119-559: Oxford University Press ( OUP ) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford . It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books by decree in 1586. It is the second-oldest university press after Cambridge University Press , which was founded in 1534. It is a department of
238-480: A Music Department. At the time, such musical publishing enterprises, however, were rare. and few of the Delegates or former Publishers were themselves musical or had extensive music backgrounds. OUP bought an Anglo-French Music Company and all its facilities, connections, and resources. This concentration provided OUP two mutually reinforcing benefits: a niche in music publishing unoccupied by potential competitors and
357-493: A Tomlin order, a damages settlement under which the servants and agents of Oxford University are permanently barred from denigrating Malcolm or Making Names , rendering it the first book in literary history to be afforded such legal protection. The case was reported to have cost Oxford over £500,000. In November 1998, OUP announced the closure, on commercial grounds, of its modern poetry list. Andrew Potter, OUP's director of music, trade paperbacks and Bibles, told The Times that
476-532: A branch of music performance and composition that the English themselves had largely neglected. Hinnells proposes that the early Music Department's "mixture of scholarship and cultural nationalism" in an area of music with largely unknown commercial prospects was driven by its sense of cultural philanthropy (given the press's academic background) and a desire to promote "national music outside the German mainstream." It
595-559: A brilliant group of experimental scientists at Oxford in the 1650s, the Oxford Philosophical Club , which included Robert Boyle and Robert Hooke . This group, which has at times been linked with Boyle's " Invisible College ", held regular meetings at Wadham under the guidance of the college's Warden, John Wilkins , and the group formed the nucleus that went on to found the Royal Society . Before reforms in
714-519: A college and a PPH is that whereas colleges are governed by the fellows of the college, the governance of a PPH resides, at least in part, with the corresponding Christian denomination. The four current PPHs are: The PPHs and colleges join as the Conference of Colleges, which represents the common concerns of the several colleges of the university, to discuss matters of shared interest and to act collectively when necessary, such as in dealings with
833-667: A diverse range of subjects. Facilities such as libraries are provided on all these levels: by the central university (the Bodleian ), by the departments (individual departmental libraries, such as the English Faculty Library), and by colleges (each of which maintains a multi-discipline library for the use of its members). The university's formal head is the Chancellor , currently Lord Patten of Barnes (due to retire in 2024), though as at most British universities,
952-607: A fatwa urging the execution of British author Salman Rushdie and of all involved in the publication of his novel The Satanic Verses . Rushdie went into hiding, and an international movement began to boycott book trading with Iran. There was, therefore, outrage when, in April 1989, OUP broke the worldwide embargo and chose to attend the Tehran Book Fair . OUP justified this by saying, "We deliberated about it quite deeply but felt it certainly wasn't in our interests, or Iran's as
1071-409: A first-year examination that was heavily focused on classical languages . Science students found this particularly burdensome and supported a separate science degree with Greek language study removed from their required courses. This concept of a Bachelor of Science had been adopted at other European universities ( London University had implemented it in 1860) but an 1880 proposal at Oxford to replace
1190-595: A former headmaster of Rugby School, was a key member of the Oxford Commission; he wanted Oxford to follow the German and Scottish model in which the professorship was paramount. The commission's report envisioned a centralised university run predominantly by professors and faculties, with a much stronger emphasis on research. The professional staff should be strengthened and better paid. For students, restrictions on entry should be dropped, and more opportunities given to poorer families. It called for an enlargement of
1309-454: A group which evolved into the Society of Oxford Home-Students and in 1952 into St Anne's College . These first three societies for women were followed by St Hugh's (1886) and St Hilda's (1893). All of these colleges later became coeducational, starting with Lady Margaret Hall and St Anne's in 1979, and finishing with St Hilda's , which began to accept male students in 2008. In
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#17327656963631428-583: A large extent, remained its governing regulations until the mid-19th century. Laud was also responsible for the granting of a charter securing privileges for the University Press , and he made significant contributions to the Bodleian Library , the main library of the university. From the beginnings of the Church of England as the established church until 1866, membership of the church was
1547-622: A major public fundraising campaign, the Campaign for Oxford . The current campaign, its second, was launched in May 2008 and is entitled "Oxford Thinking – The Campaign for the University of Oxford". This is looking to support three areas: academic posts and programmes, student support, and buildings and infrastructure; having passed its original target of £1.25 billion in March 2012, the target
1666-511: A member of the university, all students, and most academic staff, must also be a member of a college or hall. There are thirty-nine colleges of the University of Oxford and four permanent private halls (PPHs), each controlling its membership and with its own internal structure and activities. Not all colleges offer all courses, but they generally cover a broad range of subjects. The colleges are: The permanent private halls were founded by different Christian denominations. One difference between
1785-523: A requirement to graduate as a Bachelor of Arts, and " dissenters " were only permitted to be promoted to Master of Arts in 1871. The university was a centre of the Royalist party during the English Civil War (1642–1649), while the town favoured the opposing Parliamentarian cause. Wadham College , founded in 1610, was the undergraduate college of Sir Christopher Wren . Wren was part of
