian Library began in the 15th century. Prince Humfrey Duke of Gloucester gave his collection of books to the school around 1440. Oxford started as a school of divinity. The library is built above the school and was opened in 1488 with the collection of 281 texts from the Duke of Gloucester. The Prince Humfrey Library was destroyed by fire in 1529 due to the protestant reformation and by order of the king. Nearly all of what the Duke had given was destroyed.
(Hogwarts' restricted section)
Thomas Bodley restores the library with his own money in 1598. It took 4 years to complete. One year was spent fitting the book cases and the other 3 years were spent acquiring books. Bodley procured material from all over Europe, particularly in the languages of Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. Bodley wanted this library to be a reference library only. Nothing was to be removed. Everyone must take an oath before even being able to use the library. This oath basically states that no flame is to be lit within and that no harm will come to any of the books. These books were not even to be borrowed. They did not receive artificial light until 1929. Before then, the librarian would sit in a chair in front of a large window. When it became too dark for him to read, he would ring a bell and let the students know it was time to go. Around 1610 an agreement was made with book printers that the library should get a copy of anything that is printed to be added to the collection at Oxford. The current collection now contains over 12 million items and processes over 5000 new items every week.
The Radcliff Camera was the 1st building outside of the actual library to hold and store books. Bodley took over this building in 1860. The library is flourishing at this point. Tunnels were built to connect the buildings in order to stay out of the elements. The Radcliff was not built under the same conditions as the Bodleian; gas lights were allowed. The Radcliff camera is unique in that it is a round building.
We were able to visit Christ Church in the afternoon. We took a tour and were able to visit the private gardens. One of the gardens is the oldest botanical garden in England. Another garden has a tree that was planted in 1640 and still thrives today. We also heard tales about when Lewis Carroll came to visit. These gardens were the place where Alice would play and where he developed his famous stories.
That is all for now... more pics to come...
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