It has taken over 400 years for the Bodleian Library to accrue the largest collection of academic books in Britain. To commemorate the foundation of the library by Sir Thomas Bodley in 1602 this volume gathers together contributions by the staff of the library who each discuss a particular section of the collection.

Excerpt from The Bodleian Library at Oxford (All readers must at their first coming be entered in the Admission Registers and make the usual declaration.) The Bodleian Library was founded in 1602, and for size and importance (together) ranks first among University libraries, second among English-speaking peoples, and about eighth in the world. Readers are therefore requested to use it, not for trivial purposes, but for study and research. The Old Reading Room (O.R.R.) and Upper Reading Room (U.R.R.) are open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Jan. Nov. Dec.; to 4 p.m. in Feb. Mar. Aug. Sept. Oct.; to 5 p.m. in Apr. May, June, July. The Camera Reading Room is open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. The Camera contains most books printed since 1883, except Bibliography, Law, Music, English Drama, British Topography and Antiquities, with a few other sections. At Bodley there is a Reference library (books marked R and ), and at the Camera a large Select and Reference library (marked S). General Catalogue of Printed Books. There is a copy in the U.R.R (Bodley), and at the Camera. Catalogues of MSS. The official copies are in the O.R.R.: working copies are also in the O.R.R. and in the Cam. R.R. Forms for ordering Books and MSS. are in each Reading Room. Seats. Any unoccupied desk may be taken by a reader, except that twelve desks at the Selden End are assigned by the Librarian. The number of seats is, in O.R.R. 63, in U.R.R. 24, in Cam. R.R. 74 (+12 for Music students and 12 in the Science Room). Reserving books. MSS. and rare books should be used in the O.R.R. and cannot be reserved, but should be given up each time that the reader leaves. An ordinary book or an orderly pile of books, if reserved by a slip of paper bearing name and date, is left, in O.R.R. 3 days at seat, 7 days more in an adjacent reserve (but at Selden End, 10 days at seat): in U.R.R. 3 days at seat, 7 in reserve: in the Cam. R.R. books to be reserved should be brought to the Assistant's table (each work with the reserving slip), and will there be reserved for 7 days. Unreserved books and all Reference and Select books are cleared away daily. A reasonable limit for reserved books is in general twenty volumes. Tracing and painting need special permission. Photography is undertaken by the Clarendon Press: order forms are supplied on application. For further information see a Manual for Readers, supplied gratis on application. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works."

The liturgical psalter is one of the most important medieval Christian books and the most frequently and richly illuminated of medieval liturgical manuscripts. In its simplest form the psalter included 150 psalms, preceded by a calendar and followed by the canticles for the daily offices, the litany of saints and collects. This basic structure was very stable throughout the Middle Ages and is found in an overwhelming majority of psalters from different countries. In spite of the similarity of core content, psalters were very variable in their size, decoration, choice of supplementary texts and style of presentation, reflecting the interests and requirements of a wide range of lay and religious patrons.Latin Liturgical Psalters in the Bodleian Library contains descriptions of 111 psalters from Britain, France, the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Italy and Spain, ranging in date from the ninth to the sixteenth century. Each entry includes a description of contents, decoration, physical makeup and provenance, together with a bibliography. The entries are supplemented by comparative tables and indices to assist the study of illumination, manuscript presentation and the liturgical use of the psalms. Full colour images of pages from each of the manuscripts are also included, some of which are reproduced here for the first time. This catalogue brings together important information on a stunning selection of manuscripts held in the Bodleian Library, providing an invaluable resource for scholars.