1904-578: A reverence for the past, a code of honour for the present, which could not but be serviceable. He had enjoyed opportunities... of intercourse with men, some of whom were certain to rise to the highest places in the Senate, in the Church, or at the Bar. He might have mixed with them in his sports, in his studies, and perhaps in his debating society; and any associations which he had this formed had been useful to him at
2023-484: A rotating basis from any two of the colleges, are the internal ombudsmen who make sure that the university and its members adhere to its statutes. This role incorporates student discipline and complaints, as well as oversight of the university's proceedings. The university's professors are collectively referred to as the Statutory Professors of the University of Oxford . They are particularly influential in
2142-405: A series of regulations for college life; Merton College thereby became the model for such establishments at Oxford, as well as at the University of Cambridge. Thereafter, an increasing number of students lived in colleges rather than in halls and religious houses. In 1333–1334, an attempt by some dissatisfied Oxford scholars to found a new university at Stamford, Lincolnshire , was blocked by
2261-662: A small London bindery for some Bible work. Macmillan's contract ended in 1880 and was not renewed. By this time, Oxford also had a London warehouse for Bible stock in Paternoster Row , and in 1880, its manager, Henry Frowde (1841–1927), was given the formal title of Publisher to the university. Frowde came from the book trade, not the university, and remained an enigma to many. One obituary in Oxford's staff magazine The Clarendonian admitted, "Very few of us here in Oxford had any personal knowledge of him." Despite that, Frowde became vital to OUP's growth, adding new lines of books to
2380-494: A speech in Oxford in which he denounced the closure: "OUP is not merely a business. It is a department of the University of Oxford and has charitable status. It is part of a great university, which the Government supports financially and which exists to develop and transmit our intellectual culture....It is a perennial complaint by the English faculty that the barbarians are at the gate. Indeed they always are. But we don't expect
2499-583: A variety of dictionaries (e.g. Oxford English Dictionary , Shorter Oxford English Dictionary , Compact Oxford English Dictionary , Compact Editions of the Oxford English Dictionary , Compact Oxford English Dictionary of Current English , Concise Oxford English Dictionary , Oxford Dictionary of Marketing , Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary ) , English as a second or foreign language resources (e.g. Let's Go ), English language exams (e.g. Oxford Test of English and
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#17327656963632618-471: A victory over its oppressors". The Appeal Court judges were highly critical of Oxford's conduct of the affair and the litigation. Lord Justice Mustill declared, "The Press is one of the longest-established publishing houses in the United Kingdom, and no doubt in the world. They must have been aware from the outset that the absence of agreement on the matters in question [the book's print-run and format]
2737-563: A whole, to stay away." The New York Times and The Sunday Times both condemned Oxford's decision. In 1990, in the UK Court of Appeal, author Andrew Malcolm won a landmark legal judgment against Oxford University (Press) for its breach of a contract to publish his philosophical text Making Names . Reporting on the verdict in The Observer , Laurence Marks wrote, "It is the first time in living memory that Grub Street has won such
2856-594: Is a signatory of the SDG Publishers Compact , and has taken steps to support the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the publishing industry. These include the publishing of a new series of Oxford Open Journals, including Oxford Open Climate Change , Oxford Open Energy , Oxford Open Immunology , Oxford Open Infrastructure and Health , and Oxford Open Digital Health . Oxford University Press publishes
2975-505: Is an allegory of a university press missing the point, mistaking its prime purpose." In March 1999 The Times Literary Supplement commissioned Andrew Malcolm to write an article under the strapline "Why the present constitution of the OUP cannot work". A decade later, OUP's managing director, Ivon Asquith, reflected on the public relations damage caused by the episode: "If I had foreseen the self-inflicted wound we would suffer I would not have let
3094-685: Is located on Great Clarendon Street , Oxford . Visits must be booked in advance and are led by an archive staff member. Displays include a 19th-century printing press , the OUP buildings, and the printing and history of the Oxford Almanack , Alice in Wonderland and the Oxford English Dictionary . OUP came to be known as "( The ) Clarendon Press " when printing moved from the Sheldonian Theatre to
3213-440: Is located on Walton Street , Oxford, opposite Somerville College , in the inner suburb of Jericho . For the last 400 years, OUP has focused primarily on the publication of pedagogical texts. It continues this tradition today by publishing academic journals, dictionaries, English language resources, bibliographies, books on Indology , music, classics, literature, and history, as well as Bibles and atlases. OUP has offices around
3332-596: Is overwhelmingly local, and in 2008, it partnered with the university to support scholarships for South Africans studying postgraduate degrees. Operations in South Asia and East and South East Asia were and, in the case of the former, remain significant parts of the company. Today, the North American branch in New York City is primarily a distribution branch to facilitate the sale of Oxford Bibles in
3451-491: Is unknown. In the 14th century, the historian Ranulf Higden wrote that the university was founded in the 10th century by Alfred the Great , but this story is apocryphal. It is known that teaching at Oxford existed in some form as early as 1096, but it is unclear when the university came into being. Scholar Theobald of Étampes lectured at Oxford in the early 1100s. It grew quickly from 1167 when English students returned from
3570-584: The Clarendon Building in Broad Street in 1713. The name continued to be used when OUP moved to its present site in Oxford in 1830. The label "Clarendon Press" took on a new meaning when OUP began publishing books through its London office in the early 20th century. To distinguish the two offices, London books were labelled "Oxford University Press" publications, while those from Oxford were labelled "Clarendon Press" books. This labelling ceased in
