94-475: Richard Bentley FRS ( / ˈ b ɛ n t l i / ; 27 January 1662 – 14 July 1742) was an English classical scholar , critic, and theologian. Considered the "founder of historical philology ", Bentley is widely credited with establishing the English school of Hellenism . In 1892, A. E. Housman called Bentley "the greatest scholar that England or perhaps that Europe ever bred". Bentley's Dissertation upon
188-609: A reference library and, in general, documents may not be removed from the reading rooms. In 2000, a number of libraries within the University of Oxford were brought together for administrative purposes under the aegis of what was initially known as Oxford University Library Services (OULS), and since 2010 as the Bodleian Libraries , of which the Bodleian Library is the largest component. All colleges of
282-763: A Chair (all of whom are Fellows of the Royal Society ). Members of the 10 Sectional Committees change every three years to mitigate in-group bias . Each Sectional Committee covers different specialist areas including: New Fellows are admitted to the Society at a formal admissions day ceremony held annually in July, when they sign the Charter Book and the Obligation which reads: "We who have hereunto subscribed, do hereby promise, that we will endeavour to promote
376-587: A college fellow , which would have been the more natural course to an academic career. Instead, he was appointed headmaster of Spalding Grammar School before he was 21 years old. Edward Stillingfleet , the dean of St Paul's Cathedral in London, hired Bentley as tutor to his son. This allowed Bentley to meet eminent scholars, have access to the best private library in England, and become familiar with Dean Stillingfleet. During his six years as tutor, Bentley also made
470-544: A comprehensive study of Greek and Latin writers, storing up knowledge which he would use later in his scholarship. In 1689, Stillingfleet became bishop of Worcester and Bentley's pupil went up to Wadham College, Oxford , accompanied by his tutor. At Oxford, Bentley soon met John Mill , Humphrey Hody , and Edward Bernard . He studied the manuscripts of the Bodleian , Corpus Christi , and other college libraries. He collected material for literary studies. Among these are
564-752: A corpus of the fragments of the Greek poets and an edition of the Greek lexicographers . The Oxford (Sheldonian) press was about to bring out an edition (the editio princeps ) from the unique manuscript of the Chronographia in the Bodleian Library . It was a universal history (down to AD 560) in Greek by John Malalas or "John the Rhetor" of Antioch (date uncertain, between 600 and 1000). The editor, John Mill, principal of St Edmund Hall , asked Bentley to review it and make any pertinent remarks on
658-401: A dedication of his Horace to the lord treasurer (Harley). The Crown lawyers decided against him; the case was heard (1714) and a sentence of expulsion from the mastership was drawn up. Before it was executed, the bishop of Ely died and the process lapsed. The feud continued in various forms at lower levels. In 1718 Cambridge rescinded Bentley's degrees, as punishment for failing to appear in
752-681: A fear that Oxford would be bombed, and a volunteer fire brigade was trained and ready, but Oxford escaped the First World War without being bombed. By the 1920s, the Library needed further expansion space, and in 1937 building work began on the New Bodleian building, opposite the Clarendon Building on the northeast corner of Broad Street . The New Bodleian was designed by architect Sir Giles Gilbert Scott . Construction
846-567: A grandson of Richard Cumberland the bishop of Peterborough , and himself later a bishop of the Church of Ireland . Their son Richard Cumberland developed as a prolific dramatist while earning his living as a civil servant. In old age, Bentley continued to read and enjoyed the society of his friends and of several rising scholars, including Jeremiah Markland , John Taylor , and his nephews Richard and Thomas Bentley, with whom he discussed classical subjects. He died of pleurisy on 14 July 1742, at
940-531: A letter to William Wake , Archbishop of Canterbury , Bentley announced his plan to prepare a critical edition of the New Testament . During the next four years, assisted by J. J. Wetstein , an eminent biblical critic, he collected materials for the work. In 1720 he published Proposals for a New Edition of the Greek Testament , with examples of how he intended to proceed. By comparing the text of
1034-541: A man who was perfrictae frontis aut judicii imminuti (boldfaced and lacking in judgment). For Graevius's Callimachus (1697), Bentley added a collection of the fragments with notes. He wrote the Dissertation on the Epistles of Phalaris (1699), his major academic work, almost accidentally. In 1697, William Wotton , about to bring out a second edition of his Ancient and Modern Learning , asked Bentley to write out
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#17327725857741128-547: A paper exposing the spuriousness of the Epistles of Phalaris , long a subject of academic controversy. The Christ Church editor of Phalaris, Charles Boyle , resented Bentley's paper. He had already quarrelled with Bentley in trying to get the manuscript in the royal library collated for his edition (1695). Boyle wrote a response which was accepted by the reading public, although it was much later criticised as showing only superficial learning. The demand for Boyle's book required
