Christ Church Library

We went to Christ Church Library in the afternoon!

The Christ Church Library includes both a modern collection, to support students in their studies, and a special collection, containing early printed books and manuscripts. Christ Church was established by Cardinal Wolsey in 1524 and, following Wolsey's fall from power, re-founded in 1546 by Henry VIII.

This tour was particularly engaging! We visited the Old Library, which was established in 1644 and still utilizes much of the same infrastructure. Notably, the floor is comprised of original 10th-century Anglo-Saxon tiles imported by Cardinal Wolsey. (This was something of a shock to discover after we had been standing on them for several minutes!) The collection in this library includes Greek, Cyrillic, and Arabic manuscripts. I was fortunate to help hold the Catoptrum Microcos Micum manuscript - something I very much did not feel qualified to do!   

Book of Gospels (1076)

Following our survey of the Old Library, we had the opportunity to see several notable items from the special collection. My favourite was an illuminated manuscript of the Book of Gospels from 1076. I find it astonishing that we still have an item so old; William the Conqueror had only been on the island for ten years! 

The Dean's Garden at Christ Church

We saw several other items, many from Lewis Carroll, whose office we briefly occupied. It was the view from this office into the Dean's Garden that inspired Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and it was incredibly exciting to be in that space.

For more information about Christ Church Library, see the full website at https://www.chch.ox.ac.uk/library