3689-403: The English Civil War , Vice-chancellor John Fell , Dean of Christ Church , Bishop of Oxford , and Secretary to the Delegates was determined to install printing presses in 1668, making it the university's first central print shop. In 1674, OUP began to print a broadsheet calendar, known as the Oxford Almanack , that was produced annually without interruption from 1674 to 2019. Fell drew up
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3808-616: The Examination Schools , where examinations and some lectures take place. The University Church of St Mary the Virgin was used for university ceremonies before the construction of the Sheldonian. In 2012–2013, the university built the controversial one-hectare (400 m × 25 m) Castle Mill development of 4–5-storey blocks of student flats overlooking Cripley Meadow and the historic Port Meadow , blocking views of
3927-637: The High Street is the oldest botanic garden in the UK. It contains over 8,000 different plant species on 1.8 ha ( 4 + 1 ⁄ 2 acres). It is one of the most diverse yet compact major collections of plants in the world and includes representatives of over 90% of the higher plant families. The Harcourt Arboretum is a 130-acre (53 ha) site six miles (9.7 km) south of the city that includes native woodland and 67 acres (27 hectares) of meadow. The 1,000-acre (4.0 km ) Wytham Woods are owned by
4046-698: The Oxford Placement Test ), bibliographies (e.g., Oxford Bibliographies Online ), miscellaneous series such as Very Short Introductions , and books on Indology , music , classics , literature , history , Bibles , and atlases . Many of these are published under the Oxford Languages brand. Since 2001, Oxford University Press has financially supported the Clarendon bursary , a University of Oxford graduate scholarship scheme. In February 1989, Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini issued
4165-507: The University of Paris . After disputes between students and Oxford townsfolk, some Oxford academics fled northeast to Cambridge , where, in 1209, they established the University of Cambridge . The two English ancient universities share many common features and are jointly referred to as Oxbridge . The University of Oxford is made up of 43 constituent colleges, consisting of 36 semi-autonomous colleges , four permanent private halls and three societies (colleges that are departments of
4284-499: The University of Paris . The historian Gerald of Wales lectured to such scholars in 1188, and the first known foreign scholar, Emo of Friesland , arrived in 1190. The head of the university had the title of chancellor from at least 1201, and the masters were recognised as a universitas or corporation in 1231. The university was granted a royal charter in 1248 during the reign of King Henry III . After disputes between students and Oxford townsfolk in 1209, some academics fled from
4403-506: The Uyghur population of Xinjiang , a Turkic ethnic group in China . Rhys Blakely, a science correspondent for The Times , reported: "The research has been published online by Oxford University Press (OUP) in a journal that receives financial support from China's Ministry of Justice . The highly unusual deal will raise fears that Oxford risks becoming entangled in human rights abuses against
4522-544: The " steamboat ladies " to receive ad eundem degrees from the University of Dublin . In June 1878, the Association for the Education of Women (AEW) was formed, aiming for the eventual creation of a college for women in Oxford. Some of the more prominent members of the association were George Granville Bradley , T. H. Green and Edward Stuart Talbot . Talbot insisted on a specifically Anglican institution, which
4641-511: The 1920s progressed. In 1928, the press's imprint read 'London, Edinburgh, Glasgow , Leipzig, Toronto, Melbourne, Cape Town , Bombay, Calcutta , Madras and Shanghai'. Not all of these were full-fledged branches: in Leipzig, there was a depot run by H. Bohun Beet, and in Canada and Australia, there were small, functional depots in the cities and an army of educational representatives penetrating
4760-459: The 1970s when the London office of OUP closed. Today, OUP reserves "Clarendon Press" as an imprint for Oxford publications of particular academic importance. OUP as Oxford Journals has also been a major publisher of academic journals , both in the sciences and the humanities; as of 2024 it publishes more than 500 journals on behalf of learned societies around the world. It has been noted as one of
4879-648: The 1970s, OUP was obliged to sell its Mumbai headquarters building, Oxford House. The Bookseller reported that "The case has again raised questions about OUP's status in the UK". In 2003, Joel Rickett of The Bookseller wrote an article in The Guardian describing the resentment of commercial rivals at OUP's tax exemption. Rickett accurately predicted that the funds which would have been paid in tax were "likely to be used to confirm OUP's dominance by buying up other publishers." Between 1989 and 2018, OUP bought out over 70 rival book and journal publishers. In 2007, with
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4998-492: The 19th century included the replacement of oral examinations with written entrance tests, greater tolerance for religious dissent , and the establishment of four women's colleges. Privy Council decisions in the 20th century (e.g. the abolition of compulsory daily worship, dissociation of the Regius Professorship of Hebrew from clerical status, diversion of colleges' theological bequests to other purposes) loosened
5117-433: The 20th century, with the exception of St Antony's, which was founded as a men's college in 1950 and began to accept women only in 1962. By 1988, 40% of undergraduates at Oxford were female; in 2016, 45% of the student population, and 47% of undergraduate students, were female. In June 2017, Oxford announced that starting the following academic year, history students may choose to sit a take-home exam in some courses, with
5236-630: The Chancellor is a titular figurehead and is not involved with the day-to-day running of the university. The Chancellor is elected by the members of Convocation , a body comprising all graduates of the university, and may hold office until death. The Vice-Chancellor , currently Irene Tracey , is the de facto head of the university. Five pro-vice-chancellors have specific responsibilities for education; research; planning and resources; development and external affairs; and personnel and equal opportunities. Two university proctors , elected annually on
5355-456: The German armed forces, bearing the inscription, 'In memory of the men of this college who coming from a foreign land entered into the inheritance of this place and returning fought and died for their country in the war 1914–1918'. During the war years the university buildings became hospitals, cadet schools and military training camps. Two parliamentary commissions in 1852 issued recommendations for Oxford and Cambridge. Archibald Campbell Tait ,