1222-538: A popular location for filmmakers, representing either Oxford University or other locations. It can be seen in the opening scene of The Golden Compass (2007), Brideshead Revisited (1981 TV serial), Another Country (1984), The Madness of King George III (1994), and the first two, as well as the fourth, Harry Potter films, in which the Divinity School doubles as the Hogwarts hospital wing and
1316-553: A royal chaplaincy and the living of Hartlebury . That same year, he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society , and in 1696 earned the degree of Doctor of Divinity . The scholar Johann Georg Graevius of Utrecht made a dedication to him, prefixed to a dissertation on the seventeenth-century scholar Albert Rubens , De Vita Fl. Mallii Theodori (1694). Bentley had official apartments in St. James's Palace and his first care
1410-475: A second printing. When Bentley responded, it was with his dissertation. The truth of its conclusions was not immediately recognised, but it has a high reputation. In 1700, the commissioners of ecclesiastical patronage recommended Bentley to the Crown for the mastership of Trinity College, Cambridge . He arrived an outsider and proceeded to reform the college administration. He started a programme of renovations to
1504-1326: Is a significant honour. It has been awarded to many eminent scientists throughout history, including Isaac Newton (1672), Benjamin Franklin (1756), Charles Babbage (1816), Michael Faraday (1824), Charles Darwin (1839), Ernest Rutherford (1903), Srinivasa Ramanujan (1918), Jagadish Chandra Bose (1920), Albert Einstein (1921), Paul Dirac (1930), Winston Churchill (1941), Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar (1944), Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis (1945), Dorothy Hodgkin (1947), Alan Turing (1951), Lise Meitner (1955), Satyendra Nath Bose (1958), and Francis Crick (1959). More recently, fellowship has been awarded to Stephen Hawking (1974), David Attenborough (1983), Tim Hunt (1991), Elizabeth Blackburn (1992), Raghunath Mashelkar (1998), Tim Berners-Lee (2001), Venki Ramakrishnan (2003), Atta-ur-Rahman (2006), Andre Geim (2007), Bai Chunli (2014), James Dyson (2015), Ajay Kumar Sood (2015), Subhash Khot (2017), Elon Musk (2018), Elaine Fuchs (2019) and around 8,000 others in total, including over 280 Nobel Laureates since 1900. As of October 2018 , there are approximately 1,689 living Fellows, Foreign and Honorary Members, of whom 85 are Nobel Laureates. Fellowship of
1598-523: Is a sort of savage nobility about his firm reliance on his own bad taste". Bentley never published his planned edition of Homer , but some of his manuscript and marginal notes are held by Trinity College. Their chief importance is in his attempt to restore the metre by the insertion of the lost digamma . According to the anonymous author of his biography in the Encyclopaedia Britannica Eleventh Edition , Bentley
1692-507: Is believed to be lost. After being ordained , Bentley was promoted to a prebendal stall in Worcester Cathedral . In 1693 the curator of the royal library became vacant, and his friends tried to obtain the position for Bentley, but did not have enough influence. The new librarian, a Mr Thynne, resigned in favour of Bentley, on condition that he receive an annuity of £130 for life out of the £200 salary. In 1695 Bentley received
1786-737: Is confirmed by the Council in April, and a secret ballot of Fellows is held at a meeting in May. A candidate is elected if they secure two-thirds of votes of those Fellows voting. An indicative allocation of 18 Fellowships can be allocated to candidates from Physical Sciences and Biological Sciences; and up to 10 from Applied Sciences, Human Sciences and Joint Physical and Biological Sciences. A further maximum of six can be 'Honorary', 'General' or 'Royal' Fellows. Nominations for Fellowship are peer reviewed by Sectional Committees, each with at least 12 members and
1880-421: Is nominated by two Fellows of the Royal Society (a proposer and a seconder), who sign a certificate of proposal. Previously, nominations required at least five fellows to support each nomination by the proposer, which was criticised for supposedly establishing an old boy network and elitist gentlemen's club . The certificate of election (see for example ) includes a statement of the principal grounds on which
1974-555: Is noted and known for a diligent Student, and in all his conversation to be trusty, active, and discreet, a graduate also and a Linguist, not encumbered with marriage, nor with a benefice of Cure", although James was able to persuade Bodley to let him get married and to become Rector of St Aldate's Church , Oxford. James said of the Bodleian's collections, "The like Librarie is no where to be found." In all, 25 have served as Bodley's Librarian; their levels of diligence have varied over
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#17327725857742068-598: The English Civil War , leaving the family in reduced circumstances. Bentley's mother, the daughter of a stonemason , had some education, and was able to give her son his first lessons in Latin . After attending grammar school in Wakefield , Bentley entered St John's College, Cambridge in 1676. He afterwards obtained a scholarship and received the degrees of BA in 1680 and MA in 1683. Bentley never became
