The cradle of the University is in the vaulted chamber at the north-east corner of St. Mary’s Church, still called the Old Congregation House. The present building was begun in 1320 on behalf of Thomas de Cobham, Bishop of Worcester, and consisted of a lower chamber for University meetings and an upper chamber for a library. The shell was finished by his death in 1327; but not till a dispute with Oriel College about the possession of Cobham’s books was settled in 1410, was there a library in full establishment. The books were taken from the two chests in which they had lain since 1337 in the lower room, and were chained in the upper room to desks with seats fixed beside them. In 1412 a statute settled the regulations, and ensured that the librarian[1] should also be a chaplain of the University.

In 1345 Richard de Bury, Bishop of Durham, author of the first book on the love of books (the Philobiblon), bequeathed his library to Durham College (now Trinity College), but it is hardly doubtful that the books never reached Oxford, and that his intended library “free to all scholars” never came into being.

The second University library was built over the Divinity School, chiefly because the gifts of MSS. by Humphrey, duke of Gloucester, far exceeded the capacity of the little solar at St. Mary’s to receive them. The School was begun about 1420, and by 1480 both it and the book-room were complete. The latter is now the “Old Reading Room” of Bodley’s foundation. But between 1550 and 1556 the Commissioners appointed by Edward VI for the reformation of the University wantonly destroyed almost the whole of the contents of the library, so much so that on January 25, 1556, the University gave orders that the very fitting of the library should be sold. There were no books left to attract a reader. Of the six hundred or more MSS. in the old room, not more than eleven can be still identified (at Oxford, the British Museum and Paris) and only four are still in their old home (MSS. Hatton 36, Duke Humphrey b. 1 and d. 1, Selden B. 50).

From 1550 till 1598 a dead silence falls on the University library: the bare walls are there, and perhaps the roof also, but no books and “no voice, nor any that answered.” So too the University library at Cambridge (which is first mentioned in 1397) was used as a Theological School from 1547 to 1586 (“quoniam ut nunc nulli est usui” bibliotheca, as the grace says), but the books were on the shelves all the while, to the number of about 180.

Sir Thomas Bodley, a “worthy of Devon” and a diplomat high in the esteem of Queen Elizabeth, came of an old Devonshire stock which probably originated in Budleigh. When the founder of it left Budleigh at some unrecorded time, he would be at once known as Thomas (or whatever the name may have been) de Budleigh or Bodley. A family of that name was settled for many generations at Dunscombe, a hamlet of Crediton, and John Bodley, the father of Sir Thomas, had left Dunscombe and settled in Exeter, when his son was born there on March 2, 1545. His wife was Joan (née Hone) of Ottery St. Mary. The whole family was worried out of England in Queen Mary’s reign, and the young Thomas was brought up at Geneva till the accession of Queen Elizabeth, when the whole family returned to England, and settled in London. In 1559 the son was entered at Magdalen College, Oxford, his tutor, Laurence Humphrey (who in 1561 was elected President), having shared the exile of John Bodley. After Bodley’s degree in 1563 he became a Fellow of Merton, and successively Greek lecturer, Natural Philosophy lecturer, Proctor (1569-70), and deputy Public Orator. There is evidence also that he studied Hebrew at Oxford as well as in his younger days at Geneva. Lastly, he travelled for nearly four years in Italy, France and Germany.

Bodley was therefore well-equipped for a career of public life, and worthy to ascend that admirable ladder which the Queen set up through the Chancellors of the two Universities, to attract the best men of the time to the service of the state. After two years’ preliminary employment in London his diplomatic career opened in 1585. It continued till 1598, when his activity and statesmanship had shewn itself in missions to Denmark, Germany, France and the Low Countries. In 1597 he married a rich widow, Mrs. Anne Ball (née Carey), of Totnes, but had no family by her.[2]