5474-563: The Inland Revenue, and a year later, CUP's tax exemption was quietly conceded. OUP's Chief Executive George Richardson followed suit in 1977. OUP's tax exemption was granted in 1978. The decisions were not made public. The issue was only brought to public attention due to press interest in OUP following the poetry list closure controversy. In 1999, the campaigner Andrew Malcolm published his second book, The Remedy , where he alleged that OUP breached its 1978 tax-exemption conditions. This
5593-530: The Irish and the Welsh ). In later centuries, geographical origins continued to influence many students' affiliations when membership of a college or hall became customary in Oxford. In addition, members of many religious orders , including Dominicans , Franciscans , Carmelites , and Augustinians , settled in Oxford in the mid-13th century, gained influence and maintained houses or halls for students. At about
5712-501: The Oxford Martin Principles. The total assets of the colleges of £6.3 billion also exceed total university assets of £4.1 billion. The college figure does not reflect all the assets held by the colleges as their accounts do not include the cost or value of many of their main sites or heritage assets such as works of art or libraries. The university was one of the first in the UK to raise money through
5831-618: The Stationers' Company and the King's Printer . He obtained a succession of royal grants, and Oxford's "Great Charter" in 1636 gave the university the right to print "all manner of books". Laud also obtained the "privilege" from the Crown of printing the King James or Authorized Version of Scripture at Oxford. This privilege created substantial returns over the next 250 years. Following
5950-659: The Uighur community . It will also add to concerns over China's efforts to influence UK academia ." In February, OUP announced that it was carrying out internal investigations into two further studies, based on DNA taken from China's Xibe ethnic minority. On 17 May, The Times reported that Oxford had retracted the two studies, quoting a statement from the OUP: "Earlier this year, we were alerted to concerns regarding two papers in Forensics Sciences Research. Based on
6069-617: The United States. It also handles marketing of all books of its parent, Macmillan. By the end of 2021, OUP USA had published eighteen Pulitzer Prize–winning books. In July 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic its Bookshop on the High Street closed. On 27 August 2021, OUP closed Oxuniprint, its printing division. The closure will mark the "final chapter" of OUP's centuries-long history of printing. The Oxford University Press Museum
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#17327656963636188-419: The University of Oxford is long and includes many who have made major contributions to politics, the sciences, medicine, and literature. As of October 2022, 73 Nobel laureates and more than 50 world leaders have been affiliated with the University of Oxford. The university passed a statute in 1875 allowing examinations for women at roughly undergraduate level; for a brief period in the early 1900s, this allowed
6307-480: The University of Oxford. It is governed by a group of 15 academics, the Delegates of the Press, appointed by the vice-chancellor of the University of Oxford. The Delegates of the Press are led by the Secretary to the Delegates, who serves as OUP's chief executive and as its major representative on other university bodies. Oxford University Press has had a similar governance structure since the 17th century. The press
6426-564: The armed forces. By 1918 virtually all fellows were in uniform, and the student population in residence was reduced to 12 per cent of the pre-war total. The University Roll of Service records that, in total, 14,792 members of the university served in the war, with 2,716 (18.36%) killed. Not all the members of the university who served in the Great War were on the Allied side; there is a remarkable memorial to members of New College who served in
6545-424: The assembled Chancellor, Masters and Scholars of the University of Oxford the appellant has had a fair crack of the whip. I certainly do not... Mr Charkin took the decision [to renege on the OUP editor's contract], not because he thought the book was no good - he had never seen it and the reports were favourable - but because he thought it would not sell. Let there be no mistake about it, the failure of this transaction
6664-554: The book by giving him a valueless assurance would be tantamount to an imputation of fraud... It follows that in my judgment when Mr Hardy used the expressions 'commitment' and 'a fair royalty' he did in fact mean what he said; and I venture to think that it would take a lawyer to arrive at any other conclusion. There was therefore an enforceable contract for the publication of Mr Malcolm's book... The Respondents' final statement may be thought unworthy of them." The case ended in July 1992 with
6783-925: The business, presiding over the massive publication of the Revised Version of the New Testament in 1881 and playing a key role in setting up the press's first office outside Britain, in New York City in 1896. Price transformed OUP. In 1884, the year he retired as Secretary, the Delegates bought back the last shares in the business. The press was now owned wholly by the university, with its own paper mill, print shop, bindery, and warehouse. Its output had increased to include school books and modern scholarly texts such as James Clerk Maxwell 's A Treatise on Electricity & Magnetism (1873), which proved fundamental to Einstein's thought. Without abandoning its traditions or quality of work, Price began to turn OUP into an alert, modern publisher. In 1879, he also took on
6902-631: The central university. The Conference of Colleges was established as a recommendation of the Franks Commission in 1965. Teaching members of the colleges (i.e. fellows and tutors) are collectively and familiarly known as dons , although the term is rarely used by the university itself. In addition to residential and dining facilities, the colleges provide social, cultural, and recreational activities for their members. Colleges have responsibility for admitting undergraduates and organising their tuition; for graduates, this responsibility falls upon
7021-498: The city centre. Undergraduate teaching at Oxford consists of lectures, small-group tutorials at the colleges and halls, seminars, laboratory work and occasionally further tutorials provided by the central university faculties and departments. Postgraduate teaching is provided in a predominantly centralised fashion. Oxford operates the Ashmolean Museum , the world's oldest university museum ; Oxford University Press ,
