Treasures of the Bodleian

In 2009 as part of a post graduate seminar on Librarianship at the University of Oxford, I had access to one of the World's greatest libraries, The Bodleian. During my weeks at Oxford I explored many of the College's libraries and had access to collections that many students or scholars did not. Have you ever held a book written on vellum? Or turned the pages of a book so fragile it was translucent? Truly amazing.

The exhibit Treasures of the Bodleian is free to visitors until it closes on December 23. For those of us not lucky enough to be in the UK, there is virtual access through the website as well as videos on the Bodleian's YouTube channel.

Here are a few of my favorites:

• Aesop's Fables
• J. R. R. Tolkien's illustrated Conversation with Smaug
• The stunning Japanese picture scroll, The Tale of Urashima
• The instructional children's game, Choriorama
• Souvenirs from the Suffragette movement

And a few videos not to miss:

• A draft of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
• Shakespeare's First Folio
• A map from The Book of Curiosities

To read more about my visit to Oxford and view pictures select tag Oxford at the bottom of my blog.