2162-481: The Gladstone Link . In 1914, the total number of books in the library's collections exceeded 1 million. By 1915, only one quarter of the revised catalogue had been completed, a task made more difficult by library staff going into the war effort , either serving in the armed forces or volunteering to serve in the hospitals. In July 1915, the most valuable books had been moved into a secret location due to
2256-743: The Radcliffe Camera . In 1861, the library's medical and scientific collections were transferred to the Radcliffe Science Library , which had been built farther north next to the University Museum . The Clarendon Building was designed by Nicholas Hawksmoor and built between 1711 and 1715, originally to house the printing presses of the Oxford University Press . It was vacated by the Press in
2350-587: The Regius Professor of Divinity at the University of Cambridge . As professor at Cambridge, Bentley introduced the first competitive written examinations in a Western university. A fellow of the Royal Society , Bentley was interested in natural theology and the new physical sciences , subjects on which he corresponded with Isaac Newton . Bentley was in charge of the second edition of Newton's Principia Mathematica , although he delegated most of
2444-759: The Vulgate with that of the oldest Greek manuscripts, Bentley proposed to restore the Greek text as received by the church at the time of the Council of Nicaea . Bentley's lead manuscript was Codex Alexandrinus , which he described as "the oldest and best in the world." The manuscript was so precious to him that he rescued it from perishing in the Ashburnham House fire of 1731, during which many other Cotton Library manuscripts were destroyed. Bentley used also manuscripts: 51 , 54 , 60 , 113 , 440 , 507 , and 508 . John Walker worked over many manuscripts for
2538-426: The post-nominal letters FRS . Every year, fellows elect up to ten new foreign members. Like fellows, foreign members are elected for life through peer review on the basis of excellence in science. As of 2016 , there are around 165 foreign members, who are entitled to use the post-nominal ForMemRS . Honorary Fellowship is an honorary academic title awarded to candidates who have given distinguished service to
2632-525: The Bodleian Library, in its current incarnation, has a continuous history dating back to 1602, its roots date back even further. The first purpose-built library known to have existed in Oxford was founded in the 14th century under the will of Thomas Cobham , Bishop of Worcester (d. 1327). This small collection of chained books was situated above the north side of the University Church of St Mary
2726-565: The Bodleian brand. The building was nominated for the 2016 Sterling Prize . In November 2015, its collections topped 12 million items with the acquisition of Shelley's " Poetical Essay on the Existing State of Things ". Thought lost from shortly after its publication in 1811 until a copy was rediscovered in a private collection in 2006, the Bodleian has digitised the 20-page pamphlet for online access. The controversial poem and accompanying essay are believed to have contributed to
2820-416: The Bodleian's collection. Anyone who wanted to use the Bodleian had to buy a copy of the 1620 library catalogue at a cost of 2 shillings and 8 pence. By the time of Bodley's death in 1613, his planned further expansion to the library was just starting. The Schools Quadrangle (sometimes referred to as the "Old Schools Quadrangle", or the "Old Library") was built between 1613 and 1619 by adding three wings to
2914-489: The Books . In a university where the instruction of youth or the religious controversy of the day was the chief occupation, Bentley was unique. His learning and original views seem to have been developed before 1700. After this period, he acquired little and made only spasmodic efforts to publish. However A. E. Housman believed that the edition of Manilius (1739) was Bentley's greatest work. Attribution: Fellow of
Richard Bentley - Misplaced Pages Continue
3008-498: The English school of Hellenists, by which the 18th century was distinguished, including scholars such as Richard Dawes , Jeremiah Markland , John Taylor , Jonathan Toup , Thomas Tyrwhitt , Richard Porson , Peter Paul Dobree , Thomas Kidd and James Henry Monk . Although the Dutch school of the period had its own tradition, it was also influenced by Bentley. His letters to Tiberius Hemsterhuis on his edition of Julius Pollux made
3102-471: The Epistles of Phalaris , published in 1699, proved that the letters in question, supposedly written in the 6th century BCE by the Sicilian tyrant Phalaris , were actually a forgery produced by a Greek sophist in the 2nd century CE. Bentley's investigation of the subject is still regarded as a landmark of textual criticism . He also showed that the sound represented in transcriptions of some Greek dialects by
3196-593: The Proscholium and Arts End. Its tower forms the main entrance to the library, and is known as the Tower of the Five Orders . The Tower is so named because it is ornamented, in ascending order, with the columns of each of the five orders of classical architecture : Tuscan , Doric , Ionic , Corinthian and Composite . The three wings of the quadrangle have three floors: rooms on the ground and upper floors of
3290-551: The Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society ( FRS , ForMemRS and HonFRS ) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge , including mathematics , engineering science , and medical science ". Fellowship of the Society, the oldest known scientific academy in continuous existence,