7140-476: The city centre. The Science Area , in which most science departments are located, is the area that bears closest resemblance to a campus. The ten-acre (4-hectare) Radcliffe Observatory Quarter in the northwest of the city is currently under development. Iconic university buildings include the Radcliffe Camera , the Sheldonian Theatre used for music concerts, lectures, and university ceremonies, and
7259-523: The classical requirement with a modern language (like German or French) was unsuccessful. After considerable internal wrangling over the structure of the arts curriculum, in 1886 the "natural science preliminary" was recognised as a qualifying part of the first year examination. At the start of 1914, the university housed about 3,000 undergraduates and about 100 postgraduate students. During the First World War, many undergraduates and fellows joined
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#17327656963637378-412: The colleges', is managed by the university's wholly-owned endowment management office, Oxford University Endowment Management, formed in 2007. The university used to maintain substantial investments in fossil fuel companies. However, in April 2020, the university committed to divest from direct investments in fossil fuel companies and to require indirect investments in fossil fuel companies be subjected to
7497-578: The curriculum, with honours to be awarded in many new fields. Undergraduate scholarships should be open to all Britons. Graduate fellowships should be opened up to all members of the university. It recommended that fellows be released from an obligation for ordination. Students were to be allowed to save money by boarding in the city, instead of in a college. The system of separate honour schools for different subjects began in 1802, with Mathematics and Literae Humaniores . Schools of "Natural Sciences" and "Law, and Modern History" were added in 1853. By 1872,
7616-414: The departments. In 2017–18, the university had an income of £2,237m; key sources were research grants (£579.1m) and academic fees (£332.5m). The colleges had a total income of £492.9m. While the university has a larger annual income and operating budget, the colleges have a larger aggregate endowment: over £6.4bn compared to the university's £1.2bn. The central University's endowment, along with some of
7735-480: The early 18th century marked a lull in the press's expansion. It suffered from the absence of any figure comparable to Fell. The business was rescued by the intervention of a single Delegate, William Blackstone . Disgusted by the chaotic state of the press and antagonized by Vice-Chancellor George Huddesford , Blackstone called for sweeping reforms that would firmly set out the Delegates' powers and obligations, officially record their deliberations and accounting, and put
7854-539: The early 19th century, the curriculum at Oxford was notoriously narrow and impractical. Sir Spencer Walpole , a historian of contemporary Britain and a senior government official, had not attended any university. He said, "Few medical men, few solicitors, few persons intended for commerce or trade, ever dreamed of passing through a university career." He quoted the Oxford University Commissioners in 1852 stating: "The education imparted at Oxford
7973-421: The early 20th century, Oxford and Cambridge were widely perceived to be bastions of male privilege ; however, the integration of women into Oxford moved forward during the First World War. In 1916 women were admitted as medical students on a par with men, and in 1917 the university accepted financial responsibility for women's examinations. On 7 October 1920 women became eligible for admission as full members of
8092-648: The first edition was not completed until 1928, 13 years after Murray's death, costing around £375,000. This vast financial burden and its implications landed on Price's successors. The next Secretary, Philip Lyttelton Gell , was appointed by the Vice-Chancellor Benjamin Jowett in 1884 but struggled and was finally dismissed in 1897. The Assistant Secretary, Charles Cannan, was instrumental in Gell's removal. Cannan took over with little fuss and even less affection for his predecessor in 1898: "Gell
8211-709: The first formal programme for the university's printing, which envisaged hundreds of works, including the Bible in Greek , editions of the Coptic Gospels and works of the Church Fathers , texts in Arabic and Syriac , comprehensive editions of classical philosophy , poetry, and mathematics, a wide range of medieval scholarship, and also "a history of insects, more perfect than any yet Extant." Generally speaking,
8330-540: The first university presses to publish an open access journal ( Nucleic Acids Research ), and probably the first to introduce so-called hybrid open access journals , offering "optional open access" to authors, which provides all readers with online access to their paper free of charge. The "Oxford Open" model applies to the majority of their journals. OUP is a member of the Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association . OUP
8449-869: The fossil fuel industry between 2010 and 2015, £18.8 million between 2015 and 2020 and £1.6 million between 2020 and 2021. Daniel Robertson (architect) Daniel Robertson (died 1849) was a British architect. Robertson may have worked under Robert Adam in London, England; later he worked at Kew and Oxford . Robertson was an early exponent of the Norman Revival, designing both St Clement's Church, Oxford and St Swithun's parish church in Kennington, Berkshire (now in Oxfordshire ) in this style as early as 1828. Robertson then moved to Ireland , where he had considerable success and carried out commissions for notable country houses particularly in
8568-495: The gatekeepers themselves, the custodians, to be barbarians." Oxford's professor Valentine Cunningham wrote in the Times Higher Education Supplement : "Increasingly, (OUP) has behaved largely like a commercial outfit, with pound signs in its eyes and a readiness to dumb down for the sake of popularity and sales....Sacking poets not because they lose money but because they do not make enough of it: it
8687-519: The general reader, but also for schools and universities, under its Three Crowns Books imprint. Its territory includes Botswana , Lesotho , Swaziland , and Namibia , as well as South Africa, the biggest market of the five. OUP Southern Africa is now one of the three biggest educational publishers in South Africa. It focuses on publishing textbooks, dictionaries, atlases, supplementary material for schools, and university textbooks. Its author base
