Magical Books at the Bodleian Library

Modern fantasy writing owes a particular debt to the literature of the Middle Ages. The Bodleian's summer exhibition Magical Books: From the Middle Ages to Middle-Earth features a wide range of medieval materials alongside a range of artefacts associated with modern fantasy writers. Most of the featured writers are associated with Oxford and the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, Professor of English Language and Literature at Merton from 1945-59, loom particularly large.

The very first display case invokes Jorge Luis Borges' account of the Library of Babel and invites us to consider the Bodleian itself as a fantastical location of sorts, full of obscure learning and ancient mysteries. The line between library and exhibition space is blurred further by sets of bookshelves that allow visitors to browse some of the featured texts. In the display cases, medieval accounts of fantastical creatures and locations rub shoulders with similar works of more modern vintage. One section focuses on Arthurian material, from a manuscript of Geoffrey of Monmouth's seminal account of the legend down to Arthur Rackham's doom-laden illustrations produced at the height of the First World War. A copy of the first of the Harry Potter books annotated by J. K. Rowling sits beside ancient alchemical accounts of the Philosopher's Stone. Alongside a damaged fragment of a medieval manuscript, we have Tolkien's attempt at ageing some runic inscriptions of his own. This last item reflects the exhibition's emphasis on the more material side of modern text-making; there are numerous examples of calligraphy, hand-drawn maps and illustrations by the various featured authors. Magical Books is a real gem, full of engaging texts and quirky artefacts, recording a rich dialogue between the Middle Ages and modernity.

Review by Dr Aisling Byrne, Fitzjames Research Fellow in Old & Middle English.