Magdalen Libraries & Archives

What do you think of this reading list - and what would you add to it?

However, there's also books on great artists and scientists, key texts in literary criticism, history, politics and economics, as well as fiction. The vast majority of their choices are still in the library for users to borrow, 36 years later.

Our Donation Book from that period tells us the other titles that made up the collection.
57 titles were given to the library by a mix of students, alumni, staff, and bookshops. As might be expected, there are a lot of books on feminism.

Bookplate with the Magdalen College coat of arms. Text above it reads: this book is one of the collection to commemorate a First Decade of Women Students at Magdalen. Michaelmas 1990. Text below it reads: Donated by Middle Common Room.

Handwritten list of authors and book titles, from the Donors Book. At the top of the page, text reads: ‘First Decade of Women Students at Magdalen.’ The books listed on this page are: Women with X appeal : women politicians in Britain today Lesley Abdela Cassandra : a novel and four essays Christa Wolf ; translated from the German by Jan van Heurck The constraints of desire : the anthropology of sex and gender in ancient Greece by John J. Winkler The second sex Simone de Beauvoir ; translated and edited by H.M. Parshley Current issues in women's history edited by Arina Angermen Feminism and censorship : the current debate edited by Gail Chester & Julienne Dickey Victorian women : a documentary account of women's lives in nineteenth-century England, France, and the United States edited by Erna Olafson Hellerstein Unequal opportunities : women's employment in England 1800-1918 edited by Angela V. John Her own life : autobiographical writings by Seventeenth-century Englishwomen edited by Elspeth Graham Feminism and the family in England 1880-1939 Carol Dyhouse British feminist thought : a reader edited by Terry Lovell The grounding of modern feminism Nancy F. Cott The new politics of pornography Donald Alexander Downs Language, the sexes, and society Philip M. Smith Beating the ladykillers : women and smoking Bobbie Jacobson Right-wing women : the politics of domesticated females Andrea Dworkin The Handmaid's tale Margaret Atwood The temple of my familiar Alice Walker Moving heaven and earth : sexuality, spirituality and social change Lucy Goodison The madwoman in the attic : the woman writer and the nineteenth-century literary imagination Sandra M. Gilbert and Susan Gubar. The scientific lady : a social history of women's scientific interests 1520-1918 Patricia Phillips. Feminism unmodified : discourses on life and law Catharine A. MacKinnon Victorian murderesses : a true history of thirteen respectable French and English women accused of unspeakable crimes Mary S

Second page listing authors and book titles, from the Donors Book. These are titles which have been donated by various college staff, alumni, and bookshops to mark the First Decade of Women Students at Magdalen. The books listed on this page are: Men only : an investigation into men's organisations Barbara Rogers Women, marriage and politics, 1860-1914 Pat Jalland The iron ladies : why do women vote Tory? Beatrix Campbell Gender voices David Graddol and Joan Swann Against our will : men, women and rape Susan Brownmiller Sexing the cherry Jeanette Winterson The heart of the race : Black women's lives in Britain Beverley Bryan, Stella Dadzie, and Suzanne Scafe Sex and suffrage in Britain, 1860-1914 Susan Kingsley Kent The past is before us : feminism in action since the 1960s Sheila Rowbotham Virginia Woolf : a writer's life Lyndall Gordon Feminism and politics : a comparative perspective Joyce Gelb A village affair Joanna Trollope Literary women Ellen Moers ; with an introduction by Helen Taylor The impact of Victorian children's fiction J.S. Bratton Endangered lives : public health in Victorian Britain Anthony S. Wohl Gendered jobs and social change Rosemary Crompton and Kay Sanderson The transformation of family law : state, law, and family in the United States and Western Europe Mary Ann Glendon Justice for women? : family, court and social control Mary Eaton Centuries of female days : English women's private diaries Harriet Blodgett Georgia O'Keeffe : a life Roxana Robinson The Virago book of fairy tales edited by Angela Carter ; illustrated by Corinna Sargood The female malady : women, madness, and English culture, 1830-1980 Elaine Showalter What is feminism? Edited by Juliet Mitchell & Ann Oakley