8806-631: The imperialist Cecil Rhodes in 1902. In 1996 a donation of £20 million was received from Wafic Saïd who was involved in the Al-Yammah arms deal , and taking £150 million from the US billionaire businessman Stephen A. Schwarzman in 2019. The university has defended its decisions saying it "takes legal, ethical and reputational issues into consideration". The university has also faced criticism, as noted above, over its decision to accept donations from fossil fuel companies having received £21.8 million from
8925-657: The information we received, we undertook further investigation and took the decision to retract the papers, in line with industry standard processes." University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford , England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the world's second-oldest university in continuous operation . It grew rapidly from 1167, when Henry II banned English students from attending
9044-473: The intention that this will equalise rates of firsts awarded to women and men at Oxford. That same summer, maths and computer science tests were extended by 15 minutes, in a bid to see if female student scores would improve. The detective novel Gaudy Night by Dorothy L. Sayers , herself one of the first women to gain an academic degree from Oxford, is largely set in the all-female Shrewsbury College, Oxford (based on Sayers' own Somerville College ), and
9163-502: The issue of women's education is central to its plot. Social historian and Somerville College alumna Jane Robinson 's book Bluestockings: A Remarkable History of the First Women to Fight for an Education gives a very detailed and immersive account of this history. The university is a "city university" in that it does not have a main campus; instead, colleges, departments, accommodation, and other facilities are scattered throughout
9282-428: The largest university press in the world; and the largest academic library system nationwide. In the fiscal year ending 31 July 2023, the university had a total consolidated income of £2.92 billion, of which £789 million was from research grants and contracts. Oxford has educated a wide range of notable alumni, including 31 prime ministers of the United Kingdom and many heads of state and government around
9401-465: The last of these had split into "Jurisprudence" and "Modern History". Theology became the sixth honour school. In addition to these B.A. Honours degrees, the postgraduate Bachelor of Civil Law (B.C.L.) was, and still is, offered. The mid-19th century saw the impact of the Oxford Movement (1833–1845), led among others by the future Cardinal John Henry Newman . Administrative reforms during
9520-435: The link with traditional belief and practice. Furthermore, although the university's emphasis had historically been on classical knowledge, its curriculum expanded during the 19th century to include scientific and medical studies. The University of Oxford began to award doctorates for research in the first third of the 20th century. The first Oxford DPhil in mathematics was awarded in 1921. The list of distinguished scholars at
9639-440: The list "just about breaks even. The university expects us to operate on commercial grounds, especially in this day and age." In the same article, the poet D. J. Enright , who had been with OUP since 1979, said, "There was no warning. It was presented as a fait accompli. Even the poetry editor didn't know....The money involved is peanuts. It's a good list, built up over many years." In February 1999, Arts Minister Alan Howarth made
9758-464: The medieval scholastic method to Renaissance education, although institutions associated with the university suffered losses of land and revenues. As a centre of learning and scholarship, Oxford's reputation declined in the Age of Enlightenment ; enrolments fell and teaching was neglected. In 1636, William Laud , the chancellor and Archbishop of Canterbury , codified the university's statutes. These, to
9877-455: The new "public benefit" requirement of the revised Charities Act, the issue was re-examined with particular reference to OUP.In the same year, Malcolm obtained and posted the documents of OUP’s applications to the Inland Revenue for tax exemption in the 1940s and 1950s (unsuccessful) and the 1970s (successful). In 2008, CUP's and OUP's privilege was attacked by rival publishers. In 2009, The Guardian invited Andrew Malcolm to write an article on
9996-409: The opportunity of making acquaintance with one another, and full liberty to live their lives in their own way, without evolving in the best among them, some admirable qualities of loyalty, independence, and self-control. If the average undergraduate carried from University little or no learning, which was of any service to him, he carried from it a knowledge of men and respect for his fellows and himself,
10115-547: The period were William Grocyn , who contributed to the revival of Greek language studies, and John Colet , the noted biblical scholar . With the English Reformation and the breaking of communion with the Roman Catholic Church , recusant scholars from Oxford fled to continental Europe, settling especially at the University of Douai . The method of teaching at Oxford was transformed from
10234-507: The press and became the university's Printer until he died in 1872. Combe was a better businessman than most Delegates but still no innovator: he failed to grasp the huge commercial potential of India paper , which grew into one of Oxford's most profitable trade secrets in later years. Even so, Combe earned a fortune through his shares in the business and the acquisition and renovation of the bankrupt paper mill at Wolvercote. Combe showed little interest, however, in producing fine printed work at
10353-470: The press began to take on its modern shape. Major new lines of work began. For example, in 1875, the Delegates approved the series Sacred Books of the East under the editorship of Friedrich Max Müller , bringing a vast range of religious thought to a wider readership. Equally, Price moved OUP towards publishing in its own right. The press had ended its relationship with Parker's in 1863 and, in 1870, bought
10472-448: The press moved into them in 1830. This site remains the principal office of OUP in the 21st century, at the corner of Walton Street and Great Clarendon Street , northwest of Oxford city centre. The press then entered an era of enormous change. In 1830, it was still a joint-stock printing business in an academic backwater, offering learned works to a relatively small readership of scholars and clerics At this time, Thomas Combe joined
10591-419: The press. The best-known text associated with his print shop was the flawed first edition of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland , printed by Oxford at the expense of its author Lewis Carroll (Charles Lutwidge Dodgson) in 1865. It took the 1850 Royal Commission on the workings of the university and a new Secretary, Bartholomew Price , to shake up the press. Appointed in 1868, Price had already recommended to
