Lunchtime lecture by Will Poole accompanying the exhibition Marks of Genius: Masterpieces from the Collections of the Bodleian Libraries. Henry Savile (1549-1622) founded at Oxford in 1619 the two Professorships that still bear his name, one in Astronomy, the other in Geometry. He equipped his professors with a library, which they in turn augmented down the centuries, and that library was transferred to the Bodleian itself in 1884. The Savilian books therefore comprise one of the most historical...
Jul 09, 2015•32 min
Lunchtime lecture by Richard Mulholland accompanying the exhibition Marks of Genius: Masterpieces from the Collections of the Bodleian Libraries. Outside of the natural sciences, the work of Ferdinand Bauer (1760-1826), the pre-eminent eighteenth century natural history painter is little known. However, his botanical and zoological paintings on paper are considered to be among the finest in the world. Of particular interest is the unusual drawing and painting technique he used, recording colour ...
Jul 09, 2015•37 min
A lunchtime lecture by Clive Hurst accompanying the exhibition Marks of Genius: Masterpieces from the Collections of the Bodleian Libraries. Some dozen items bequeathed to the Bodleian Library by Francis Douce in 1834 feature in Marks of Genius, ranging from medieval manuscripts to a panoramic print of Shakespeare's London, from Mughal paintings to a bible presented to Elizabeth I. Three works are known by his name: the Douce Apocalypse, the Douce Pliny, and the Douce Ivory. But Douce wasn't onl...
Jul 09, 2015•31 min
'Buying beauty in the Victorian period' Dr Jessica Clark looks at the Victorian beauty industry, and the transition from disapproval of artifice to a celebration of the wonders of cosmetics. Drawing on the John Johnson Collection of ephemera at the Bodleian Library, Dr Clark explains what Victorian Britons considered beautiful and considers some of the products and techniques that women, and men, used to achieve physical perfection.
Jul 09, 2015•50 min
In this talk Stuart Lee will look at the various texts we may call The Hobbit. Starting with the 1937 edition (on display) he will look at the changes enforced on Tolkien after he had finished The Lord of the Rings and how he coped with these.
Jun 03, 2015•26 min
Fourth Lunchtime lecture accompanying the exhibition Marks of Genius: Masterpieces from the Collections of the Bodleian Libraries. With Dr Dirk Obbink.
May 19, 2015•37 min
Third Lunchtime lecture accompanying the exhibition Marks of Genius: Masterpieces from the Collections of the Bodleian Libraries. With Mr David Helliwell.
May 19, 2015•31 min
Second in the Marks of Genius series, with Dr Christina Dondi
May 19, 2015•47 min
Professor Michael Suarez, in the Lyell Lectures 2015, urges scholars to remember the books that most readers encountered: the cheaper abridged versions of popular novels and accounts such as Cook's voyages.
May 18, 2015•59 min
Professor Michael Suarez, in the Lyell Lectures 2015, locates the visual sources of a famous illustrated edition of Caesar's works and comments on the social and political significance of the subscription plate book.
May 18, 2015•55 min
Professor Michael Suarez continues the Lyell Lectures 2015, showing that archival evidence is necessary to understand the history of newspapers
May 18, 2015•1 hr 2 min
Professor Michael Suarez traces the transatlantic journey of a famous image deployed against the slave trade.
May 18, 2015•50 min
Professor Michael Suarez continues the Lyell Lectures 2015, asking what role colour plays in bibliographical description?
May 18, 2015•54 min
Professor Michael Suarez gives the first Lyell Lecture of 2015.
May 08, 2015•58 min
Professor Robin Wilson, author of Alice's Adventures in Numberland, gives a talk on the history of studying Mathematics at Oxford, which is as old as the University itself.
May 06, 2015•38 min
Political biographers D R Thorpe and John Campbell speak about their subjects' careers culminating in the role of Chancellor of the University of Oxford. The discussion was chaired by Lord Patten of Barnes.
Nov 14, 2014•1 hr 1 min
In this short talk Professor Martin Ceadel, Fellow and Tutor in Politics, New College, Oxford discusses the issue of military conscription and conscientious objection during the first world war.
Nov 12, 2014•34 min
Dr Adrian Gregory, Fellow and Tutor in History, Pembroke College, Oxford discusses the use of propaganda by all sides during the first world war.
Nov 12, 2014•22 min
A conversation between Professor Sir Hew Strachan and Professor Margaret MacMillan, chaired by Professor Patricia Clavin.
Oct 30, 2014•46 min
Marie-Claude Felton, Royal Bank of Canada-Bodleian Visiting Scholar, gives a talk for the Bodleian Library BODcasts series
Jun 05, 2014•43 min
Professor Joshua Silver talks about his invention of the self adjusting spectacles.
Mar 27, 2014•31 min
Dr Eric Sidebottom, Retired University Lecturer in Experimental Pathology, gives a lunch time talk to accompany the exhibition 'Great Medical Discoveries: 800 Years of Oxford Innovation'.
Feb 07, 2014•32 min
Conrad Keating, Writer-In-Residence, The Wellcome Unit for the History of Medicine, Oxford, gives a lecture about the remarkable contribution Oxford has made to the art and science of medicine. For more than 800 years Oxford has made a remarkable contribution to the art and science of medicine. Scientists, philosophers and physicians have made the city an outstanding scientific centre from the medieval period onwards. From Roger Bacon's conception of science as the experimental and inductive stu...
Nov 28, 2013•33 min
Katherine Larson (University of Toronto) gives a talk on music in Early Modern England accompanied by Lutenist Matthew Faulk Katherine Larson (University of Toronto) describes the ephemeral soundscapes of early modern England. She considers how literary critics and musicologists can recapture the physical and social experience of singing and hearing songs, through traces in musical songbooks, literary texts, manuscripts, singing handbooks and printed song collections.
Nov 26, 2013•22 min
Dr Carolyne Larrington, Supernumerary Fellow and Tutor in English, St John's College, gives a talk to accompany the exhibition 'Magical Books: From The Middle Ages to Middle Earth'.
Oct 23, 2013•27 min
A lecture given by Dr John Sellars, lecturer in Philosophy, Birkbeck, University of London, about Stoicism to accompany the display at the Bodleian Library.
Jun 06, 2013•27 min
Anna Caughey gives a lecture at the Bodleian Library looking at the varying spectrum of literature about King Arthur written for children.
Jun 06, 2013•31 min
Lecturer and conductor Dr Paul Coones delivers a lecture celebrating the 200th birthday of Richard Wagner. The talk is preceded by Siegried's Horn Call played by Sophie Dillon and includes the rarely performed Kinder-Katechismus zu Kosel's Geburtstag.
May 22, 2013•34 min
Judith Priestman, curator of literary manuscripts at the Bodleian library, discusses the World Book Day 2010 Tolkien exhibition, at which a selection of J.R.R. Tolkien's original artwork for The Hobbit, was on display to the public.
May 22, 2013•12 min
Dr Lawrence Goldman, editor of the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, introduces and chairs the seminar to commemorate the centenary of Jim Callaghan's birth.
May 10, 2013•6 min
