Magdalen Libraries & Archives

@magdlibandarch.bsky.social

850 Followers 333 Following

Magdalen College, Oxford has a large circulating library, a significant early printed & manuscript books collection, and an extensive archive.

A handwritten note left on a bookcase, which reads: You are doing so well! :-)
Library shelves. In front of them, text reading: Stock check noise warning. Beeping scanners in use. Vertical lines indicate noise levels/ decibel reading.
Page from Magdalen's medieval account book. It reads: “Solutum pro prandio dato Episcopo Rofensi & aliis doctoribus & abbatisse de Godstowe in cubiculo domini presidentis in festo sancte Marie Magdalene vis viiid.” which translates as “Payment for a lunch given to the Bishop of Rochester and other doctors and to the abbess of Godstow in the room of our lord President on the feast of St Mary Magdalene, 6 shillings eightpence.” This passage has been highlighted, with a red box around it.
Pub sign surrounded by blue sky and leaves. Taken from Googlemaps. https://maps.app.goo.gl/qeo9rHrh9fzda9o2A
Design of a pub sign for 'Home Sweet Home'. It is red with a leaf at the centre. Ref. LE.83.BL.51
Turtle drawing, in a book. ref R.16.12
coloured illustration of a kingfisher birds, from a book
Document consisting of handwritten Latin speech. It is page 1/4 of a speech given by C.S. Lewis at a Gaudy in 1926. Archival reference: MS 294
Book display featuring the following books: Feminist Queer Crip; Care Work; How Not to Fit In; How to Be Autistic; Un-typical; Neuroqueer Heresis; An Unquiet Mind; Mad World; The Maps We Carry; Brilliant Imperfection; Pain is Really Strange; Disability: the basics; Anxiety is Really Strange; Why I Burned My Book.
Poster for 1964 Commemoration Ball at Magdalen College. It lists the bands performing, including The Rolling Stones
Small thank you card, next to a pen for size comparison
Black and white photograph of men attending a dinner. Several sit down at a rectangular dining table, while others stand surrounding them. All wear black tie.
Piles of books by the self-issue machine, overflow from the full returns bin
11 young men pose in the Cloisters at Magdalen College, in the late 19th century. Two are standing, leant against the college walls. Others are sitting on chairs, the ground, or the College walls. One holds a football in his lap. A label with the names of the men has been added. It reads: F. J. Barmby F. H. Brown H. P. Dempsey R. V. Forbes A. L. Hansell H. P. Hansell F. M. Ingram A. A. Jackson C. E. Murdoch B. E. Nicholls and R. B. J. Stewart.
Map of Tubney Manor Farm estate, showing land leased to Basil Blackwell. There is a rectangle indicating a swimming pool
Map of Holt Copse near Appleton, showing a swimming pool and a stream which was to be diverted to fill the pool
Map of Holt Copse near Appleton, showing a swimming pool and a stream which was to be diverted to fill the pool
Book stack featuring the following titles: Kingfisher; Artists, Siblings, Visionaries; Flashlight; Dominion; Heart the Lover; Nation of Strangers; Mother Mary Come to Me; To Exist as I Am; Finding Albion; Art Cure; Hotel Exile; The Finest Hotel in Kabul.
Book display featuring memoirs/ stories of people from the LGBT+ community. The display has been decorated with a Pride flag in the shape of a heart and colourful origami.
Freestanding whiteboard in front of bookcases. A message written on the whiteboard reads: Hello from the library team! We hope you find this useful for your revision + group discussions. Please be mindful of others studying in the library - this room is not completely soundproof! Happy studying :)
3 ice creams in cones. Text, superimposed over the image, reads: "VACATION LOANS"
Black and white photo of 9 women rowing during the Summer VIIIs at Oxford, in 1984.
Poster from the Volunteers' Week initiative which says 'thank you, volunteers'
Longwall Library exterior, showing a rosebush of peach coloured roses in full bloom
Library poster advertising 'Welfare Week.' The words 'Welfare Week' placed over images of flowers. Text reads: Week 5: welfare week. Join us in Longwall Library for welfare week! check out some of the books we have selected, plant some seeds, or spend some time doing a jigsaw in the library foyer! This week, take some time out to do something you enjoy in the sun!
Blue scrap of paper with the handwritten message: "you're doing great! I'm so proud of you" with a heart
Prince William and David Clary (President of Magdalen College, 2005-2020) walking away from the Longwall Library followed by a dozen or so people
Transgender history: the roots of today's revolution; Female husbands: a trans history; A short history of trans misogyny Trans history: from ancient times to the present day (graphic novel); Black on both sides: a racial history of trans identity; Trans Lives: social realities across the globe; The autobiography of a transgender scientist; The transgender issue : an argument for justice Selected diaries of Lou Sullivan; Trans Britain: our journals from the shadows.
Baby Yoda figurine atop a shelf of books in Magdalen's Old Library
Black and white portrait of Oscar Wilde, dressed in a coat with furry collar and cuffs. He holds a cane in his right hand and his left hand to his face. A speech bubble has been added to the portrait and a quote from a letter Wilde wrote to the Editor of the Daily Telegraph has been copied inside. The quote reads: The coat, then, of next season, will be an exquisite colour-note, and have also a great psychological value. It will emphasise the serious and thoughtful side of a man’s character. One will be able to discern a man’s views of life by the colour he selects. The colour of the coat will be symbolic.
Black and white 1885 engraving of May Morning celebrations, with choristers singing atop Magdalen's Great Tower. Birds fly nearby, adding to the atmosphere. [Archive ref: FA1.7.15P.1]
Poster advertising an Old Library exhibition at Magdalen College. The exhibition is 'The spirit of the place': Magdalen College and its staff from foundation to the present day. The exhibition was curated by Dr Emily Jennings and Dr Richard Allen. It runs to 29th April 2026. A black and white photograph of Magdalen staff posed in the Cloisters forms the header of the poster.
