History of the Bodleian Library, 1845-1945

the long version

In this book the author describes how the Library has developed during the hundred years that ended with the close of the Second World War. Unlike Macray's Annals of the Bodleian, of which it is in some sort a continuation, it does not adopt a strictly chronological arrangement, but, after giving a sketch of the Library as it was in 1845, tells its history under successive librarians; first under Bandinel and Coxe; then under Nicholson; and finally under Nicholson's three successors in office. In each of these three sections there are separate chapters on administration, on accessions of printed books, on manuscripts, on Orientalia, and on building extension. Librarians and scholars will each find in them subjects that fall within their special fields, but it is hoped that the book as a whole will appeal to the wider circle of all who are interested in the history of Oxford and one of her greatest institutions. - Jacket flap.