Books published by Bodleian Library

This collector's edition of Gray's 'Elegy' reproduces the exquisite wood engravings made by Agnes Miller Parker in 1938. Commemorating the 250th anniversary of the poet's death, this edition will not only bring new readers to the 'Elegy' but will also appeal to those already familiar with its riches.

Interweaving images of the manuscript, portraits, medical instruments and contemporary diagrams into her narrative, Sharon Ruston shows how this extraordinary tale is steeped in historical scientific and medical thought exploring the fascinating boundary between life and death.

Rachel Owen's hauntingly beautiful illustrations for Dante's 'Inferno' take a radically new approach to representing the world of Dante's famous poem. The images combine the artist's deep cultural and historical understanding of 'The Divine Comedy' and its artistic legacy with her unique talent for collage and printmaking.

Informative but light-hearted social and cultural history of our obsession with drinking and bathing in spa waters. Beautifully illustrated with paintings, engravings, maps, caricatures, posters, advertisements, ephemera and modern photos from 1597 to present day, this book presents everything you need to know about 'taking the waters'.

Homecoming, haunting, nostalgia, desire: these are some of the themes evoked by the beguiling motif of the lighted window in literature and art. In this innovative combination of place-writing, memoir and cultural study, Peter Davidson takes us on atmospheric walks through nocturnal cities in Britain, Europe and North America.

This volume provides editions and modern translations of four biblical texts from between 1409 and 1530, together with a substantial introduction explaining their context and the implications of their arguments, and encouraging further exploration of the perceptions of the nature of language that are displayed there.

This is the first facsimile publication of Martha Lloyd's Household Book, the manuscript cookbook of Jane Austen's closest friend. Martha's notebook is reproduced with complete transcription and detailed annotation. Introductory chapters discuss its place among other household books of the long eighteenth century.

This stunning gift book offers fruit and vegetables as detailed art, viewed through eighteenth-century eyes, allowing us to enjoy the sight of swan-necked gourds and horned lemons, smile at silkworms hovering over mulberries and delight at the quirkiness of 'strawberry spinach' ... a delicious medley of garden produce for gardeners and art-lovers.

Oxford has an outstanding collection of plant specimens, botanical illustrations and rare books on plant classification, collecting and plant biology. Celebrating 400 years of Oxford botany, this book profiles the botanists and collections which have helped to transform our understanding of the biology of plants over the past four centuries.

This book casts a well-deserved spot-light on punctuation marks, mathematical symbols and glyphs; stalwarts of typography whose handy knack for summing up a command or concept in simple shorthand marshals our sentences, clarifies a calculation or adds some much-needed emotion to our online interactions.

Built between 1855 and 1860, Oxford University Museum of Natural History is the extraordinary result of close collaboration between Pre-Raphaelite artists and scientists. 'Temple of Science' sets out the history of the campaign to build the museum before taking the reader on a tour of art in the museum itself.

The vocabulary of past times is always fascinating, especially when we see how it was pilloried by the satirists of the day. In this intriguing collection, David Crystal has pored through the pages of the satirical magazine 'Punch', and reveals how many present-day feelings about words have their origins over a century ago.

Highly original and enjoyable examation of the etymology behind a selection of trades and professions, unearthing intriguing nuggets of historical information along the way. Includes explanations of common surnames; obsolete jobs such as pardoner or telegraph boy; and roles for the modern era, such as wedding planner and sky marshal.

Beautifully illustrated with prints, portraits, manuscripts and archival material, this book is essential reading for anyone interested in the history of libraries and collections. Featuring stories of donors and acquisitions across four centuries, it brings the rich collections of Oxford's Bodleian Library to life.

This beautifully illustrated collector's edition contains some of the best-loved fables alongside many of the lesser-known tales. These timeless stories are illustrated with 35 wood engravings by Agnes Miller Parker (1895-1980), one of the greatest British woodcut artists of twentieth century.

Containing over one hundred images of towns in England, Wales and Scotland, this book draws on the extensive Gough collection in the Bodleian Library. Contemporary prints and drawings provide a powerful visual record of the development of the town in this period, and finely drawn prospects and maps reveal their early development.

Richly illustrated with manuscripts, portraits, Sir John Tenniel's original line drawings and contemporary photographs, this is a fresh look at two remarkable stories, which takes us on a guided tour from the treacle wells of Victorian Oxford through an astonishing world of politics, philosophy, humour - and nightmare.

This richly illustrated insight into one of the most successful pieces of choral music of all time examines the composition manuscript and Handel's own conducting score, and places Handel's best-known work in the context of its times.

Drawing on the remarkable wealth of documentation in the college's archives and richly illustrated with stunning photography, this brief history of Europe's oldest academic library explores the collections, buildings, readers and staff across more than 700 years.

This rich anthology brings together poetry and prose in celebration of birds, records their behaviour, flight, song and migration, across the seasons and in different habitats - and our own interaction with them. Perfect for bird-lovers and anyone who has taken comfort or joy in a bird in flight.

This book shows how various plants were used for cooking and brewing, medicines and cosmetics, in the making and care of clothes, and finally to keep rooms fresh, fragrant and decorated during the seventeenth-century. Richly illustrated, it provides an intriguing and original focus on the domestic history of Stuart England.

Representing four centuries of collecting and 1,000 years of Jewish history, this book brings together extraordinary Hebrew manuscripts and rare books. Saved for posterity by religious scholarship, intellectual rivalry and political ambition, these collections offer a fascinating journey through Jewish intellectual and social history.