Magdalen College Oxford Libraries and Archives

18/06/2026

You are cordially invited to an Early Modern gender reveal party? This anatomical flapbook has multi-layered engravings of male and female bodies, including this pregnant torso. Readers can 'dissect' the body, peeling back layers to reveal veins, nerves, and skeleton underneath. Magdalen's copy of 'A survey of the microcosme: or, The anatomy of the bodies of man and woman' credited to German physician Johann Remmelin was published in 1695 and has been beautifully hand-coloured by a previous owner. Thank you to those who attended our 'Meet a Rare Book' yesterday afternoon to see Rosie talk about this special book.

17/06/2026

In honour of England's first match this evening, here is a photo of Magdalen's starting 11 from the 1884/5 academic year. The attached slip provides the names of these players, which include 2 brothers: A. L. and H. P. Hansell.

The 11 men are:
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.
[Archival ref: P201/P1/1]

11/06/2026

What would you do after a long day of bookselling to the Oxford public? Go for a refreshing dip in your own private pool, of course. we have some maps relating to land owned by Magdalen.

In 1928, the College agreed to allow Basil Henry Blackwell (of the brilliant Blackwell's bookshop on Broad Street) to divert a stream of water for the purpose of supplying a swimming pool at Holt Copse near Appleton, for the price of 5 shillings a year. The Blackwell family lived on estate in Appleton and Tubney. This first plan shows the swimming pool and which part of the stream was to be diverted.

The Blackwell family later purchased part of the Tubney Manor Farm estate. The second map here, which also shows the swimming pool, is from the 1980s.

10/06/2026

If you're looking for something new to read, we've received this selection of books from the 2026 Women's Prize shortlists for non-fiction and fiction - on display now in the Longwall library foyer. 📚👀 Winners will be announced tomorrow...📣

09/06/2026

https://www.wolseymanuscripts.ac.uk/
Our Wolsey Manuscripts website is now back online. You can look at Wolsey's Gospel and Epistle lectionaries, housed at Magdalen and Christ Church respectively, at the same time. Learn more about these beautiful manuscripts, their history and read research about them here: https://www.wolseymanuscripts.ac.uk/

Only half a decade before England broke with the Roman Catholic Church, two intensely beautiful liturgical manuscripts were made for the country’s leading cleric. For Thomas Wolsey, cardinal and first minister of Henry VIII, only the best would do: the manuscripts had to be handwritten, not printe...

06/06/2026

Happy Pride Month 🏳️‍🌈
Did you join the Pride parade in Oxford today? If today's celebrations have inspired you to learn more, take a look at the books in our Pride display in the Longwall Library. You'll also find some very prideful origami paper, if you fancy helping us decorate the display ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🩵🩷🤍

05/06/2026

Following a request on our Graffiti Wall, we have added a whiteboard to the breakout room at the end of the Beckwith Reading Room. We hope it helps aid your studies ✏️👩‍🏫

04/06/2026

Vacation loans now apply. If you'd like to take your library books home over the long vacation, you can. Renew your loans now for a due date of 15th October! 📚📚📚

03/06/2026

Did you hear about the success of our women's crew during this year's Summer VIIIs? They bumped three times over the course of the competition, bumping Keble, Christ Church, and Wolfson. Congratulations to all involved! This photograph shows the ‘Maids of Magdalen’ in action and was taken during the Summer VIIIs in 1984. Want to know more about the history of women at Magdalen? Take a look at our online exhibition: https://womenandpower.magd.ox.ac.uk/

02/06/2026

This week is National . We are lucky to have a number of volunteers, who regularly help us out with tasks like shelving, creating book displays, and invigilating our Old Library exhibitions. A huge thank you to Aidan, Caitlin, Rawdah, Marilyn, Fin, Maddy, and Pam for their help 🙏⭐