All Souls College Library
{{Short description|University library in Oxford, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox library
| library_name = All Souls College Library
| library_logo =
| image = {{multiple image|align=center|direction=vertical|header=|width=250|image1=UK-2014-Oxford-All Souls College 02.jpg|alt1= External view|caption1=The library as viewed from All Souls' North Quad|image2=The Codrington Library, All Souls College, Oxford 1.jpg|alt2=Internal view|caption2=The interior of the library with statue of Christopher Codrington}}
| caption =
| country = United Kingdom
| location = All Souls College, Oxford
| type = Academic library
| num_branches =
| established = 1751
| items_collected = Books, journals, newspapers, magazines, maps, drawings, manuscripts
| collection_size = 185,000 items
| legal_deposit =
| req_to_access = Open to members of Oxford University and to external scholars by application.
| director = Professor Peregrine Horden (Fellow Librarian)
Gaye Morgan (Librarian in Charge & Conservator)
| website = {{oweb|http://www.asc.ox.ac.uk/the-library}}
}}
All Souls College Library, known until 2020 as the Codrington Library, is an academic library in the city of Oxford, England.{{cite web|first=John S. |last=Simmons |url=http://www.citeulike.org/user/EdwardLacey/article/3771392 |title=A note on the Codrington Library, All Souls College, Oxford |location=Oxford |publisher=All Souls College |year=1982 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927152613/http://www.citeulike.org/user/EdwardLacey/article/3771392 |archivedate=27 September 2011 }} It is the library of All Souls College, a graduate constituent college of the University of Oxford.
History
The library in its current form was endowed by Christopher Codrington (1668–1710), a fellow of the college who amassed his fortune through his sugar plantations in Barbados, an island in the British West Indies. These were worked by enslaved people of African descent.{{cite web|first=James|last=Walvin|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/abolition/building_britain_gallery_06.shtml|title=Slavery and the Building of Britain|publisher=BBC|date=17 February 2011|accessdate=2014-02-14}} Codrington bequeathed books worth £6,000, in addition to £10,000 in currency (the equivalent of approximately £1.2 million in modern terms).{{cite web|publisher=The National Archives|title=National Archives Currency Converter|url=http://apps.nationalarchives.gov.uk/currency/|accessdate=2014-09-16}} The library, designed by Nicholas Hawksmoor, begun in 1716, was completed in 1751 and has been in continuous use by scholars since then. It is Grade I listed on the National Heritage List for England.{{NHLE|num=1046762|desc=All Souls College, Codrington Library|accessdate=2016-11-12}}
The first woman to be admitted as a reader to the library was Cornelia Sorabji from Somerville College, at the invitation of Sir William Anson, 3rd Baronet in 1890.{{cite book|title=Somerville for women: an Oxford college, 1879–1993|page=114|author=Pauline Adams|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1996|isbn=019920179X|id=}}
Collection
The modern collection comprises some 185,000 items, about a third of which were produced before 1800.{{cite web|url=http://www.asc.ox.ac.uk/library|title=The Codrington Library|publisher=All Souls College|location=Oxford|accessdate=2016-11-12}} The library's collections are particularly strong in Law, European History, Ecclesiastical History, Military History, and Classics. There is an expanding collection devoted to sociological topics and the History of Science. Unusually for an Oxford college library, access to the Codrington is open to all members of the university (subject to registration).{{cite web|url=http://www.asc.ox.ac.uk/applications|title=The Codrington Library Applications|publisher=All Souls College|location=Oxford|accessdate=2016-11-12}} The library contains a significant collection of manuscripts and early printed books, and attracts scholars from around the world.
Renaming
File:Codrington slavery plaque 1.jpg
In November 2020, the college took the decision to stop referring to the library as the Codrington Library, as part of a set of "steps to address the problematic nature of the Codrington legacy", which derives from exploitation of slave plantations. While the library has since been renamed, a statue of Christopher Codrington remains in the center of the reading room. {{cite web|url=https://www.asc.ox.ac.uk/news/all-souls-college-and-codrington-legacy|title=All Souls College and the Codrington Legacy|accessdate=2020-11-16}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{Portal|University of Oxford}}
- {{Official|https://www.asc.ox.ac.uk/the-library}}
- [http://www.cherwell.org/cherwelltv/culture/2011/06/06/the-unseen-university-2-the-codrington-library The Unseen University: The Codrington Library](short film) {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111216205417/http://www.cherwell.org/cherwelltv/culture/2011/06/06/the-unseen-university-2-the-codrington-library |date=16 December 2011 }}
{{Libraries of the University of Oxford}}
{{Authority control}}
{{coord |51.7538|-1.2533|type:edu_region:GB|display=title}}
Category:1751 establishments in England
Category:All Souls College, Oxford
Category:Grade I listed library buildings
Category:Buildings and structures completed in 1751
Category:Library buildings completed in the 18th century
Category:Libraries of the University of Oxford
Category:Nicholas Hawksmoor buildings