At last, at the age of fifty-two, being tired of statecraft and the Court, and “for the loue” he bore to his “reuerend Mother the Vniversitie of Oxon,” and in order to “do the true part of a profitable member in the State” he decided to offer to restore the old University library, or in his own memorable words “examining exactlye for the rest of my life, what course I might take, and haueing sowght (as I thought) all the wayes to the wood, to select the most proper, I concluded at the last, to set vp my Staffe at the Librarie dore in Oxon; being throwghly perswaded, that in my solitude, and surcease from the Commonwealth affayers, I coulde not busie my selfe to better purpose, then by redusing that place (which then in euery part laye ruined and wast) to the publique vse of Studients. For the effecting whereof, I found my selfe furnished in a competent proportion, of such fower kindes of ayds, as vnles I had them all, there was no hope of good successe: for without some kinde of knowledg, as well in the learned and moderne tongues, as in sundry other sorts of Scholasticall literature, without some purse habilitie to goe throwgh with the charge, without very great store of honorable friends, to further the designe, and without speciall good leasure to follow such a worke, it could but have proued a vayne attempt and inconsiderate.” To have knowledge what to do, money to do it, friends to help it, and leisure to see it done—on those four qualifications the Founder based his offer to the University, dated February 23, 1598. The old dismantled room with its bare fifteenth century walls was there, making its mute appeal, and at last the Hour and the Man came. The “spacious times of great Elizabeth” provided, not a youthful enthusiast, but a man of world-wide experience, with all the learning which Oxford could impart, with ample means, with friends at Court, and with a fixed purpose for his years of retirement.

The offer was of course accepted with gratitude, and the work began at once. In four and a half years, on Monday, November 8, 1602, the new public library of the University[3] was solemnly opened, with about two thousand volumes. The appearance of the room can be gathered from Bodley’s own letters and the existing fittings. On the frontispiece of the present volume it is marked OLD READING ROOM, an oblong chamber standing by itself, with ten alcoves on either side, each with its own window, and a bookcase at right angles to the wall, which separates each study from its neighbours. The entrance was by a staircase at the West or Selden end, in a porch of the Divinity School below. At the farthest (or East) end of the room the two last alcoves were the Librarian’s and Underkeeper’s studies, and there was an East window to light the central passage, facing which window were two closed cupboards or “Archives” on each side of the gangway. The present room is so little altered from its first condition that all these features can be still recognised or understood. In 1602 the two thousand volumes would occupy about one quarter of the accommodation, and no doubt the folios were soon chained in their places, while the quartos and octavos were relegated to the cupboards and to a gallery over the door at the West end. These latter, having no chains, were given out as required. The windows, painted ceiling, bookcases and cupboards remain as in 1602, but the central passage was several inches lower than the floor of the alcoves. There is even a register of the names of the readers and whether they came in the morning (8-11) or afternoon (2-5, or 1-4, according to the season), for the whole of the first year. Moreover there is a catalogue of the entire contents of the shelves in the order in which the books stood on the opening day.

Bodley’s first “Protobibliothecarius Bodleianus” was Thomas James,[4] who had issued an edition of Richard de Bury’s Philobiblon in 1598, and in 1600 the Ecloga Oxonio-Cantabrigiensis (catalogues of MSS. at Oxford and Cambridge), besides being well known as a learned defender of Protestantism. The appointment was probably formally made in 1602, when delegates were appointed to superintend the Library. His sole assistant for some years was the “Cleaner,” but some of the delegates were able to give informal help.

But, as may be well imagined, Bodley was in these early days a host in himself. All the details of management were referred to him, and as the Library had as yet no endowment, all the accessions by purchase were paid for by him. Fortunately a long series of letters from Bodley to James between 1601 and 1612 is preserved, and displays to us every stage of the evolution of the Bodleian, and also the humorous conflicts between the Founder, pursuing an ideal and controlling at every point the management of his institution, and his Librarian, a student intent on his own literary aims, obstinate, and not over desirous of spending the six hours a day at the Library which Bodley considered reasonable, in addition to the four he needed for his own work. Bodley wished his Librarians to be “some one that is noted and knowen for a diligent Student, and in all his conuersation to be trustie, actiue, and discreete, a graduat also and a Linguist, not encombred with mariage, nor with a benefice of Cure,” and James greatly irritated him by extorting a most reluctant leave both to marry and to hold the Rectory of St. Aldate’s. The Founder’s style is racy and pertinent: when James desires an increase of his stipend of £22: 13: 4 a year, Bodley writes “I do not doubt but to give you very good satisfaction: but till your Travels [i.e. travails] and Troubles are seen to every Student, it will be best in my Opinion, not to charge the Spit with too much Roast-meat.” When benefactors are about, Bodley is specially alert in converting promise into performance: in a case of promise they “should be called on, with all the good speed that Conveniency, fit Time and good Manners will afford. For many Men’s Minds do alter so soon, as it will be requisite always to open the Poak, when the Pig is presented.”[5] The relations of the two were on the whole cordial, and James worked hard for the Library. The worth of the nascent foundation was recognized in 1604 by the conferment of knighthood on Bodley, and its permanent endowment began in 1609 by the gift by him of lands at Cookham and in Distaff Lane, London.[6]