10710-440: The print shop on an efficient footing. Nonetheless, Randolph ignored this document, and it was not until Blackstone threatened legal action that changes began. The university had moved to adopt all of Blackstone's reforms by 1760. By the late 18th century, the press had become more focused. In 1825, the Delegates bought land on Walton Street. Buildings were constructed from plans drawn up by Daniel Robertson and Edward Blore , and
10829-571: The proposal get as far as the Finance Committee." Since the 1940s, both OUP and the Cambridge University Press (CUP), had made applications to the Inland Revenue for exemption from corporate tax. The first application, by CUP in 1940, was rejected "on the ground that, since the Press was printing and publishing for the outside world and not simply for the internal use of the University, the Press's trade went beyond
10948-572: The publication that led that process to its conclusion: the massive project that became the Oxford English Dictionary (OED). Offered to Oxford by James Murray and the Philological Society , the "New English Dictionary" was a grand academic and patriotic undertaking. Lengthy negotiations led to a formal contract. Murray was to edit a work estimated to take ten years and to cost approximately £9,000. Both figures were wildly optimistic. The Dictionary began appearing in print in 1884, but
11067-507: The purpose and objects of the University and (in terms of the Act) was not exercised in the course of the actual carrying out of a primary purpose of the University." Similar applications by OUP in 1944 and 1950 were also rejected by the Inland Revenue, whose officers repeatedly pointed out that the university presses were in open competition with commercial, tax-liable publishers. In November 1975, CUP's chief executive Geoffrey Cass again applied to
11186-440: The rise of organised sport was one of the most remarkable and distinctive features of the history of the universities of Oxford and Cambridge in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It was carried over from the athleticism prevalent at the public schools such as Eton , Winchester , Shrewsbury , and Harrow . All students, regardless of their chosen area of study, were required to spend (at least) their first year preparing for
11305-612: The running of the university's graduate programmes. Examples of statutory professors are the Chichele Professorships and the Drummond Professor of Political Economy . The University of Oxford is only a "public university" in the sense that it receives some public money from the government, but it is a "private university" in the sense that it is entirely self-governing and, in theory, could choose to become entirely private by rejecting public funds. To be
11424-613: The rural fastnesses to sell the press's stock as well as books published by firms whose agencies were held by the press, very often including fiction and light reading. In India, the Branch depots in Bombay, Madras, and Calcutta were imposing establishments with sizable stock inventories, for the Presidencies themselves were large markets, and the educational representatives there dealt mostly with upcountry trade. In 1923, OUP established
11543-403: The same time, private benefactors established colleges as self-contained scholarly communities. Among the earliest such founders were William of Durham , who in 1249 endowed University College , and John Balliol , father of a future King of Scots ; Balliol College bears his name. Another founder, Walter de Merton , a Lord Chancellor of England and afterwards Bishop of Rochester , devised
11662-580: The southeastern part of the country. His work was in both the Neoclassical style and then in the Gothic Revival style of the 1830s with which he may be most associated. Robertson's buildings include: In addition to numerous major country house commissions, Robertson was also particularly noted as a landscape designer. His greatest accomplishments in that field were at Powerscourt and Killruddery , both of which capture long-distance views of
11781-487: The spires in the city centre. The development has been likened to building a "skyscraper beside Stonehenge ". The University Parks are a 70-acre (28 ha) parkland area in the northeast of the city, near Keble College , Somerville College and Lady Margaret Hall . It is open to the public during daylight hours. There are also various college-owned open spaces open to the public, including Bagley Wood and most notably Christ Church Meadow . The Botanic Garden on
11900-603: The subject. In July 2012, the UK's Serious Fraud Office found OUP's branches in Kenya and Tanzania guilty of bribery to obtain school bookselling contracts sponsored by the World Bank. Oxford was fined £1.9 million "in recognition of sums it received which were generated through unlawful conduct" and barred from applying for World Bank-financed projects for three years. In December 2023, concerns were raised that OUP had published an academic paper based on genetic data taken from
12019-481: The time, and might be a source of satisfaction to him in after life. Out of the students who matriculated in 1840, 65% were sons of professionals (34% were Anglican ministers). After graduation, 87% became professionals (59% as Anglican clergy). Out of the students who matriculated in 1870, 59% were sons of professionals (25% were Anglican ministers). After graduation, 87% became professionals (42% as Anglican clergy). M. C. Curthoys and H. S. Jones argue that
12138-520: The universities of Oxford and Cambridge petitioning King Edward III . Thereafter, until the 1820s, no new universities were allowed to be founded in England, even in London; thus, Oxford and Cambridge had a duopoly, which was unusual in large western European countries. The new learning of the Renaissance greatly influenced Oxford from the late 15th century onwards. Among university scholars of
12257-422: The university and used for research in zoology and climate change . Colleges arrange the tutorial teaching for their undergraduates, and the members of an academic department are spread around many colleges. Though certain colleges do have subject alignments (e.g., Nuffield College as a centre for the social sciences), these are exceptions, and most colleges will have a broad mix of academics and students from
12376-407: The university and were given the right to take degrees. In 1927 the university's dons created a quota that limited the number of female students to a quarter that of men, a ruling which was not abolished until 1957. However, during this period Oxford colleges were single sex , so the number of women was also limited by the capacity of the women's colleges to admit students. It was not until 1959 that
