Taylor Institution

Last updated

Taylor Institution
Ashmolean Museum - geograph.org.uk - 1391079.jpg
The Taylor Institution building seen from near the Martyrs' Memorial
Taylor Institution
Country United Kingdom
Type Academic library
Established1845;178 years ago (1845)
Location St Giles', Oxford
Coordinates 51°45′19″N1°15′36″W / 51.7554°N 1.2600°W / 51.7554; -1.2600
Other information
DirectorJames Legg
Website Taylor Institution Library
Oxford map small.svg
Blue pog.svg
Taylorian
Location of the Institution in central Oxford

The Taylor Institution (commonly known as the Taylorian) is the Oxford University library dedicated to the study of the languages of Europe. [1] [2] Its building also includes lecture rooms used by the Faculty of Medieval and Modern Languages, University of Oxford. Since 1889, an Annual Lecture on a subject of Foreign Literature has been given at the Taylorian Institution.[ citation needed ]

Contents

History

The Taylor Institution was established in 1845, funded largely by a bequest from the estate of the notable architect Sir Robert Taylor (1714–1788). Modern European languages were not then taught at the University. (Not until 1903 were a Medieval and Modern Languages Faculty and Honours School instituted in Oxford.) Since the Bodleian Library lacked space, the Taylorian was initially used to house things as varied as Stubbs's lectures on English history and the Hope collection of butterflies. [3]

Description

The institution and its library are found in the east wing of a neo-classical building at the southern end of St Giles'. It was designed by Charles Cockerell to accommodate the institution and the University Galleries (now the Ashmolean Museum) and opened in 1845. The building was extended to the north along St Giles' to designs by T.H. Hughes in 1931 and 1938. [4]

The library serves, for the greater part, those studying for the degree of Bachelor of Arts, for the various Master's degrees, and for the DPhil at Oxford University. The collections include Modern European languages, among them French, German, Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese languages (including the South American Spanish language and the Brazilian Portuguese language) with a total of around five hundred thousand volumes. The Greek and Slavonic collections consist of European languages found further eastward, including the Greek, Slavic (including Russian), Uralic, and Albanian languages.

The library holds many world-class collections. [5] Its holdings in German were started by Max Müller, who brought many publications from Germany, among them many of Martin Luther's Flugschriften, including the first edition of his Sendbrief vom Dolmetschen, [6] and go up to contemporary German literature. Italian works run from Dante and Tasso through one of the largest collections of Giovanni Battista Guarini's seminal Il Pastor fido to Foscolo and Futurist manifestos. The Spanish and Portuguese collections contain early editions of Lope de Vega, Camoens, Cervantes, Góngora, Quevedo, and Calderón. Russian first editions are well represented.[ citation needed ] The library's greatest strength, however, lies in its French holdings.[ citation needed ] Its collection of French Enlightenment authors stars the only complete collection in the world of all the French editions of Voltaire's Candide printed in 1759, the year of first publication. [7] The Taylorian also owns one of the only two known copies of the first edition of Benjamin Constant's Adolphe .[ citation needed ] The collections include a lock of Goethe's hair. [5]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of Oxford</span> Collegiate university in Oxford, England

The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the world's second-oldest university in continuous operation. It grew rapidly from 1167 when Henry II banned English students from attending the University of Paris. After disputes between students and Oxford townsfolk in 1209, some academics fled north-east to Cambridge where they established what became the University of Cambridge. The two English ancient universities share many common features and are jointly referred to as Oxbridge. Both are ranked among the most prestigious universities in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ashmolean Museum</span> University Museum of Art and Archaeology in Oxford, England

The Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology on Beaumont Street, Oxford, England, is Britain's first public museum. Its first building was erected in 1678–1683 to house the cabinet of curiosities that Elias Ashmole gave to the University of Oxford in 1677. It is also the world's second university museum, after the establishment of the Kunstmuseum Basel in 1661 by the University of Basel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bodleian Library</span> Main research library of the University of Oxford

The Bodleian Library is the main research library of the University of Oxford, and is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. It derives its name from its founder, Sir Thomas Bodley. With over 13 million printed items, it is the second-largest library in Britain after the British Library. Under the Legal Deposit Libraries Act 2003, it is one of six legal deposit libraries for works published in the United Kingdom, and under Irish law it is entitled to request a copy of each book published in the Republic of Ireland. Known to Oxford scholars as "Bodley" or "the Bod", it operates principally as a reference library and, in general, documents may not be removed from the reading rooms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Francis Douce</span> 18th/19th-century English antiquary

Francis Douce was a British antiquary and museum curator.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sackler Library</span> Library of the University of Oxford, England, UK

The Sackler Library holds a large portion of the classical, art historical, and archaeological works belonging to the University of Oxford, England.

