Frankenstein in Oxford: A Conversation with Richard Ovenden, OBE
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What is the significance of the Bodleian Library in literary history?
Hi, Sob listeners. This special bonus episode is a real treat. In August last year, I was invited to host a conversation at the University of Sydney with Richard Ovenden, OBE, who is the 25th Bodleys Librarian, as he's called. And what this means is that he is the head of the Great Bodleian Library in Oxford and indeed of all of Oxford's great collections in museums and libraries and the Botanical Gardens for anyone who's been to Oxford and marvelled at those. So Richard has written a lot about the importance of libraries of all kinds. not just the greatest libraries in the world, but why we need libraries now in the age that we live in. He's written so many important op-eds in newspapers currently about various forms of knowledge destruction.
And his wonderful Burning the Books is a book that gives a very fascinating, accessible history of the devastation of various libraries across time and
How did the Bodleian Library acquire the Mary Shelley collection?
what happened when collections are destroyed and why the destruction of knowledge is something that we should still really care about. It's not just a mythical event. Richard also writes a lot about why the keeping, curating and making of knowledge in libraries now is so important. After we met up in Sydney and Richard had returned to Oxford, he and I recorded this fantastic conversation about the acquisition of the Mary Shelley collection for the Bodleian, which happened while Richard was librarian.
What unique items are included in the Mary Shelley collection?
In fact, it was the first thing he did. The Mary Shelley collection includes the manuscript of Frankenstein, which in and of itself is one of the most thrilling objects and stories about literary creation. And the collection also includes a much deeper, broader story of a group of literary friends and family and the unique historical moment and intellectual, cultural, creative moment that they all belong to in the early part of the 19th century. So the conversation that you're about to listen to ranges very broadly. And when I was listening back to it sometime after we recorded, I had this extraordinary sense of history coming alive as Richard talked about the acquisition of the Mary Shelley collection.
Why books matter, not just reproductions of the book, but the book itself, the manuscript, the first printed versions.
Why is the manuscript of Frankenstein considered a literary treasure?
What we add to our reading experience when we know about the secret life of the making of a book. We're also going to learn in this conversation about the behind the scenes of a great library, like the Bodleian, the secret phone calls, the chance discoveries, the incredible coming together of different objects that previously seemed diffuse and unconnected, and the coming to life of stories that have been long since forgotten and seemingly lost. So do enjoy this conversation and this behind the scenes snapshot of of Richard Ovenden's life in the Bodleian Library.
What role did Percy Bysshe Shelley play in the creation of Frankenstein?
Thank you. It's a great pleasure to be on the show. I'm delighted.
We did an episode on Frankenstein a while ago. In fact, it was one of our early episodes that we did. And so when you offered me the opportunity to have a chat about the Frankenstein manuscript, I absolutely leapt at it in a manner that was worthy of Victor Frankenstein himself. To discuss this creature that is the Shelley manuscript of Frankenstein. So Richard, just to back up, tell us a little bit about the Bodleian Library and how you
How did the publication of Frankenstein impact Mary Shelley's legacy?
hold archives for someone like Mary Shelley, who's obviously part of a bigger picture?
So the Bodleian is a research library. It was founded, formally opened in 1602 as the research library of the University of Oxford. So the first few hundred years of its existence was really for senior scholars or graduate students. It wasn't really a place that undergraduates engaged with until actually relatively late into the 20th century. The whole backdrop to its collecting, therefore, was focused on research materials, primary sources, but layered onto that was legal deposit. So from 1610, the library entered into a partnership with the company of stationers, with the old guild that held the monopoly of printing in Britain, and they did a deal whereby any book printed by a member of the company would be deposited free of charge in the Bodleian Library.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the significance of the Bodleian Library in literary history?
0:02–1:04
2
How did the Bodleian Library acquire the Mary Shelley collection?
1:04–1:34
3
What unique items are included in the Mary Shelley collection?
1:34–2:24
4
Why is the manuscript of Frankenstein considered a literary treasure?
2:24–2:59
5
What role did Percy Bysshe Shelley play in the creation of Frankenstein?
2:59–3:30
6
How did the publication of Frankenstein impact Mary Shelley's legacy?
3:30–5:14
7
What are the modern functions of libraries in society?
5:14–6:20
8
How can digitization enhance access to rare literary works?
6:20–31:27