By 1605 the Library was in full working order, and two great events distinguish the year. On August 30 King James I paid a visit to the Library, examined various MSS., especially some Old English versions of the Bible, praised the “garden” whence came the “fruits” he had observed in University men, and in a burst of benevolence promised any precious and rare volumes from the royal libraries which Bodley might select.[7] Bodley was greatly excited about the royal visit, and even as early as June had warned James that his speech “must be short and sweet, and full of Stuff” and “may not exceed the Length of six Pater Nosters.” He ordered the Library to be well swept, the books cleansed from dust, “the Floor to be well washed and dried, and after rubbed with a little Rosemary: for a stronger sent I should not like.” Finally, he adds, “I know, as near as you can, you will frame your Meditation, to the King’s Pronunciation of i and au.”

The second event of 1605 was the issue of the first printed Catalogue of the printed books and MSS. The three Catalogues issued in the seventeenth century (1605, 1620, 1674) were all pioneers in bibliography, and the fifth (1843-51) marks the end of the long period during which the Bodleian was the largest library in the British Empire. Of the first, Bodley writes that “the general Conceit, as well of other Nations as of our own at home, of the Library-store, is so great, that they imagine in a manner, there is nothing wanting in it.” Yet in the Arts section, which includes Literature and History, there are only thirty-six books in the English language. The Library was intended for scholars and students, and it is to be feared that Bodley included nearly all English books among the “Baggage Books” and “Riff Raff” which were excluded. So keen, however, was Bodley that nothing should escape him which was worth having, that he wrote in 1607, “You shall never see that any good Books shall be lost for want of buying, though I find no Contributors: albeit you need not doubt, but I shall always find sufficient money.” The books are arranged in the Catalogue in the order in which they stood on the shelves, divided into the Faculties of Theology, Medicine, Law, Arts, and further subdivided according to the first letter of the author’s name (Th. A-Z, Med. A-Z, etc.), but there is an alphabetical index of authors. James also planned (and partly executed) a series of Subject Catalogues, and proposed what would now be called an Undergraduates’ library, but the latter received scant encouragement from the Founder. The spirit in which he worked is well expressed by his entry on an interesting occasion in an Album Amicorum of Frederick Kemener, “Non quæro quod mihi vtile est sed quod multis. Amoris ergo scripsit Tho: James primus Bibliothecarius eodem die quo primo Bibliotheca patuit studentibus viz. Anno 1602. Die Nouembris 8ᵒ.”

The outstanding occurrence in the later years of the Founder’s life was undoubtedly the Agreement with the Stationers’ Company (that is to say the whole body of licensed printers and publishers in Great Britain) by which one copy of every book issued by a member of the Company was sent to the Bodleian, gratis. The date of the Agreement is December 12, 1610 (the Company) and February 22, 1611 (Congregation), and far-reaching were its effects. The idea was suggested to Bodley by his Librarian, and there were many “Rubs and Delays.” The advantage to the publishers was that whenever an edition ran out of print, there would always be a “perfect copy” available for reprint or amendment, and the presentation of a piece of plate worth £50 settled their remaining scruples. The first book which came in under the Agreement was Thomas Man’s Christian Religion substantially ... treatised (London, pr. by Felix Kingston for Thomas Man, 1611) sent by John Man, Master of the Company, and bearing a note in Bodley’s own hand. The Library has never lost this privilege—which is long antecedent to, and independent of, the Copyright Acts. The grant was confirmed by an Order of Star-Chamber on July 11, 1637. The first similar grant by Parliament was made, no doubt on grounds of public utility, to the Bodleian and a few other libraries in 1662, and the first Copyright Act, recognizing the Bodleian right and granting it to eight other libraries, was in 1709. The latest is dated 1912.