Third page listing authors and book titles, from the Donors Book. About 2/3 of the way down the page, a red line has been added to indicate that books below it were part of the collection commemorating the First Decade of Women Students at Magdalen; and those above it were regular donations. The books listed on this page are: Pornography and silence : culture's revenge against nature Susan Griffin The sign of Angellica : women, writing and fiction, 1660-1800 Janet Todd At odds : women and the family in America from the Revolution to the present Carl N. Degler The ties that bind : law, marriage and the reproduction of patriarchal relations Carol Smart The origins of modern feminism : women in Britain, France and the United States, 1780-1860 Jane Rendall Labour and love : women's experience of home and family, 1850-1940 Jane Lewis Faces of feminism : a study of feminism as a social movement Olive Banks Feminism and the power of law Carol Smart Where there's life Kathleen Dayus

Happy #InternationalWomensDay. Here is a little piece of library history about women at Magdalen. This bookplate comes from a copy of The Handmaid's Tail by Margaret Atwood; part of a collection to commemorate a decade of women being allowed to study at Magdalen.

Poster advertising the library's new collection of cookbooks

The library team has chosen 10 of their favourite cookbooks to start it off and we plan to add an additional one every term. Do you have a favourite cookbook? What should we add to our growing collection?

8 Cookbooks on a shelf

This #WorldBookDay, we thought we'd tell you about our latest book collection. Suggested by one of lovely students, who is a keen chef, we have started our Skills & Crafts Collection. The collection will include books on cooking, crafts, sewing and origami.

Poster advertising an Old Library exhibition at Magdalen College. The exhibition is 'The spirit of the place': Magdalen College and its staff from foundation to the present day. The exhibition was curated by Dr Emily Jennings and Dr Richard Allen. It runs to 15th April 2026. A black and white photograph of Magdalen staff posed in the Cloisters forms the header of the poster.

See this photograph, and more, in our exhibition 'The spirit of the place': Magdalen College and its staff from foundation to the present day
📍Old Library
📆🕑 OPEN Today, 2-4:30pm

Black and white photograph of the New Buildings, at Magdalen College. A gardener stands with a wheelbarrow on the pathway beside it

Standing in front of the building is a college gardener with his wheelbarrow, a sight that is still common today. The gardener’s identity is sadly unknown, but he is captured in what is potentially the oldest known surviving photograph of a member of Oxford college staff.

library returns bin, full of library books. There's also a scrap piece of paper with a thank you note on it

a scrap piece of paper with a thank you note written on it. It says: "Thank you all so so much for absolutely everything that you do to make Longwall the best College Library in Oxford! All of your hard work & kindness is so very much appreciated. :-)"

What a nice welcome back on a Monday morning! Found in our returns box 😁

Folio 71 from MS Lat 50, which has a drawing of a dragon

Folio 1 from MS Lat 50, which has a drawing of a dragon

Folio 88 from MS Lat 50, which has a drawing of a dragon

Dydd Gŵyl Dewi Hapus! Here are some dragons from MS Lat 50, a Latin manuscript dating from the 12th century! 🐉🐲

Three late 20th century bookmarks: one from the Oxfordshire public library network, one from the Talgo rail network in Spain, and one depicting Lawrence of Arabia.

Happy World Bookmark Day! 📖📚

In celebration, here are some of the bookmarks that Special Collections Librarian Jessica found while cataloguing the book collection of T. E. Lawrence's authorised biographer, Jeremy Wilson (1944-2017).

