Duke Humfrey's Library
Duke Humfrey's Library is the oldest
History
Duke Humfrey's Library is named after
The library was constructed as a second storey to the Divinity School between 1450 and 1480 in order to house the collection.[1] In 1550, during the Reformation, the King's Commissioners despoiled the library in order to destroy the vestiges of Roman Catholicism in the country. The books were probably burnt, and in 1556 the furniture was removed by the university. Today, only three of Humfrey's original books remain in the library.[2]
The Library was refitted and restored from 1598 by
Collections
The Library consists of the original medieval section (1487), the Arts End (1612), and the Selden End (1637). It houses collections of maps,[5] music, Western manuscripts, and theology and art materials. It is the main reading room for researchers of codicology, bibliography and local history, as well as it containing the University Archives and the Conservative Party Archive.
Layout
The Library is on the first floor and forms an H-shape with the later parts as the uprights. The Arts End is above the Proscholium and is attached at two corners to the Old Schools Quadrangle. The medieval section is above the Divinity School and Selden End (named after John Selden a benefactor of the library) is above the Convocation House.
A drawing of the medieval section with the Divinity School below in isolation is used as the emblem of the Bodleian Library.
Culture
Duke Humfrey's Library was used as the Hogwarts Library in the Harry Potter films.[6]
References
- ISBN 978-0-226-78172-3.
- ^ "Duke Humfrey's Library at the Old Bodleian Library". Atlas Obscura. Retrieved 7 December 2019.
- ^ Alden's Oxford Guide, Oxford: Alden & Co., 1958; p. 18
- ^ "Bodleian Old Library". www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
- ^ "Bodleian maps move to Duke Humfrey's Library". The Conveyor. 6 October 2010. Retrieved 7 December 2019.
- ^ "Filming & photography". Bodleian Libraries.
External links
- Media related to Duke Humfrey's Library at Wikimedia Commons