A man and a woman standing outside a College building. They have been labelled Chris Woolgar, S.S.R.C. Archivist 1980-81 and Brenda Parry- Jones Archivist, 1977-87
on display: Silent Spring by Rachel Carson, Modern Nature by Derek Jarman, The Serviceberry by Robin Wall Kimmerer, Dispersales: on plants, borders and belonging, Entangled Life: how fungu make our worlds change our minds, and shape our futures, The Book of Hope by Jane Goodall, The Almanac 2026, Nature by Ralph Waldo Emerson, Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer, No one is too small to make a difference by Greta Thunberg, The dragonfly will be the messiah by Masanobu Fukuoka, The democracy of species by Robin Wall Kimmerer.
Poster advertising an Old Library exhibition at Magdalen College. The exhibition is 'The spirit of the place': Magdalen College and its staff from foundation to the present day. The exhibition was curated by Dr Emily Jennings and Dr Richard Allen. It runs to 29th April 2026. A black and white photograph of Magdalen staff posed in the Cloisters forms the header of the poster.
Black and white photograph of a man (Horace Stanley Richardson, who was a servant at Magdalen College between 1929-39). He looks directly at the camera and looks rather serious.
Poster advertising an Old Library exhibition at Magdalen College. The exhibition is 'The spirit of the place': Magdalen College and its staff from foundation to the present day. The exhibition was curated by Dr Emily Jennings and Dr Richard Allen. It runs to 29th April 2026. A black and white photograph of Magdalen staff posed in the Cloisters forms the header of the poster.
A black and white photograph of Magdalen staff (circa 70 people) posed in the Cloisters.
Poster advertising an Old Library exhibition at Magdalen College. The exhibition is 'The spirit of the place': Magdalen College and its staff from foundation to the present day. The exhibition was curated by Dr Emily Jennings and Dr Richard Allen. It runs to 29th April 2026. A black and white photograph of Magdalen staff posed in the Cloisters forms the header of the poster.
MS 278 medieval document, written in Latin. The parchment it's written on is cream in colour. The majority of the text is in black ink, but there are some words in red ink and there is an illuminated initial I
Black and white image of a young Oscar Wilde, with 3 friends: 2 women and 1 man. Oscar sits cross-legged, holding an oar. While the other man stands, holding another oar.
Book display showing the following titles: How to be Autistic; Avoiding Anxiety in Autistic Adults; How to Read Minds; Autism in Adults; Girl Unmasked; Unmasking for Life; Spectrum Women; Unmasked; Taking off the Mask; We're all Neurodiverse; Un-Typical; How Not to Fit in.
Architectural plan of Magdalen College, from 1914, which shows a proposed new road that bizarrely cuts right through the college - even through the chapel
Poster advertising an Old Library exhibition at Magdalen College. The exhibition is 'The spirit of the place': Magdalen College and its staff from foundation to the present day. The exhibition was curated by Dr Emily Jennings and Dr Richard Allen. It runs to 29th April 2026. A black and white photograph of Magdalen staff posed in the Cloisters forms the header of the poster.
Toast list for a dinner put on for the Oxford University and College Servants’ Rowing Club. They toasted to: Church and king Floreat Magdalena The club The visitors
Front cover of a menu for a dinner put on for the Oxford University and College Servants’ Rowing Club on 30/9/1927. It states that they were winners of various competitions.
Close-up on a map of Magdalen College, showing 'Longwall House', which now houses the Longwall Library. It's labelled as Magdalen College School, as it used to be a school room for that school, (Magdalen College School is now situated on the other side of the Plain roundabout).
Front cover of a theatre programme, for a play put on by Magdalen College Dramatic Society from the 3rd- 7th December 1928
Poster advertising an Old Library exhibition at Magdalen College. The exhibition is 'The spirit of the place': Magdalen College and its staff from foundation to the present day. The exhibition was curated by Dr Emily Jennings and Dr Richard Allen. It runs to 29th April 2026. A black and white photograph of Magdalen staff posed in the Cloisters forms the header of the poster.
Invitation to a lunch at Magdalen College on 4/4/1981 to celebrate the 100th birthday of Eleanor Richardson, who was landlady to generations of Magdalen students.
Black and white photograph of Mrs Eleanor Richardson, smiling and holding up a drink, with a crowd of people standing in the background. They are all former Magdalen students who lodged with her in the past. ref: MCA, Acc2022/54
7 cookbooks on a shelf. On their right, a soft toy badger (Basil, the library's mascot). The badger has a chef's hat on (the hat image was made using AI).
fritillaries (both white and purple snake's head variety) and daffodils from Magdalen College's Fellow's garden in March 2026
2 men planting a tree outside the President’s Lodgings at Magdalen College
A soft toy badger (our library mascot, Basil) atop a library desk, with bookshelves in the background. Republic of Ireland flags and a banner have been superimposed onto the photograph. The banner has a limerick reading: Basil the badger, so clever and spry, Helps readers find books stacked up high. With a nod and a grin, He says, "Step right in! Adventure awaits - give it a try!"
Book display featuring books on neurodiversity. The books on display are: Avoiding anxiety in autistic adults & Autism in adults both by Luke Beardon Neuroqueer heresies by Nick Walker Taking off the mask by Hannah Belcher I go quiet by David Ouimet Spectrum women by Barb Cook Unmasked by Ellie Middleton Untypical by Peter Wharmby We're all neurodiverse by Sonny Jane Wise How not to fit in by Jess Joy & Charlotte Mia
Full book returns bin