#worldbookmarkday

See this, and more, in our exhibition 'The spirit of the place': Magdalen College and its staff from foundation to the present day
📍Old Library
📆🕑 OPEN Today, 2-4:30pm

First, buttery staff pose on the Hall steps during a dinner held in 1977 for the British Road Services (BRS). Second, staff deliver meals to students in quarantine in the New Building during the covid-19 pandemic.

buttery staff pose on the Hall steps during a dinner held in 1977 for the British Road Services

two members of staff delivering meals to students in quarantine in the New Building during the covid-19 pandemic. They wear face coverings and hold paper bags

Poster advertising an Old Library exhibition at Magdalen College. The exhibition is 'The spirit of the place': Magdalen College and its staff from foundation to the present day. The exhibition was curated by Dr Emily Jennings and Dr Richard Allen. It runs to 15th April 2026. A black and white photograph of Magdalen staff posed in the Cloisters forms the header of the poster.

Magdalen’s kitchen and buttery staff have to prepare meals in all sorts of circumstances for all sorts of people, although rarely is a visual record of this work captured in the college archives.

These two photos show college kitchen staff working in two very different circumstances.

The words 'Vacation loans' over a background of painted eggs in different colours and patterns

Happy 6th week! Vacation loans now apply. Renew your books for a due date of 30th April. 🐣🐇🐥

What a Very Good Boy! 🐾

Yesterday we were thrilled to welcome Harry (a registered PAT therapy dog) and his owner Dave to the Longwall Library. Harry made lots of new friends and gave them big cuddles to ward off their 5th Week Blues. 🤗

A huge thank-you to Dave and Harry for kindly volunteering!

Poster advertising an Old Library exhibition at Magdalen College. The exhibition is 'The spirit of the place': Magdalen College and its staff from foundation to the present day. The exhibition was curated by Dr Emily Jennings and Dr Richard Allen. It runs to 15th April 2026. A black and white photograph of Magdalen staff posed in the Cloisters forms the header of the poster.

See this photograph and scorebook in our exhibition 'The spirit of the place': Magdalen College and its staff from foundation to the present day
📍Old Library
📆🕑 OPEN Today, 2-4:30pm

4 rows of men standing or sitting posed for a group photo outside Magdalen’s sports pavilion. They are members of the Magdalen College Servants’ Cricket Club. Underneath, the names of the men have been recorded in pen. The photo has been recorded as having been taken in 1935.

Page from a scorebook, recording results of cricket matches between Magdalen College Servants’ Cricket Club and various opponents

Page from a scorebook, recording results of cricket matches between Magdalen College Servants’ Cricket Club and various opponents

Magdalen College Servants’ Cricket Club was founded before 1849. This scorebook contains its first recorded match (a victory over St John’s College). Servant sports teams were incredibly popular in Victorian Oxford, enduring through to the 1950s.

Introduction - In his own image What is the “real thing”, where do you find it, and why do you want to?

It was made using a high-resolution 3D digital model of the original sculpture and carved robotically. For more on this, and other copies, see our online exhibition: inhisownimage.magd.ox.ac.uk

Marble horses head on a plinth in front of a bookcase

It's #ChineseNewYear2026 today, marking the start of the Year of the Fire Horse. This horse currently resides in our Old Library. It's an exact recreation of the head of the Selene Horse, part of the East Pediment of the Parthenon Sculptures dating from the fifth century BC.

Drawing of a horse, with letters written across different body parts

drawing of a horse's skull, from the side and from below

Drawing of a horse's skeleton, with letters over each bone

Title page of 🔥🐎Happy 'The anatomy of an horse' by Andrew Snape published in 1683

🔥🐎Happy #ChineseNewYear2026. Today marks the beginning of the Year of the Fire Horse. Here we have images from the 1683 work 'The anatomy of an horse' by Andrew Snape, who was Farrier to King Charles II.

Title page of "The pleasures of a single life, The miseries of matrimony. : Occasionally writ upon the many divorces lately granted by Parliament. With The choice, or, The pleasures of a country-life" possibly by Edward "Ned" Ward

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
No, thanks - this is our Valentine's Day reading this year! "The pleasures of a single life, The miseries of matrimony" is attributed to Edward "Ned" Ward and was published in the early 18th century. Happy Valentine's Day to all our members. 💕

daguerreotype of Martin Routh. Aged 99, he is slumped in an armchair and his eyes are cast down. He sports one of his famous horsehair wigs. The print is in a small red box stamped with the name of M. Kilburn, 234 Regent Square (who no doubt took the picture).

