Beauty All Around Oxford

 

The ornate, stunning upper Radcliffe Camera. It is hard not to get distracted by this gorgeous ceiling and the carved stonework. It really is so beautiful. I could not believe I got to be in there working and reading every day.

Outside the Radcliffe Camera, the lovely glowing orb lamps are iconic and beautiful.

Inside the Radcliffe Camera. The floating staircase is one of my favourites. At the bottom is the lower Rad Cam. At the top, the upper Rad Cam.

On my way to the library with my latte from Jericho Coffee (in my Bodleian Libraries Keep Cup) on a bright, clear morning.

In the upper Rad Cam, the little spiral staircase that brings me up to the mezzanine level of the upper Rad Cam.

Outside St. Mary's with the spires rising from the church and Brasenose College on the right, with lovely blooms that opened as I was there.

Exeter College Chapel. I went to an organ concert at lunchtime. It's one of the most stunning chapels I think.

St. Phillip's Books is a small Catholic Bookshop that stocks beautiful old books, holding many first editions of C.S. Lewis and all the Inklings, G.K. Chesterton, and other poetry, classics, theology, church history. It is a treasure trove.

Still at the library after sunset. View of the other half of the Old Bodleian as I leave for the night. I love the warm glow of the windows and looking across to the other reading rooms and seeing all the shelves of books. The Rad Cam peaking from behind.

Inside St. Mary's at lunchtime. The slant of light on the stone is stunning, the stained glass is lovely. The wooden pulpit ahead has a lot of history - it's where C.S. Lewis, John Wesley, John Henry Newman, and many other important figures preached.

A favourite, much frequented corner - Turl Street and Ship Street. Exeter College ahead. Jesus College to my right behind the wall. I often would get an iced latte from Pret at the other end of Ship Street and walk this way with my drink before heading back into the Bodleian.

The best place for flowers - The Garden shop in the Covered Market. I must visit to gaze at all the lovely array of tulips, daffodils, ranunculus, hyacinth, etc.

A walk along the Cherwell, flowing through Oxford toward Magdalen College.

The sun looks like a star (well, it is) in the sky above Magdalen College Tower.

After service in the chapel at Oriel College. The glow and the deep, velvety night sky was stunning to behold.

Writing in Duke Humfrey's Library

 

With this desire she hath a native might
To find out every truth, if she had time,
Th' innumerable effects to sort aright,
And by degrees from cause to cause to climb.
...
But in this life no soul the truth can know
So perfectly as it hath power to do:
If then perfection be not found below,
An higher place must make her meant thereto.

-Sir John Davies

From my Oxford Notebook

My little booklover's heart is all a-gush: I am sitting in the Duke Humfrey's Library, with only a few of my possessions: phone, laptop, this notebook, and this pencil. I am over the moon delighted to be sitting here with shelves of ancient books right in front of me (and behind me) at a desk in the middle section (of either of the Arts and Sheldon ends). It's such a big deal, I am skipping my morning coffee to spend time in here - I love it. So quiet, stuck in time. Right now I have the whole row to myself. I plan to get some writing done (besides this gushing library love writing) - putting some notes to use to writing more of my draft. This is the perfect place to do it. I don't need access to books, just my notes on my laptop.

My friend who works at the Bodleian Library as a tour guide was giving a tour to a group as I walked in. I tapped her shoulder as I passed and we waved as she was in the midst of explaining some historical tidbit about the oldest library of the Bodleian. It is amazing to think how many times I have taken the tours and now I am independently studying here in the oldest library, breathing in the scent of old books. The aging leather and paper scent - it's so dreamy.

I look around, I look up, surrounded by books, very old books from probably the 15th-16th centuries. Even books painted on the ceiling adorned in Latin. I recall from C.S. Lewis's diary how he sat here reading as an undergraduate, and as a don he later sat here to read all the literature published in the 16th century to write his edition of the Oxford English Literature in the 16th Century mammoth book (he dubbed OHEL). It took him ten years to write it. 

The shelves have some dust between the books, as these books are not moved much, I imagine. They are all in Latin. They can't be lifted out, or an alarm will sound. To help preserve these very aged old books, if you want to read one, you'd request it in the Manuscripts reading room at the Weston to have the book rests and page weights to properly look at one without stressing the spine. Like dinosaurs, they hold secrets of the past, but in human history and thought. They are treasures.

It's a funny juxtaposition - I am sitting here, in these old wooden chairs, nose to spine with these books older than my home country, written in a language I can't read. All is silent in a room full of words.

This place inspires thinking and writing. It reveals how important these things are - researching, thinking, writing, learning, coming to your conclusion after learning from the wiser authors before you. It's a legacy left to us and we shall leave to others. An immense privilege to have access to this. To imagine the authors and thinkers who have sat here through history. The whole space feels like it is frozen in the 15th century, except for the WiFi and laptops. Those modern creations that seems so out of place.

When you appreciate a space and place like this, for its history and literary connections, it elevates the space and motivates the spirit.

Research in the Library (Bodleian Style)

 

Bodleian Library.
The beginnings.

