All Souls College Library

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All Souls College Library
UK-2014-Oxford-All Souls College 02.jpg
The library as viewed from All Souls' North Quad
The Codrington Library, All Souls College, Oxford 1.jpg
The interior of the library with statue of Christopher Codrington
All Souls College Library
Location All Souls College, Oxford, United Kingdom
Type Academic library
Established1751
Collection
Items collected Books, journals, newspapers, magazines, maps, drawings, manuscripts
Size185,000 items
Access and use
Access requirementsOpen to members of Oxford University and to external scholars by application.
Other information
DirectorProfessor Peregrine Horden (Fellow Librarian)
Gaye Morgan (Librarian in Charge & Conservator)
Website Official website

All Souls College Library (frequently but unofficially called the Codrington Library between the 1840s [1] and 2020 [2] ) is an academic library in the city of Oxford, England. It is the library of All Souls College, a graduate constituent college of the University of Oxford.

Contents

History

The library in its current form was endowed by Christopher Codrington (1668–1710), a fellow of the college who amassed his fortune through his sugar plantations in Barbados, an island in the British West Indies. These were worked by enslaved people of African descent. [3] Codrington bequeathed books worth £6,000, in addition to £10,000 in currency (the equivalent of approximately £1.2 million in modern terms). [4] The library, designed by Nicholas Hawksmoor, begun in 1716, was completed in 1751 and has been in continuous use by scholars since then. It is Grade I listed on the National Heritage List for England. [5]

The first woman to be admitted as a reader to the library was Cornelia Sorabji from Somerville College, at the invitation of Sir William Anson, 3rd Baronet in 1890. [6]

Collection

The modern collection comprises some 185,000 items, about a third of which were produced before 1800. The library's collections are particularly strong in Law, European History, Ecclesiastical History, Military History, and Classics. There is an expanding collection devoted to sociological topics and the History of Science. [7] Unusually for an Oxford college library, access to the Codrington is open to all members of the university (subject to registration). [8] The library contains a significant collection of manuscripts and early printed books, and attracts scholars from around the world.

Renaming

Plaque erected by the entrance to the All Souls College Library to the enslaved people who worked on the Codrington Plantations Codrington slavery plaque 1.jpg
Plaque erected by the entrance to the All Souls College Library to the enslaved people who worked on the Codrington Plantations

In November 2020, the college took the decision to stop referring to the library as the Codrington Library, as part of a set of "steps to address the problematic nature of the Codrington legacy", which derives from exploitation of slave plantations. While the library has since been renamed, a statue of Christopher Codrington remains in the center of the reading room. [3] [2]

References

  1. ↑ Coxe, H. O. (1842). Catalogue of manuscripts in the library of All Souls College. Oxford: Printed by T. Combe.
  2. 1 2 "The Codrington Legacy". All Souls College. Retrieved 3 December 2025.
  3. 1 2 Warner, Marina (30 June 2025). "Versia Harris's memorial to Hugh Springer: a response to Black Lives Matter protests at All Souls College". Burlington Contemporary Journal (12). doi:10.31452/bcj12.warner.harris. ISSN   2631-5661.
  4. ↑ "National Archives Currency Converter". The National Archives. Retrieved 16 September 2014.
  5. ↑ Historic England. "All Souls College, Codrington Library (1046762)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 12 November 2016.
  6. ↑ Pauline Adams (1996). Somerville for women: an Oxford college, 1879–1993. Oxford University Press. p. 114. ISBN   019920179X.
  7. ↑ "Library". All Souls College. Retrieved 3 December 2025.
  8. ↑ "Applications". All Souls College. Retrieved 12 November 2016.

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