Poster advertising an Old Library exhibition at Magdalen College. The exhibition is 'The spirit of the place': Magdalen College and its staff from foundation to the present day. The exhibition was curated by Dr Emily Jennings and Dr Richard Allen. It runs to 15th April 2026. A black and white photograph of Magdalen staff posed in the Cloisters forms the header of the poster.

This daguerreotype of Magdalen's President Martin Routh was taken on his 99th birthday on 18 September 1854. In it, he can be seen wearing his famous wig, more typical of fashions of the 1750s than the 1850s.
See this, and the wig itself, in our Old Library.
📍Old Library
📆🕑 OPEN Today, 2-4:30pm

bookcase with a paper 'ribbon' of spidermen across it

bookcase with 6 shelves of graphic novels

Last week, we cut the (spiderman, naturally) ribbon on our new Graphic Novels Collection. The collection consists of some 250 books, given by Peter Kessler and the late Rachel Cooke. You'll find the collection in the Longwall Library foyer, opposite the jigsaw puzzles & boardgames. Happy reading 📚️ 😀

Poster advertising an Old Library exhibition at Magdalen College. The exhibition is 'The spirit of the place': Magdalen College and its staff from foundation to the present day. The exhibition was curated by Dr Emily Jennings and Dr Richard Allen. It runs to 15th April 2026. A black and white photograph of Magdalen staff posed in the Cloisters forms the header of the poster.

See this, and more, in our exhibition 'The spirit of the place': Magdalen College and its staff from foundation to the present day
📍Old Library
📆🕑 OPEN Today, 2-4:30pm

Black and white photograph of 8 men posed for a group photo. The group are members of the Magdalen College Fire Brigade and 7 of them wear a uniform. The names of the men are recorded underneath the photograph in blue ink.

This photo shows members of the Magdalen College Fire Brigade in 1935. Founded at some point before 1925, it was formed exclusively of college staff. College fire brigades would often compete with one another, including for a rowing ‘Challenge Cup’.

Books on display: Black Queer Freedom, Free to Be Me, What's Your Pronoun?, A Lesbian History of Britain, Black on Both Sides, A Short History of Trans Misogyny, Female Husbands, 300,000 Kisses, Youngman: Selected diaries of Lou Sullivan, Transgender History, Ace, Letters to my Little Queer Self, Gender Pioneers, Sensible Footwear: a graphic guide to lesbian and queer history, The Trans-gender Issue.

We're marking LGBTQ+ History Month in the Longwall library with this display ft. queer history, diary, memoir... There's even a graphic guide to lesbian & queer history too.

Looking for more LGBTQ+ history & queer theory? Go to 👉 306.7
💥Graphic novels 👉 library foyer
🌱Self-help 👉 Rolling stacks

A cardboard box containing a jigsaw puzzle. Several edge pieces have been separated from a smaller box containing the rest of the jigsaw puzzle's pieces.

Happy #InternationalPuzzleDay. There's a new jigsaw puzzle in the Longwall Library foyer. Next time you take a much-needed study break, help us out with finding all the edge pieces.

3 shelves of books, many of which have decorative binding.

Today is #LibraryShelfieDay. Here we have 3 shelves of beautifully bound books donated to the library by Francis Lascelles-Hadwen. Lascelles-Hadwen, who bound most of the books himself, was a Demy student at Magdalen in the 1940s.

Other accounts show him caring for the kitchen garden and the college’s dishes, with such work helping to more than double his formal income of £2.
See this and more, in our exhibition on Magdalen staff over the centuries
📍Old Library
📆🕑 OPEN Today, 2-4:30pm