3384-439: The Royal Society has been described by The Guardian as "the equivalent of a lifetime achievement Oscar " with several institutions celebrating their announcement each year. Up to 60 new Fellows (FRS), honorary (HonFRS) and foreign members (ForMemRS) are elected annually in late April or early May, from a pool of around 700 proposed candidates each year. New Fellows can only be nominated by existing Fellows for one of
3478-538: The Selden End. The novel also features one of the library's Ashmole manuscripts (Ashmole 782) as a central element of the book. Medieval historian Dominic Selwood set part of his 2013 crypto-thriller The Sword of Moses in Duke Humfrey's library , and the novel hinges on the library's copy of a magical medieval Hebrew manuscript known as " The Sword of Moses ". The Library's architecture has made it
3572-663: The Society, we shall be free from this Obligation for the future". Since 2014, portraits of Fellows at the admissions ceremony have been published without copyright restrictions in Wikimedia Commons under a more permissive Creative Commons license which allows wider re-use. In addition to the main fellowships of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS & HonFRS), other fellowships are available which are applied for by individuals, rather than through election. These fellowships are research grant awards and holders are known as Royal Society Research Fellows . In addition to
3666-468: The Strasbourg company Treuttel & Würtz . A large collection of medieval Italian manuscripts was bought from Matteo Luigi Canonici in 1817. In 1829, the library bought the collection of Rabbi David Oppenheim , adding to its Hebrew collection. By the late 19th century, further growth of the library demanded more expansion space. In 1860, the library was allowed to take over the adjacent building,
3760-520: The University of Oxford have their own libraries, which in a number of cases were established well before the foundation of the Bodleian, and all of which remain entirely independent of the Bodleian. They do, however, participate in SOLO (Search Oxford Libraries Online), the Bodleian Libraries' online union catalogue , except for University College , which has an independent catalogue. Much of
3854-559: The Virgin on the High Street. This collection continued to grow steadily, but when Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester (brother of Henry V of England ) donated a great collection of manuscripts between 1435 and 1437, the space was deemed insufficient and a larger building was required. A suitable room was finally built above the Divinity School , and completed in 1488. This room continues to be known as Duke Humfrey's Library . After 1488,
Richard Bentley - Misplaced Pages Continue
3948-513: The age of 80. Bentley left about £5,000 in his estate (which would have the buying power of nearly £500,000 in 2010). He bequeathed a few Greek manuscripts, brought from Mount Athos , to the Trinity College library and the remainder of his books and papers to his nephew Richard Bentley, a fellow of Trinity. At his own death in 1786, the younger Bentley left the papers to the Trinity College library. The British Museum eventually purchased
4042-614: The anonymous author of his biography in the Encyclopaedia Britannica Eleventh Edition, Bentley was the first Englishman to be ranked with the great heroes of classical learning. Before him there were only John Selden , and, in a more restricted field, Thomas Gataker and John Pearson . Bentley inaugurated a new era of the art of criticism. He opened a new path. With him criticism attained its majority. Where scholars had hitherto offered suggestions and conjectures, Bentley, with unlimited control over
4136-478: The award of Fellowship (FRS, HonFRS & ForMemRS) and the Research Fellowships described above, several other awards, lectures and medals of the Royal Society are also given. Bodleian Library The Bodleian Library ( / ˈ b ɒ d l i ən , b ɒ d ˈ l iː ən / ) is the main research library of the University of Oxford . Founded in 1602 by Sir Thomas Bodley , it is one of
4230-505: The books, many of which had valuable manuscript notes, and holds them in its collection. Bentley is honoured to this day at Spalding Grammar School , where he was once headmaster. One of the 6 houses that students are sorted into is named Bentley after him, with the students wearing the colour blue on their ties and on sporting items. Furthermore, the school releases an annual magazine named the Bentlian, also named after him. According to
4324-524: The buildings, and used his position to promote learning. He is also credited by the British mathematician Rouse Ball with starting the first written examinations in the West in 1702, all those prior to this being oral in nature. At the same time, he antagonised the fellows, and the capital programme caused reductions in their incomes, which they resented. After ten years of stubborn but ineffectual resistance,
4418-612: The cause of science, but do not have the kind of scientific achievements required of Fellows or Foreign Members. Honorary Fellows include the World Health Organization's Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (2022), Bill Bryson (2013), Melvyn Bragg (2010), Robin Saxby (2015), David Sainsbury, Baron Sainsbury of Turville (2008), Onora O'Neill (2007), John Maddox (2000), Patrick Moore (2001) and Lisa Jardine (2015). Honorary Fellows are entitled to use
