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History collections on open-shelves in the Old Bodleian, Radcliffe Camera and Weston Library: Weston Library

The Weston Library is the Bodleian Library's Special Collections library. As well as providing readings rooms for the consultation of archives and rare books, it also has many open-shelf collections of use to historians.Photo of the Weston Library, Broad St, Oxford

R - Catalogues of archives & incunables; dictionaries for heraldry & peerage, art, Bible & liturgy

R. Ref         Dictionaries and other reference works (principally   medieval), biography, Bodleian history, Bodleian exhibition catalogues, and Bodleian manuscript catalogues

R. Ref.        Summary Catalogues, Quarto Catalogues, Oxford

R. 5             Bindings, book collectors, emblems, medieval bibliography, medieval libraries, essays and festschriften

R. 6             Bodleian manuscript collections, Oxford museum and college collections, local history and genealogy, heraldry and peerage. Includes e.g.

 

         R. 6.406 Grand armorial de France; catalogue général des armoiries des familles nobles de France. 6 vols. [Paris], 1934-49       

         R. 6. 407a Armorial général et nobiliaire français / Hubert Lamant. Eaubonne : Lamant ,1975-

         R. 6.454 Burke's genealogical and heraldic history of the landed gentry 17th ed. London : Burke's Peererage, 1952.

         R. 6.432  Burke's genealogical and heraldic history of the peerage, baronetage and knightage. 105th ed. London : Burke's Peerage Limited, 1970

         R. 6.434 Cokayne, George E, The complete peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom, extant, extinct, or dormant.          13 vols in 14. London : St Catherine Press, 1910-1959

 

R. 9             Art, Architecture, iconography

R. 12           Bible, liturgy, saints, religious houses, clergy. Includes, e.g.:

    

         R. 12. 139 The heads of religious houses, England and Wales / edited by David Knowles, C.N.L. Brooke, Vera C.M. London.             3 vols. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 1972-2008

         R. 12. 144  Lexikon der Kardinäle, 1058-2010 : in acht Bänden. Köln, 2012-

         R.12.145  Die Bischöfe des Heiligen Römischen Reiches : ein biographisches Lexikon

         R. 12. 149  Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae [much also available online via BHO]

 

R. Bibl.       Catalogues of and books about Incunables

R. Cat.        Catalogues of manuscripts in other collections, arranged alphabetically by country and town

R. Cat.Exhib  Catalogues of exhibitions of MSS arranged alphabetically by location

R. Pal. - Palaeography, facsimiles, manuscript illumination, autographs, codiology, history of the book, diplomatic

R. Pal. 1     Palaeographical Society facsimiles

R. Pal. 2     Greek palaeography (see also R. Pal. 15)

R. Pal. 2  [90 onwards]  Manuscripts of Greek classical authors

R. Pal. 2  [175 onwards]  Greek biblical manuscripts

R. Pal. 4     Latin palaeography (see also R. Pal. 16)

R. Pal. 4  [500 onwards]  Dated and datable manuscripts  

R. Pal. 5     Diplomatic (see also R. Pal. 17)

R. Pal. 6     Facsimiles of manuscripts in particular collections

R. Pal. 7     Manuscripts of Latin classical authors   

R. Pal. 7  [120 onwards]   Latin biblical manuscripts

R. Pal. 8     Latin manuscripts: religious texts (see also R. Pal. 18)

R. Pal. 9     Latin and vernacular manuscripts: secular texts (see also R. Pal. 18)

R. Pal. 10    Illuminated manuscripts: general (see also R. Pal. 18)

R. Pal. 11    Illuminated manuscripts: collections (see also R. Pal. 18)

R. Pal. 12    Schools of manuscript illumination (see also R. Pal. 18)

R. Pal. 13    Autographs

R. Pal. 14    History of the book    

X Section - book trade, printing, illustration, history of photography, Modern history & politics (associated with archival collections)

X. 1 Library guides and catalogues of rare books

X. 2 Book-trade history

X. 3 Book-collecting and book sales

X. 4 Printing history

X. 5 Printers and publishers

X. 6 Children's books

X. 7 Book illustration

X. 8 Theatre history

X. 9 History of photography

X. 11    Literature associated with collections

X. 12    Modern History and Politics associated with Modern Political Papers (esp. Asquith, Clem Attlee, Isaiah Berlin, James Callaghan, Benjamin Disraeli, Edward Heath, Roy Jenkins, Harold Macmillan, Harold Wilson)

X. 13    General reference

X. Cat.    Catalogues of Bodley special collections

X. Cat. Ref.    Catalogues of collections elsewhere

I.1 Oriental collections

All follow Library of Congress Classification.

[Arab] Arabic collections

[Arm]  Armenian collections

[Copt]  Coptic collections

[Egypt]  Egyptian collections

[Georg]  Georgian collections

[Heb]  Hebrew collections

[Persian]  Persian collections

[Sansk]  Sanskrit collections

[Syr]  Syriac collections

[Turk]   Turkish collections

II.1. Indian Institute books

[selections from the classification scheme}

30 Biography

Bibl. Bibliographies

Bibl. Ind. I. Bibliotheca Indica

Enc Encyclopaedias

Ind gen General

Lex Dictionaries

Sansk ser Monographic series

Ind H Indian censuses

Ind P - U Prad Pa Gazetteers

Ind R-U Prov R Historical records

Bangla H Bangladeshi censuses

Nepal H Nepali censuses

Pakistan H Pakistani censuses

Sri Lanka H Sri Lankan censuses

Tib/Tibet Tibetan material

II.2. African and Commonwealth collections

[uses A-Z of the Library of Congress Classification]

Of particular interest to African and Commonwealth studies are:

C Auxiliary sciences of history

D  World history and history of Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, New Zealand etc

F History of the Americas

H Social sciences

J Political science

L Education

All Weston Library books are

CONFINED

to the library.

Reading Rooms in the Weston

The Rare Books and Manuscripts Reading Room is for readers of medieval and modern manuscripts and archives, Oxford University archives, rare books, printed ephemera, and maps.

The Charles Wendell David Reading Room is for readers of oriental manuscripts and rare books, Commonwealth and African archives and Oxford University theses.  

The Sir Charles Mackerras Reading Room is for readers of music materials.

Key online resources