Reflection

I have found creating a blog to be a rewarding and informative introduction to web 2.0 formats. Nonetheless, it has been a somewhat frustrating and lengthy process. There were times where I had to return to the draft stage repeatedly before I was satisfied with the layout, and times were photographs or videos accidentally disappeared from drafts. Despite these difficulties, it has become clear that blogging provides an opportunity for anyone with access to a computer to wield their own creative stamp on the internet for all to see. I have welcomed the opportunity to discover the many ways web 2.0 has encouraged information sharing and also allowed individuals the artistic licence to showcase their interests in a way that is changing the context in which we view our 'information world'. Web 2.0 has allowed and encouraged an infinite amount of social and research possibilities.

The most enjoyable discovery I made during the course of creating this blog was finding the 'Gadget' with a continuum of changing eloquent prose of William Shakespeare.

"How far that little candle throws its beams! So shines a good dead in a naughty world." ..................................... William Shakespeare

Journey

I have enjoyed this blog journey - I have always had a fascination with this time and place. When I chose this topic and began this blog I recalled a grade five project that I had completed to great satisfaction – a project on Queen Elizabeth I. For that project I went to great lengths to present my research in scroll form - using a rolling pin and burning the edges of the paper to give it that authentic aged 'medieval' appearance. I have found blogging to also be a creative research tool and have welcomed the opportunity to revisit Elizabethan Times.

Architecture

After combing through many references using the keywords - medieval architecture – Divinity School – Duke Humfrey’s Library - Bodleian Library – Oxford University, I slowly gathered a picture of the men commissioned to build these buildings which have been described as a masterpiece of English Gothic architecture.

I have found some excellent references in relation to the builders, tradesman and materials attributed to the building of the Bodleian Library. The Library is composed of three major portions; the original medieval section (completed 1487, rededicated 1602), the Arts End (1612) to the east, and finally in (1637) the Selden End was added to the west. What is known as the Schools Quadrangle and Tower of Five Orders, was completed in (1619). The tower of Five Orders was designed to introduce students to the five orders of Classical architecture : Doric, Tuscan, Ionic, Corinthian and Composite. Finally in (1637). The first stone was laid for the Arts End on July 19th 1610. The foundation stone for the Schools Quadrangle was laid on the 30th March 1612.

Collection

William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies is the 1623 published collection of William Shakespeare's plays. Modern scholars commonly refer to it as the First Folio. The Bodleian Library, received its copy in early 1624.






I have spent more than a short amount of time looking at and using various web 2.0 formats. My choice for best web 2.0 is youtube for the simplest reason - it is with the greatest satisfaction that I have found the following links.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNUuiVXYpQw

The following two medieval videos are accompanied by some very beautiful haunting music.
They are quiet large so I have only uploaded 'Manuscritos iluminados'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SADKPZkdl3o

Thomas Bodley implemented the creation of a "Benefactors' Book" in 1602, which was bound and put on display in the library in 1604. While he did have funding through the wealth of his wife, Ann Ball, and the inheritance he received from his father, he still needed to have the gifts of his affluent friends and colleagues to build his library collection. Thomas Bodley recognized the advantages of a donor register in which those who donated books would have their name for everyone to see their contributions. He created a handsome Register of Donations, in vellum, in which the name of every benefactor should be written down ‘in a large and fair hand so all might read.’He kept the Register prominently displayed so that no visitor to the library could escape seeing the generosity of the benefactors. The register was successful.. Thomas Bodley found that 'every man bethinks himself how by some good book or other he may be written in the scroll of the benefactors.'

Scope

The tools I have decided to use for this research topic will be the academic library catalogue of 'Monash University' which I have access to and internet search engines. I have had success in finding some very good books on the Bodleian Library and have found the internet a great source of information.

These books are a rare example of medieval binding.

Chained book

The book on the right is an example of original 15th chained binding. Institutional libraries like the Bodleian Library stored their books this way, attaching the chain to the shelf. This was done in order to protect the books from theft or loss.

Scope of research-

I intend to show the Bodleian Library in the period of the beginning of the 17th century. This is the period when Sir Thomas Bodley rescued the Duke Humfrey's Library which in the mid 16th century under legislation passed by King Edward VI was purged of any material with traces of Roman Catholicism or superstition.

The focus will be on introducing the reader to the physical environment and architecture of the Bodleian Library. I will also introduce the reader to the collection Sir Thomas Bodley acquired and the scholars who used the library during this time.