4512-494: The company to put a copy of every book registered with them in the library. The Bodleian collection grew so fast that the building was expanded between 1610 and 1612 (known as the Arts End), and again in 1634–1637. When John Selden died in 1654, he left the Bodleian his large collection of books and manuscripts. The later addition to Duke Humfrey's Library continues to be known as the "Selden End". By 1620, 16,000 items were in
4606-979: The declaration is as follows: I hereby undertake not to remove from the Library, nor to mark, deface, or injure in any way, any volume, document or other object belonging to it or in its custody; not to bring into the Library, or kindle therein, any fire or flame, and not to smoke in the Library; and I promise to obey all rules of the Library. This is a translation of the traditional Latin oath (the original version of which did not forbid tobacco smoking, though libraries were then unheated because fires were so hazardous): Do fidem me nullum librum vel instrumentum aliamve quam rem ad bibliothecam pertinentem, vel ibi custodiae causa depositam, aut e bibliotheca sublaturum esse, aut foedaturum deformaturum aliove quo modo laesurum; item neque ignem nec flammam in bibliothecam inlaturum vel in ea accensurum, neque fumo nicotiano aliove quovis ibi usurum; item promitto me omnes leges ad bibliothecam Bodleianam attinentes semper observaturum esse. Whilst
4700-424: The early 19th century, and used by the university for administrative purposes. In 1975, it was handed over to the Bodleian Library, and now provides office and meeting space for senior members of staff. In 1907, the head librarian, Nicholson, had begun a project to revise the catalogue of printed books. In 1909, the prime minister of Nepal, Chandra Shum Shere , donated a large collection of Sanskrit literature to
4794-469: The end, publishing it in 1711 to gain public support at a critical period of the Trinity quarrel. In the preface, he declared his intention of confining his attention to criticism and correction of the text. Some of his 700 or 800 emendations have been accepted, but the majority were rejected by the early 20th century as unnecessary, although scholars acknowledged they showed his wide learning. In 1716, in
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#17327725857744888-582: The establishment of the British Museum in 1753, the Bodleian was effectively the national library of England. By then the Bodleian, Cambridge University Library and the Royal Library were the most extensive book collections in England and Wales. The astronomer Thomas Hornsby observed the transit of Venus from the Tower of the Five Orders in 1769. The library was significantly supplied by
4982-459: The fellows appealed to the Visitor, the bishop of Ely ( John Moore ). Their petition was full of general complaints. Bentley's reply ( The Present State of Trinity College , etc., 1710) is in his most crushing style. The fellows amended their petition and added a charge of Bentley's having committed 54 breaches of the statutes. Bentley appealed directly to the Crown, and backed his application with
5076-528: The fellowships described below: Every year, up to 52 new fellows are elected from the United Kingdom, the rest of the Commonwealth of Nations , and Ireland, which make up around 90% of the society. Each candidate is considered on their merits and can be proposed from any sector of the scientific community. Fellows are elected for life on the basis of excellence in science and are entitled to use
5170-496: The feud continued until 1738 or 1740 (about thirty years in all), Bentley remained in his post. During his mastership, except for the first two years, Bentley continuously pursued his studies, although he did not publish much. In 1709 he contributed a critical appendix to John Davies 's edition of Cicero 's Tusculan Disputations . In the following year, he published his emendations on the Plutus and Nubes of Aristophanes , and on
5264-467: The first series of lectures ("A Confutation of Atheism"), he endeavours to present Newtonian physics in a popular form, and to frame them (especially in opposition to Hobbes ) into a proof of the existence of an intelligent Creator. He had some correspondence with Newton, then living in Trinity College, Cambridge , on the subject. The second series, preached in 1694, has not been published and
5358-483: The fragments of Menander and Philemon . He published the last work under the pen name of "Phileleutherus Lipsiensis." He used it again two years later in his Remarks on a late Discourse of Freethinking , a reply to Anthony Collins the deist . The university thanked him for this work and its support of the Anglican Church and clergy. Although he had long studied Horace, Bentley wrote his edition quickly in
5452-540: The good of the Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, and to pursue the ends for which the same was founded; that we will carry out, as far as we are able, those actions requested of us in the name of the Council; and that we will observe the Statutes and Standing Orders of the said Society. Provided that, whensoever any of us shall signify to the President under our hands, that we desire to withdraw from
5546-713: The latter one of Bentley's most devoted admirers. Bentley inspired a following generation of scholars. Self-taught, he created his own discipline; but no contemporary English guild of learning could measure his power or check his eccentricities. He defeated his academic adversaries in the Phalaris controversy. The attacks by Alexander Pope (he was assigned a niche in The Dunciad ), John Arbuthnot and others demonstrated their inability to appreciate his work, as they considered textual criticism as pedantry. His classical controversies also called forth Jonathan Swift 's Battle of
