Many things in the natural world are round – the moon, the sun, a nest, a bubble. And so are many delicious things to eat – a ball of ice-cream, a doughnut, a pie. And so too are more decorative objects such as a crown, a clock or a bauble on a Chris...

In their celebration of 'little matters' – the regular round of visiting, dining out, drinking tea, of reading and walking to the shops and sending to the post – Jane Austen's letters and novels have many similarities. The thirteen letters collected...

Since its foundation in 1602, the Bodleian Library has acquired manuscripts, printed books, maps, music and ephemera in all languages, from all ages and from all corners of the globe. From this huge collection David Vaisey, former Bodley's Librarian...

Ever wondered how ink is made? Or what is the bestselling book of all time? Or which are the oldest known books in the world? Highbrow to lowbrow, all aspects of the book are celebrated and explored in "The Book Lovers' Miscellany". From a list of u...

Throughout the ages, every culture has created myths and legends which recount the great deeds of its heroes and their epic struggles with larger-than-life forces. Designer Bookbinders 3rd International Competition, held at the Bodleian Library in 20...

This collection of essays offers an intimate history of Austen's art and life told through objects associated with her personally and with the era in which she lived. Her teenage notebooks, music albums, pelisse-coat, letters, the homemade booklets i...

"Here I am once more in this Scene of Dissipation and vice, and I begin to find already my Morals corrupted". Much loved for the romantic plot lines of her novels and witty observations on relationships, Jane Austen was also a prolific letter writer...

"Without a revolutionary theory there can be no revolutionary movement". Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, leader of the Bolshevik Revolution and founder of the USSR, was profoundly aware of the power of words. As a zealous orator and prolific writer, he used...

The Ormesby Psalter is perhaps the most magnificent yet enigmatic of the great Gothic psalters produced in East Anglia in the first half of the fourteenth century. Its pages boast a wealth of decoration picked out in rich colours and burnished gold,...

Oxford Botanic Garden is the oldest surviving botanic garden in Britain and has occupied its site in central Oxford since 1621. Conceived as a place to grow medicinal plants, born in the turmoil of civil war and nurtured during the restoration of the...