The Queen's College Record 2023

displayed the fruits of the translation symposium mentioned above, followed by works
related to ‘retellings’, inspired by Polly Barton and Aoko Matsuda’s joint residency with
the Translation Exchange. Michaelmas and Trinity also saw a series of ‘show and tells’ in
the Upper Library, offering College members the chance to view and discuss numerous
College treasures, from medieval manuscripts to Isaac Newton’s Principia and Thomas
Hardy’s manuscript of Winter Words – the latter also joining the growing number of
items digitised and available online via our partnership with the Digital Bodleian website.
Alongside the display cases are, of course, the readers’ desks and bookstacks, and
these continue to be well-used, notably in Trinity Term. The librarians have devoted
considerable time to developing the current collections, ensuring that all areas of
College teaching are well supported, and helping to underpin the College’s pursuit
of academic excellence. The library remains a popular place of study, even during
an unwelcome bout of heating issues during the February cold snap, although the
swift deployment of borrowable blankets helped to mitigate some of the chills. Other
popular, if perhaps less traditional, items for loan include a collection of board games,
helping, it is hoped, to aid relaxation and College sociability. Mindful of the holistic
College experience, the ‘General Collection’ of fiction books have been placed in a
more prominent place, along with the library’s welfare collection.
Reports and College Activities
The Library has also ventured out beyond the reading rooms. In Hilary, the Library
supplied an image of a rare broadside in English, French, and Dutch that welcomed
immigrants from the Low Countries to Britain to the Queen’s House Gallery, National
Maritime Museum, for their Van de Veldes exhibition. A heraldic manuscript (MS 72)
that includes the first official record of the arms of City of London has been added
to the freely-available digital library on Digital Bodleian, and a rare medieval French
Legendary (MS 305) has been photographed to join it. The Library also organised
what now appears to be an annual cycle ride for current and Old Members, arranging
a geology-themed ride on cycle paths and bridleways to Wittenham Clumps and
back, taking in Dry Sandford Pits on the way.
More traditional activity includes a series of additions to the collections, thanks to
donations and the Ian Drummond bequest. These include correspondence between
the late Spanish novelist, Janvier Marías and Old Member, Colin Wight, together
with a copy of Marias’ first appearance in English (in a translation by Colin) and an
annotated 1533 volume of Lucanus once owned by the College’s ‘Apostle of the
North’, Bernard Gilpin (1517-1583).
At the end of Michaelmas, the College said farewell to Tessa Shaw, Deputy Librarian.
This included a party for colleagues across Oxford and included a welcome surprise
appearance by the former College Librarian, Jonathan Bengtson. As a consequence
of Tessa’s retirement, the Library has been pleased to promote Sarah Arkle to the
post of Deputy Librarian after a competitive recruitment process. Lauren Ward has
also joined the team as Assistant Librarian.
College Record 2023 | The Queen’s College 41