5640-467: The letter digamma appeared also in Homeric poetry, even though it was not represented there in writing by any letter. Bentley became Master of Trinity College, Cambridge in 1700. His autocratic manner and contemptuous treatment of the college fellows led to extensive controversy and litigation, but he remained in that post until his death, more than four decades later. In 1717 Bentley was appointed as
5734-486: The library a copy of The Advancement of Learning and described the Bodleian as "an Ark to save learning from deluge". At this time, there were few books written in English held in the library, partially because academic work was not done in English. Thomas James suggested that Bodley should ask the Stationers' Company to provide a copy of all books printed to the Bodleian and in 1610 Bodley made an agreement with
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#17327725857745828-470: The library in March 1598. Duke Humfrey's Library was refitted, and Bodley donated some of his own books to furnish it. The library was formally re-opened on 8 November 1602 under the name "Bodleian Library" (officially Bodley's Library). There were around 2000 books in the library at this time, with an ornate Benefactor's Register displayed prominently, to encourage donations. Early benefactors were motivated by
5922-422: The library's archives were digitized and put online for public access in 2015. The Bodleian Library occupies a group of five buildings near Broad Street : the 15th-century Duke Humfrey's Library , the 17th-century Schools Quadrangle, the 18th-century Clarendon Building and Radcliffe Camera , and the 20th- and 21st-century Weston Library . Since the 19th century, underground stores have been constructed, while
6016-714: The library. In 1911, the Copyright Act (now superseded by the Legal Deposit Libraries Act 2003 ) continued the Stationers' agreement by making the Bodleian one of the six (at that time) libraries covering legal deposit in the United Kingdom where a copy of each published book must be deposited. Between 1909 and 1912, an underground bookstack was constructed beneath the Radcliffe Camera and Radcliffe Square , known since 2011 as
6110-466: The most fragile items in the library's collection, and these are substituted for the originals whenever possible. The library publishes digital images of objects in its collection through its Digital Bodleian service. The head of the Bodleian Library is known as "Bodley's Librarian". The first librarian, Thomas James , was selected by Bodley in 1599, and the university confirmed James in his post in 1602. Bodley wanted his librarian to be "some one that
6204-466: The oldest libraries in Europe . With over 13 million printed items, it is the second-largest library in Britain after the British Library . Under the Legal Deposit Libraries Act 2003 , it is one of six legal deposit libraries for works published in the United Kingdom, and under Irish law it is entitled to request a copy of each book published in the Republic of Ireland. Known to Oxford scholars as "Bodley" or "the Bod", it operates principally as
6298-733: The poet being sent down from Oxford University . The library operates a strict policy on copying of material. Until fairly recently, personal photocopying of library material was not permitted, as there was concern that copying and excessive handling would result in damage. However, individuals may now copy most material produced after 1900, and a staff-mediated service is provided for certain types of material dated between 1801 and 1900. Handheld scanners and digital cameras are also permitted for use on most post-1900 publications and digital cameras may also be used, with permission, with older material. The Library will supply digital scans of most pre-1801 material. Microform copies have been made of many of
6392-460: The post nominal letters HonFRS . Statute 12 is a legacy mechanism for electing members before official honorary membership existed in 1997. Fellows elected under statute 12 include David Attenborough (1983) and John Palmer, 4th Earl of Selborne (1991). The Council of the Royal Society can recommend members of the British royal family for election as Royal Fellow of the Royal Society . As of 2023 there are four royal fellows: Elizabeth II
6486-439: The principal off-site storage area is located at South Marston on the edge of Swindon . Before being granted access to the library, new readers are required to agree to a formal declaration. This declaration was traditionally an oral oath, but is now usually made by signing a letter to a similar effect. Ceremonies in which readers recite the declaration are still performed for those who wish to take them; these occur primarily at
6580-470: The project, particularly in Paris with the help of the Maurists . Numerous subscribers were obtained to support publication of the work, but he never completed it. His Terence (1726) is more important than his Horace ; next to the Phalaris , this most determined his reputation. In 1726 he also published the Fables of Phaedrus and the Sententiae of Publilius Syrus . His Paradise Lost (1732), suggested by Queen Caroline , has been criticised as