By the time of the Founder’s death (January 28, 1613) the Library had a set of Statutes (1610) and a settled constitution, the Librarian having an Under-keeper and a Janitor under him, and being himself under eight Curators, who could call him to account for remissness or misconduct, but left him very large powers in matters of detail. The Library was open on all weekdays from 8 to 11 a.m., except when there was a University Sermon or other service, and in the afternoons from 2-5 from Easter to Michaelmas, or 1-4 from Michaelmas to Easter. All Doctors, Masters and Bachelors could claim the right of reading, except that Bachelors of Arts must be of two years standing. All others had to take an oath at entry, and if not benefactors or highborn, and especially if foreigners, had to obtain a decree in their favour in Congregation. Lending out books was absolutely forbidden.

Bodley had seen the first extension of his Library when the “Arts End” (see frontispiece) was built in 1610-12. All the Arts books were there placed, allowing the older part to retain the books of the three superior Faculties of Theology, Medicine and Jurisprudence. But shortly before his death the University had formed a plan of building the “Schools Quadrangle,” or rather three sides, which together with the Arts End would form a quadrangle, and Bodley in his Will (January 2, 1613) wrote “for as much as the perpetuall preseruation, support & maintenance of the Publique Librarie ... dothe greatly surpasse all my other worldly cares, and because I doe foresee that in proces of time there must of necessitie be very great want of ... stowage for Bookes,” he provides for a second-floor room to over-top the two stories needed for the Lecture Rooms or Schools of the University, and to form a reserve of space for an overflow of books. This was completed in 1618. The accounts for August 1613, to July 1614, the first complete year since Bodley’s death, show an income of £137 from property, and expenditure of £110 (stipends £51, establishment £6, purchase of books £13, binding £14, miscellaneous £24).

We need not be surprised that with such a founder and such a building and administration, the Bodleian gathered treasures within its walls from its earliest days. Of these a few may be mentioned. The great Registrum Benefactorum instituted by Bodley begins in 1600, two years before the opening of the Library, showing how keen was the spirit he stirred up among his friends, but no gifts of single volumes are recorded. Accordingly we can only conjecture that the Founder himself gave the fine MS. French Romance of Alexander, with the Travels of Marco Polo, which was certainly received before 1605 (S.C. 2464). It is notable for the illuminations, including a remarkable view of Venice in the fourteenth century, and for the numerous marginal pictures of customs, trades and amusements (perhaps English). In 1601 in the Thomas Allen donation came “the patriarch of all Welsh books known,” written in 820 (S.C. 2176). In another part of the same volume is a contemporary portrait of St. Dunstan (d. 988), who owned that part. In the following year the Dean and Chapter of Exeter gave eighty-one Latin MSS., one of which is the famous Leofric Missal (S.C. 2675), one of the very few Missals known to have been used in a pre-Conquest English Church, in this case Exeter Cathedral. It is striking, and touching, that Sir Robert Cotton, who was forming his own great collection, now represented by the Cottonian Collection in the British Museum, was a firm friend of his rival collector and presented to his friend’s new Library, in 1603, eleven MSS. of value, including Latin Gospels, perhaps of the seventh century (S.C. 2698). In 1605 the Librarian was able to say that the Library contained books in thirty or more languages, and that it was already frequented by foreigners (Italian, French, German, Polish, Swedish and other), and Bacon calls it “an ark to save learning from deluge.” The Oriental literature may be regarded as beginning in this year with the donation and purchase of Chinese books. The Dean and Chapter of Windsor imitated their brethren of Exeter in 1612, by sending sixty-seven volumes of MSS., chiefly theological.