John Simon Gabriel Simmons was a British scholar of Slavonics.

The Institute of Historical Research (IHR) is a British educational organisation providing resources and training for historical researchers. It is part of the School of Advanced Study in the University of London and is located at Senate House. The institute was founded in 1921 by A. F. Pollard.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies</span> Department of the University of Oxford

The Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, is a subdivision of the University of Oxford.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indian Institute</span>

The Indian Institute was an institute within the University of Oxford. It was started by Sir Monier Monier-Williams in 1883 to provide training for the Indian Civil Service of the British Raj. The institute's building is located in central Oxford, England, at the north end of Catte Street, on the corner with Holywell Street, and facing down Broad Street from the east.

Sir Arthur Ernest Cowley, was a British librarian who was Bodley's Librarian from 1919 until a couple of months before his death. He was also a leading Semitic scholar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bodleian Libraries</span>

The Bodleian Libraries are a collection of 28 libraries that serve the University of Oxford in England, including the Bodleian Library itself, as well as many other central and faculty libraries. As of the 2016–17 year, the libraries collectively hold almost 13 million printed items, as well as numerous other objects and artefacts.

The Faculty of Medieval and Modern Languages is a department of the University of Oxford, England. It is part of the university's Humanities Division.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hermann Georg Fiedler</span> German scholar

Hermann Georg Fiedler was a German scholar, who became Taylor Professor of the German Language and Literature at the University of Oxford (1907–37). He was previously lecturer in German at Mason College.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Voltaire Foundation</span> Research department of the University of Oxford

The Voltaire Foundation is a research department of the University of Oxford, founded by Theodore Besterman in the 1970s. It publishes the definitive edition of the Complete Works of Voltaire, as well as Oxford University Studies in the Enlightenment, a monograph series devoted to the eighteenth century, and the correspondences (letters) of several key French thinkers. Directed by Professor Nicholas Cronk, it forms part of Oxford's Humanities Division.

The Taylorian Lecture, sometimes referred to as the "Special Taylorian Lecture" or "Taylorian Special Lecture", is a prestigious annual lecture on Modern European Literature, delivered at the Taylor Institution in the University of Oxford since 1889.

Henry Butler Clarke was a lecturer on Spanish at the University of Oxford's Taylor Institution from 1890 to 1894, and an author of books about Spanish literature and history. His best-known work is Modern Spain, 1815-1898, published posthumously in 1906.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henrike Lähnemann</span> German medievalist and professor

Henrike Lähnemann is a German medievalist and holds the Chair of Medieval German, University of Oxford. She is a Fellow of St Edmund Hall, Oxford.

The University Engagement Programme of the Ashmolean Museum was established at the University of Oxford in 2012 with funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Its purpose is to explore new avenues for the use of the Museum’s collections in the teaching of the University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harris Manchester College, Oxford</span> College of University of Oxford

Harris Manchester College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It was founded in Warrington in 1757 as a college for Unitarian students and moved to Oxford in 1893. It became a full college of the university in 1996, taking its current name to commemorate its predecessor the Manchester Academy and a benefaction by Lord Harris of Peckham.

Karen Leeder is a British writer, translator and scholar of German culture. She is professor of Modern German Literature in the University of Oxford. In 2021 she was elected as Schwarz-Taylor Professor of the German Language and Literature, a position she took up at The Queen's College, Oxford in 2022.

References

  1. "Taylor Institution, University of Oxford". Art UK . Retrieved 13 April 2021.
  2. "Taylor Institution Library, University of Oxford". Archives Hub . Jisc . Retrieved 13 April 2021.
  3. Barber, Giles (1992). "Europe in St. Giles'". Oxford Today . Vol. 5, no. 1 (Michaelmas). p. 12.
  4. "The Taylor Institution Conservation Plan" (PDF). admin.ox.ac.uk. UK: University of Oxford. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 February 2015. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
  5. 1 2 Huber, Emma; Lähnemann, Henrike (8 April 2021). "Meeting Minds Global: Treasures of the Taylorian". Oxford Modern Languages. YouTube. Archived from the original on 22 December 2021. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
  6. "Sendbrief vom Dolmetschen". blogs.bodleian.ox.ac.uk. UK: Bodleian Library, University of Oxford. 17 December 2015.
  7. Barber 1992, p. 13.