6674-493: The proposal is being made. There is no limit on the number of nominations made each year. In 2015, there were 654 candidates for election as Fellows and 106 candidates for Foreign Membership. The Council of the Royal Society oversees the selection process and appoints 10 subject area committees, known as Sectional Committees, to recommend the strongest candidates for election to the Fellowship. The final list of up to 52 Fellowship candidates and up to 10 Foreign Membership candidates
6768-433: The quadrangle (excluding Duke Humfrey's Library , above the Divinity School ) were originally used as lecture space and an art gallery. The lecture rooms are still indicated by the inscriptions over the doors (see illustration). As the library's collections expanded, these rooms were gradually taken over, the university lectures and examinations were moved into the newly created University Schools building. The art collection
6862-503: The recent memory of the Reformation to donate books in the hopes that they would be kept safe. Bodley's collecting interests were varied; according to the library's historian Ian Philip, as early as June 1603 he was attempting to source manuscripts from Turkey, and it was during "the same year that the first Chinese book was acquired", despite no-one at Oxford being able to understand them at that time. In 1605, Francis Bacon gave
6956-526: The scientific work involved to his pupil Roger Cotes . Richard Bentley was born at his maternal grandparents' home at Oulton near Rothwell , Leeds , West Yorkshire, in northern England. A blue plaque near his birthplace commemorates the fact. His father was Thomas Bentley, a yeoman farmer of Oulton. His grandfather, Captain James Bentley, is said to have suffered for the Royalist cause following
7050-403: The small circle of classical students (lacking the great critical dictionaries of modern times), it was obvious that he was a critic beyond the ordinary. In 1690, Bentley had taken deacon 's orders. In 1692 he was nominated first Boyle lecturer , a nomination repeated in 1694. He was offered the appointment a third time in 1695 but declined it, as he was involved in too many other activities. In
7144-451: The start of the university's Michaelmas term . External readers (those not attached to the university) are still required to recite the declaration orally prior to admission. The Bodleian Admissions Office has amassed a large collection of translations of the declaration – covering over one hundred different languages as of spring 2017 – allowing those who are not native English speakers to recite it in their first language. The English text of
7238-474: The steady execution of any of the major projects he had started. In 1694, he designed an edition of Philostratus , but abandoned it to Gottfried Olearius (1672–1715), "to the joy," says F. A. Wolf , "of Olearius and of no one else." He supplied Graevius with collations of Cicero , and Joshua Barnes with a warning as to the spuriousness of the Epistles of Euripides . Barnes printed the epistles anyway and declared that no one could doubt their authenticity but
7332-586: The text. Bentley wrote the Epistola ad Johannem Millium , which is about a hundred pages long and was included at the end of the Oxford Malalas (1691). That short treatise placed Bentley ahead of all living English scholars. The ease with which he restored corrupted passages, the certainty of his emendation and command over the relevant material, are in a style totally different from the careful and laborious learning of Hody , Mill or Edmund Chilmead . To
7426-486: The underground bookstack, reached at night by sliding down the "Mendip cleft", a chute concealed in Radcliffe Square . Since J. R. R. Tolkien had studied philology at Oxford and eventually became a professor, many of Tolkien's manuscripts are now at the library. Historian and novelist Deborah Harkness , set much of the early part of her 2011 novel, A Discovery of Witches , in the Bodleian, particularly
7520-445: The university stopped spending money on the library's upkeep and acquisitions, and manuscripts began to go unreturned to the library. The library went through a period of decline in the late 16th century: the library's furniture was sold, and only three of the original books belonging to Duke Humphrey remained in the collection. During the reign of Edward VI , there was a purge of "superstitious" (Catholic-related) manuscripts. It
7614-409: The vice-chancellor's court in a civil suit. It was not until 1724 that he had them restored under the law. In 1733 the fellows of Trinity again brought Bentley to trial before the bishop of Ely (then Thomas Greene ), and he was sentenced to deprivation. The college statutes required the sentence to be executed by the vice-master Richard Walker , who was a friend of Bentley and refused to act. Although
7708-496: The weakest of his work. He suggested that the poet John Milton had employed both an amanuensis and an editor, who were responsible for clerical errors and interpolations, but it is unclear whether Bentley believed his own position. A. E. Housman , who called him "the greatest scholar that England or perhaps that Europe ever bred" nevertheless criticised his poetic sensibility severely: "we are not all so easily found out as Bentley, because we have not Bentley's intrepid candour. There
7802-471: The whole material of learning, gave decisions The modern German school of philology recognised his genius. Bunsen wrote that Bentley "was the founder of historical philology." Jakob Bernays says of his corrections of the Tristia , "corruptions which had hitherto defied every attempt even of the mightiest, were removed by a touch of the fingers of this British Samson ". Bentley was credited with creating
