MS 238 is now available online. This MS is a set of notes on a chemistry course attended by John Merrick M. D. in Oxford in 1692/3. Merrick was a Fellow of St John’s College (d. 1757). (Pictured: Fols. 1v and 2r)

You can view in here: digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/131eb8…

MS 57 is now available online. This MS contains several texts including two Middle English poems (The Prick of Conscience and Chaucer’s Parliament of Fowls) and a London Chronicle ending in 1431/2. (Pictured: Fols. v v and vi r)

You can view in here: digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/00cc19…

MS 86 is now available online. This manuscript contains works by John Arderne (1307–1392), an important English surgeon. (Pictured: Fols. 5v and 6r)

You can view in here: digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/b9afb8…

MS 52 is now available online. This MS consists of 2 works - a Latin verse life of the college's founder Thomas White, and an account of celebrations that took place at the college from 1607-1608. (Pictured: Fols. 31v and 32r)

You can view in here: digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/dcc491…

MS 154 is now available online. This manuscript contains the earliest and most complete version of Ælfric of Eynsham's Old English grammar of Latin (the first grammar of Latin in a vernacular language). (Pictured: Fols. 1v and 2r)

You can view in here: digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/cc6f7f…

MS 279 is now available online. A collection of six letters written by the novelist Jane Austen (d.1817) and members of her family. (Pictured: 7v and 8r)

You can view it here: digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/94e161…

Those of us starting the year with resolutions to lead healthier lifestyles might find inspiration in Harcouet de Longeville’s 1722 ‘Long livers’.

It details ‘persons… who have liv’d several Ages, and grown young again: with the rare secret of rejuvenescency’ ✨

HB4/4.d.6.25

As the Library closes over Christmas for the winter vacation, here's a little inspiration from Vicesmimus Knox on how to spend these dark, wintry nights! ❄️📚

From 'Winter evenings: or, Lucubrations on life and letters' Gamma.subt.upper shelf.1 & 2

MS 164 is now available online. These astronomical tracts were translated for Charles V of France. The manuscript also features horoscopes for Charles V and some of his children. (Pictured: 1v and 2r)

You can view it here: digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/cb28a5…

MS 194 is now available online. This 9th century manuscript is a copy of the Gospels possibly produced in Brittany. (Pictured: 1v and 2r)

You can view it here: digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/93ee48…

MS 134 is now available online. This 13th century manuscript contains mostly sermons by Geoffrey of St Thierry, but also a good number of unidentified sermons. (Pictured: 3v and 4r)

You can view it here: digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/2ebaf1…

A bit late to the party with our spooky season post, but John of Arderne, the 'Father of Surgery' certainly provided all the gory pictures. MS86

Several of our Western medieval manuscripts will be coming to Digital Bodleian soon, including MS 134, a collection of sermons mainly by Geoffrey of St Thierry. You can see what's already available by visiting our page on Digital Bodleian: digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/partners/st-jo…

MS 83 is now available online. This manuscript was written by Muḥammad ibn Manglī, fl. 778/1376–7, a Mamluk officer of the guard (hḥalqah) to Sultan al-Malik al-Ashraf Sha‛bān. (Pictured: 2a and 1b)

You can view it here:

digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/6e0a5c…

MS 296 is now available online. This is an album of 56 letters of medical correspondence mainly written to Dr. Richard Higges of Coventry, from a variety of correspondents. (Pictured: 22v and 23r)

You can view it here:

digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/937afc…

MS 258 is now available online. This diary belonged to Archbishop William Laud, and it details the entire course of his life until 1643, although probably written from 1621 onwards. (Pictured: 4v and 5r)

You can view it here:

digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/18a3aa…

New exhibition! Marvel at sea monsters surrounding Iceland in the first modern atlas, be blinded by the bling of medieval manuscripts & entertained by the 1st English book on fireworks. To visit, email [email protected] or see the online exhibition at shorturl.at/sxzGY.

We were so happy last week to welcome back St John's medical freshers and 2nd yrs together with their tutor Zoltan Molnar to look at anatomy books in the newly refurbished Old Library. What a fun way to spend an afternoon!
#specialcollections #anatomy

This incunable (P.scam.lowershelf.1) includes the first printing of Marco Polo’s ‘The Travels’ in Latin, as translated by the Dominican friar Francesco Pipino. Printed in the 1480s, it features a limp laced-case parchment binding and holes for ties.

‘A plan of the cities of London and Westminster’ provides a fascinating insight into the 18th century capital. Based on extensive surveys undertaken by the cartographer John Rocque, it took ten years to research and engrave before its eventual publication in 1746.