12495-527: The university that the press needed an efficient executive officer to exercise "vigilant superintendence" of the business, including its dealings with Alexander Macmillan , who became the publisher for Oxford's printing in 1863 and 1866 helped Price to create the Clarendon Press series of cheap, elementary school books – perhaps the first time that Oxford used the Clarendon imprint. Under Price,
12614-428: The university, without their own royal charter ), and a range of academic departments which are organised into four divisions . Each college is a self-governing institution within the university, controlling its own membership and having its own internal structure and activities. All students are members of a college. The university does not have a main campus, but its buildings and facilities are scattered throughout
12733-724: The violence to Cambridge , later forming the University of Cambridge . The students associated together on the basis of geographical origins, into two ' nations ', representing the North ( northerners or Boreales , who included the English people from north of the River Trent and the Scots ) and the South ( southerners or Australes , who included English people from south of the Trent,
12852-466: The women's colleges were given full collegiate status. In 1974, Brasenose , Jesus , Wadham , Hertford and St Catherine's became the first previously all-male colleges to admit women. The majority of men's colleges accepted their first female students in 1979, with Christ Church following in 1980, and Oriel becoming the last men's college to admit women in 1985. Most of Oxford's graduate colleges were founded as coeducational establishments in
12971-465: The world, primarily in locations that were once part of the British Empire . The University of Oxford began printing around 1480 and became a major printer of Bibles, prayer books, and scholarly works. Oxford's chancellor Archbishop William Laud consolidated the legal status of the university's printing in the 1630s and petitioned Charles I for rights that would enable Oxford to compete with
13090-504: The world. As of October 2022, 73 Nobel Prize laureates , 4 Fields Medalists , and 6 Turing Award winners have matriculated, worked, or held visiting fellowships at the University of Oxford, while its alumni have won 160 Olympic medals . Oxford is the home of numerous scholarships, including the Rhodes Scholarship , one of the oldest international graduate scholarship programmes. The University of Oxford's foundation date
13209-573: Was about money, not prestige. Nor does the course of the litigation give any reason to suppose that the Press had any interest but to resist the claim, no matter on what grounds, so long as they succeeded." Lord Justice Leggatt added: "It is difficult to know what the Deputy Judge (Lightman) meant by a 'firm commitment' other than an intention to create legal relations. Nothing short of that would have had any value whatever for Mr Malcolm... To suggest that Mr Hardy intended to induce Mr Malcolm to revise
13328-426: Was always here, but I cannot make out what he did." By the early 20th century, OUP expanded its overseas trade, partly due to the efforts of Humphrey Milford , the publisher of the University of Oxford from 1913 to 1945. The 1920s saw skyrocketing prices of both materials and labour. Paper was hard to come by and had to be imported from South America through trading companies. Economies and markets slowly recovered as
13447-428: Was not such as to conduce to the advancement in life of many persons, except those intended for the ministry." Nevertheless, Walpole argued: Among the many deficiencies attending a university education there was, however, one good thing about it, and that was the education which the undergraduates gave themselves. It was impossible to collect some thousand or twelve hundred of the best young men in England, to give them
13566-707: Was not until 1939 that the Music Department showed its first profitable year. The Depression of 1929 dried profits from the Americas to a trickle, and India became 'the one bright spot' in an otherwise dismal picture. Bombay was the nodal point for distribution to the Africas and onward sale to Australasia, and people who trained at the three major depots later moved to pioneer branches in Africa and Southeast Asia. In 1927–1934 Oxford University Press, Inc., New York,
13685-446: Was not, in the trade, regarded as preventing a formal agreement from coming into existence. Candour would, I believe, have required that this should have been made clear to the judge and ourselves, rather than a determined refusal to let the true position come to light... This is not quite all. I do not know whether an outsider studying the history of this transaction and of this litigation would feel that, in his self-financed struggle with
13804-405: Was raised to £3 billion. The campaign had raised a total of £2.8 billion by July 2018. The university has faced criticism for some of its sources of donations and funding. In 2017, attention was drawn to historical donations including All Souls College receiving £10,000 from slave trader Christopher Codrington in 1710, and Oriel College having receiving taken £100,000 from the will of
13923-594: Was reorganised by Geoffrey Cumberlege to return it to profitability from the lows of the Depression years. (In 1945–1956, Cumberlege would succeed Milford as publisher to the University of Oxford). The period following World War II saw consolidation in the face of the breakup of the Empire and the post-war reorganization of the Commonwealth. In the 1960s, OUP Southern Africa started publishing local authors for
14042-581: Was reported in a front-page article in The Oxford Times , along with OUP's response. In March 2001, after a 28-year battle with the Indian tax authorities, OUP lost its tax exemption in India. The Supreme Court ruled that OUP was not tax exempt in the subcontinent "because it does not carry out any university activities there but acts simply as a commercial publisher". To pay off back taxes, owed since
14161-486: Was unacceptable to most of the other members. The two parties eventually split, and Talbot's group founded Lady Margaret Hall in 1878, while T. H. Green founded the non-denominational Somerville College in 1879. Lady Margaret Hall and Somerville opened their doors to their first 21 students (12 at Somerville, 9 at Lady Margaret Hall) in 1879, who attended lectures in rooms above an Oxford baker's shop. There were also 25 women students living at home or with friends in 1879,
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