7896-534: The years. Thomas Lockey (1660–1665) was regarded as not fit for the post, John Hudson (1701–1719) has been described as "negligent if not incapable", and John Price (1768–1813) was accused by a contemporary scholar of "a regular and constant neglect of his duty". Sarah Thomas , who served from 2007 to 2013, was the first woman to hold the position, and the second Librarian (after her predecessor, Reginald Carr ) also to be Director of Oxford University Library Services (now Bodleian Libraries). Thomas, an American,
7990-675: Was a former fellow of Merton College , who had recently married a wealthy widow, and the son of John Bodley (d. 15 Oct. 1591) a Protestant merchant who chose foreign exile rather than staying in England under the Roman Catholic government of Queen Mary , and was thereby involved in Rowland Hill's publication of the Geneva Bible . Six of the Oxford University dons were tasked with helping Bodley in refitting
8084-482: Was also the first foreign librarian to run the Bodleian. Her successor from January 2014 is Richard Ovenden , who was Deputy Librarian under Thomas. The Bodleian is one of the libraries consulted by Christine Greenaway (one of Bodley's librarians) in Colin Dexter 's Inspector Morse novel The Wench is Dead (1989). The denouement of Michael Innes 's Operation Pax (1951) is set in an imaginary version of
8178-582: Was completed in 1940. The building was of an innovative ziggurat design, with 60% of the bookstack below ground level. A tunnel under Broad Street connects the Old and New Bodleian buildings, and contains a pedestrian walkway, a mechanical book conveyor and a pneumatic Lamson tube system which was used for book orders until an electronic automated stack request system was introduced in 2002. The Lamson tube system continued to be used by readers requesting manuscripts to be delivered to Duke Humfrey's Library until it
8272-512: Was designed by WilkinsonEyre and the MEP design was undertaken by engineering consultancy Hurley Palmer Flatt . It reopened to readers as the Weston Library on 21 March 2015. In March 2010, the group of libraries known collectively as "Oxford University Library Services" was renamed " The Bodleian Libraries ", thus allowing those Oxford members outside the Bodleian to acquire the gloss of
8366-421: Was not a Royal Fellow, but provided her patronage to the society, as all reigning British monarchs have done since Charles II of England . Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (1951) was elected under statute 12, not as a Royal Fellow. The election of new fellows is announced annually in May, after their nomination and a period of peer-reviewed selection. Each candidate for Fellowship or Foreign Membership
8460-539: Was not until 1598 that the library began to thrive once more, when Thomas Bodley wrote to the Vice Chancellor of the university offering to support the development of the library: "where there hath bin hertofore a publike library in Oxford: which you know is apparent by the rome it self remayning, and by your statute records I will take the charge and cost upon me, to reduce it again to his former use." Bodley
8554-567: Was self-assertive and presumptuous, which alienated some people. But, James Henry Monk , Bentley's biographer, charged him (in his first edition, 1830) with an indecorum of which he was not guilty. Bentley seemed to inspire mixed feelings of admiration and repugnance. In 1701, Bentley married Joanna (died 1740), daughter of Sir John Bernard, 2nd Baronet of Brampton, Huntingdonshire . They had three children together: Richard (1708–1782), an eccentric, playwright and artist, and two daughters. Their daughter Johanna married Denison Cumberland in 1728,
8648-794: Was the royal library in Ashburnham House . He worked to restore the collection from a dilapidated condition. He persuaded the Earl of Marlborough to ask for additional rooms in the palace for the books. This was granted, but Marlborough kept them for his personal use. Bentley enforced the law, ensuring that publishers delivered nearly one thousand volumes that had been purchased but not delivered. The University of Cambridge commissioned Bentley to obtain Greek and Latin fonts for their classical books; he had these made in Holland. He assisted John Evelyn in his Numismata . Bentley did not settle down to
8742-523: Was transferred to the Ashmolean . One of the schools was used to host exhibitions of the library's treasures, now moved to the renovated Weston Library, whilst the others are used as offices and meeting rooms for the library administrators, a readers' common room, and a small gift shop. The agreement with the Stationers' Company meant that the growth of stock was constant and there were also a number of large bequests and acquisitions for other reasons. Until
8836-479: Was turned off in July 2009. In 2010, it was announced that the conveyor, which had been transporting books under Broad Street since the 1940s, would be shut down and dismantled on 20 August 2010. The New Bodleian closed on 29 July 2011 prior to rebuilding. The New Bodleian building was rebuilt behind its original façade to provide improved storage facilities for rare and fragile material, as well as better facilities for readers and visitors. The new building concept
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