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Bodleian Libraries reach the milestone of 1 millionth image online for public access

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 The Bodleian Libraries has reached a significant milestone in its online digital library allowing over 1 million images from its collections to be seen and freely used anywhere in the world.  

aunched in 2015, the Digital Bodleian website is a free resource for everyone that covers everything from beautifully illuminated manuscripts from medieval Europe and centuries-old maps to Victorian board games and British political election posters from the last 100 years. Over the past six years it has grown and grown, offering a wide range of access to the Bodleian’s stunning collections.  

The one millionth image to be digitized is from an original notebook of poet Jenny Joseph, who studied at St Hilda’s College and maintained a collection with Oxford all her life. It shows the first draft of her poem, Warning, which was voted the ‘nation’s favourite poem’ in a BBC poll in 2006. To commemorate this milestone, the libraries have commissioned Oxford graduate Róisín McCallion, do a reading of the poem set to images from Digital Bodleian. You can watch the video here, Digital Bodleian- One Million Images  

Digital Bodleian first launched in 2015 with the aim of bringing together digitized content from the Bodleian Libraries’ extraordinary and rich collections into a single portal. The Bodleian Libraries have been pioneers in the arena of digital preservation and have been digitizing content since the early 1990s, and were the first library outside the US to partner with Google as part of their mass-digitization programme. Digital Bodleian was, and is, designed to enable access to that content for the widest possible audience. 

During the past 18 months, people have flocked to Digital Bodleian to explore and learn more about our rich tapestry of items in our collection, most of these are free to download and use by members of the public.  

Digital Bodleian’s top ten of the past year.  

  1. MS Bodl 264 – Romance of Alexander etc. From the 14th century 

  1. MS Ashmole 1511 – The Ashmole Bestiary from the 13th century 

  1. MS Holkham misc 48 – Divine Comedy 

  1. MS Bodl Or 133 – Book of Wonders 

  1. MS Bodl 764 - Bestiary 

  1. MS Junius 11 – The Caedmon Manuscript, parts of the Bible written in Old English 

  1. MS Canon Misc 378 – notes on the geography and administration of the Roman Empire 

  1. MS Georg b 1 – Georgian liturgical manuscript written by the founder of the Monastery of the Holy Cross 

  1. MS Arch Selden A 1 – Codex Mendoza 

  1. MS Kennicott 1 – Kennicott Bible  

Richard Ovenden, Bodley’s Librarian at the Bodleian Libraries, said: “Whether you are a student, a researcher or someone who has a personal passion we are delighted to be able to make our collections, built up over the last 400 years, for all to be able to view, download and use. We invite everyone to explore the diversity, interest and sheer beauty of these manuscripts, books, archives, photographs and paintings. Many of the collections we have digitized were gifted to the Bodleian, and the costs have often come from generous donors and funding bodies who share our desire to make these materials widely available.’  

ENDS 

Notes to editors 

For further information and images please contact: 
Liam Challenger, Press & Communications Manager at the Bodleian Libraries.  
Tel: +44 (0) 1865 277627  liam.challenger@bodleian.ox.ac.uk

The world-famous Bodleian Libraries is a must-see cultural destination in the heart of Oxford.  

The Bodleian Library was founded by Sir Thomas Bodley and officially opened in 1602. Today, together with the other libraries which serve the University of Oxford, the Bodleian is the largest academic library in the UK. In its reading rooms generations of famous scholars have studied through the ages, amongst them monarchs, Nobel Prize winners, British Prime Ministers and writers including Oscar Wilde, C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien.  

  

At the site, you can explore historic spaces that you might recognise from popular films and TV series such as The Favourite, Endeavour, Harry Potter and A Discovery of Witches. We also offer free, inspiring exhibitions featuring the libraries’ rich collections, two unique gift shops and a lovely café