Classicist receives award for best performance at Oxford
John Donne’s personal copy of law book rediscovered in Senior Library
29 July 2024
The rediscovery at Oriel College of a legal commentary annotated by the distinguished metaphysical poet is a promising prelude to a cataloguing project which is set to begin in 2026.
A legal commentary that belonged to English poet John Donne has been rediscovered in Oriel College’s Senior Library where a large-scale cataloguing project is soon to begin.
Written by Antonius Clarus Sylvius and published in 1603, the book — “Commentarius ad Leges tam Regias” — is identifiable as Donne’s by his signature on the title page and the annotations throughout.
Donne studied in Oxford for about three years from 1583 but could not obtain a degree on account of his Catholicism (illegal to practice in England at the time). Then, in 1592, after a preliminary year of study at Thavie’s Inn (and possibly also after studying for a short time at Cambridge), he was admitted to Lincoln’s Inn, where records suggest he studied English law for around two years.
Oriel College’s Librarian Hannah Robertson said finding the book previously belonging to the Donne, unidentifiable as his by the exterior alone, is “promising in terms of what may be revealed by cataloguing the collection held in the Senior Library.”
“Our plan is to scrupulously examine the books and manuscripts comprising the collection for markings such as marginalia and inscriptions — anything that could help develop our understanding of the college’s nearly 700-year history,” she added.
Dr David Maw — who, in addition to his role as Director of Music, was appointed Fellow Librarian in 2023 — said that the project was “crucial in defining the college as it enters its eighth century.”
He added: “Donne’s book is just one of the treasures in the Senior Library collection. The interest that it attracts serves to remind us of the importance of this collection both to us and to the scholarly community beyond.”
A refurbishment project at the Senior Library building where Donne’s book has been rediscovered is set to begin some time in 2025.
In 2023, specialist conservators were brought in to stabilise the library’s valuable collection, which comprises about 25,000 items in total. Then a full inventory was completed.
The library team found Captain Sir John Franklin’s personal copy of his “Narrative of a Journey to the Shores of the Polar Sea” as well as a first editions of Henry Purcell’s musical scores and a first edition of “The Anatomy of the Horse” by George Stubbs.
Work to catalogue the total contents of the library will begin after all of the planned infrastructural changes to the building have been completed. This is expected to be during 2026.
The plan is for each item to be listed on the University of Oxford’s library catalogue, SOLO, making them discoverable to researchers from all around the world.