Preface
The present volume is a short description of a great library, and forms part of a series of treatises on educational subjects which may, it is hoped, constitute some vindication of a classical and liberal education. The author trusts that this sketch of the history and contents of the Bodleian, which ranks first among the institutions of the University, may be of use to encourage the “studies of good learning,” and thereby to carry forward in some measure the ideals of Oxford. The chief difficulty has been to compress the subject within the necessary limits of the series, but the list of authorities on p. 64 will indicate sources of further information.
Permission to make use of the plan which forms the frontispiece was courteously granted by Dr. Cowley, the present Librarian of the Bodleian.
November, 1919.