by Petra Hofmann (College Librarian) The so-called “York Bestiary” (MS 61, produced in early 13th-century York) is a firm favourite with library staff and visitors. Who can resist these charming, often funny and sometimes puzzling illustrations of animals together with a dazzling display of gold? Bestiaries are a combination of natural philosophy passed down theContinue reading “The York Bestiary”
Tag Archives: William Paddy
Medieval Medicine
by Petra Hofmann (College Librarian) St John’s College has a significant collection of medical manuscripts and early printed books. Among the medieval medical manuscripts is this fascinating volume of John Arderne’s work (MS 86), full of marginal decorations and even one English case history among the otherwise Latin text. The manuscript dates from 14th/15th-century England.Continue reading “Medieval Medicine”
Life Stories from St John’s: the famous & the forgotten
Library exhibition 9 September – 9 December 2022 Introduction For over 450 years the lifeblood of St John’s College has been the people who live and work inside its walls. Some have dedicated a good part of their lives to this College, while others have just passed through. Many have become famous and even moreContinue reading “Life Stories from St John’s: the famous & the forgotten”
Scandinavia in the Special Collections
This month, we gather together a number of different items which share a northern theme: twentieth-century cartoons, seventeenth-century astronomy, nineteenth-century literature, sixteenth-century history, eighteenth-century exploration, and a seventeenth-century Bible. Historia de gentibus septentrionalibus [Description of the Northern people], Olaus Magnus (1550) ∑.2.14 Olaus Magnus (1490-1557) was a Swedish writer and Archbishop of Uppsala, and thisContinue reading “Scandinavia in the Special Collections”