If I tell people I spent weeks taking my time not on vacation sightseeing or taking tours, but working in the libraries of the Bodleian (because I wanted to) everyday, I get a mix of reactions. Some odd looks, for sure, that ask "why" without asking it. Sometimes if someone knows me well, they understand my propensity toward the literary life, the love of books, reading, researching and writing, and they somewhat understand why I would be so fond of visiting libraries, but to spend everyday in the library when I'm not a student? To spend time there when I could be off doing "holiday" type things? What's going on there? Many are baffled by this.

I propose the following:
We are all lifelong students. We all choose what we study and where we spend our time in that research, resulting in different outcomes of our time. Meaning, we all dedicate our time to "something" - spilling our attention, time, and energy into it, whatever it is. Is that "something" helping you learn and grow? Is it producing good in the world? 

I feel very selfish in my studious pursuits, honestly, because I take a lot of time reading and researching things I am deeply interested in, however, my goal is to organize what I read and learn, and share it all with the world via this blog and/or a book. The point is I am not meant to selfishly hold onto all this wonder, beauty, and discovery to myself. I give it out and hope that it inspires people, in some small way.

My ultimate goal then is not to keep it all for myself, but to give it away. It has no power (to do good in the world) if it is not shared.

This is where I pull from the brilliant mind of Dorothy L. Sayers who detailed the trinitarian idea of creative work, exploring:
IDEA, ENGERY, POWER
As a 3-prong system - I always keep this in mind in my creative work.

IDEA - the idea that I have for a book

ENERGY - the effort I put into reading, researching, writing the book

POWER - the sharing of the book with the world

My creative energies lead me this way, and my job is to do these things. Now, there is not a 4th prong that says "market" or "sell it", so I am not liable or responsible for this part. That is what I am not good at, it is not where my efforts go, and doesn't come easily to me, so I focus on my 3 pieces - my job.

My IDEA for my next book came to me many months ago, last year, yet it is actually something that's been clanging around in my head for many years. It's not something I had attempted before, as it's nonfiction requiring lots of research of history of places and people, outside my book writing experience, but then I remembered how I journal and write observations and notes all the time and have some travel writing in the past, so there could be elements of that to provide a modern experience to studies of the past.

The ENERGY of the book project started last year, too. With a large collection of books in my own home, it was the perfect place to start. I could begin my research there, using my own sources to begin a draft. I turned to online resources, too, building a draft into a preliminary sketch of what it could be. Typing it out in pencil (as it were), though, as new research could update it.

Then, for the deep and wide research - the place, the resources, and spaces to work at the Bodleian Libraries, Oxford.

Here, the resources are practically endless. Here, the discoveries are everyday. Here, the history is held securely, and I am allowed to request such items of the past to look at myself (a very great honor) - original documents from history, telling a story to me as I write my own story of research and the journey of amazing discovery I get to encounter. Every single day was joy in discovery.

Being that I am not an academic, I entered deep into a world so different from my regular work, and I had to learn a lot. This is all neither good nor bad, but how you approach and embrace each is key. I embrace both, in different ways. Here being the experience I get to feel encouragement to delve into my love of all things literary and writing from a creative realm.

I have never before been able to dedicate weeks to such intense and self-directed research, not to mention doing such work in the best (most beautiful and historically significant) library in the world, in my view. At least for me and my wide range of interests, the Bodleian Library is the ultimate place. With almost 14 million items in its collection, lots of different gorgeous reading rooms to read in, and the ability for someone like me (an independent researcher) to become a reader, it is the fulfilment of my longest dreams. When I look at libraries I am not one who just says, oh that's beautiful, I am one who wants to browse the shelves, grab a few books, and sit to enjoy them. I want to discover the spaces, meander the paths between shelves, and find delightful nooks.

In other words, I don't seek to be a tourist of such places, but a resident (even if for some limited time). Libraries offer focus time - the silent atmosphere made for reading, thinking, writing, and those library desks were always full of students. I arrived at the latter end of term time, when it was most busy - everyday the desks would be filled up and there would be no open desks by afternoon. It did taper off a little when term ended, but it was still very full, as students seek quiet spaces of beauty from which to do their work. 

Totally guessing here, and I still need to review all my notes, but I was able to do more research in the course of the 3+ weeks than I would be able to do on my own over a year, with the amount of material I read and requested. I was hard at work finding books and specifically reading for the topic I was pursuing for my book, and it is work. Don't give into the belief that writers don't work hard and writing is easy, no way, it is hard work. It's a thoughtful process, and requires dedication, time, and effort. 

The next section of the ENERGY is writing more from the research I did and actually completing the book, and get to editing it. This of course is a lot of work and will take time. How much time? Who knows? But it will ultimately lead to the last of the 3 prongs:

The POWER will come when I am done with the book and can share it with the world to my great joy. 

So, whilst I work and put effort forth for the ENERGY of my book, I will revisit the Bodleian in my notes and journal, and share more of the place that is the Bod (as everyone calls it) the places that inspire me a thousandfold more now that I've spent weeks stomping up and down the stairs to reading rooms, searching the underground stacks with moveable shelves to find books almost everyday, and spending time gazing like a child in wonder at the most beautiful library spaces (I tried not to get too distracted) - the oldest part of the Bodleian dating from 1488 and the classical rotunda beauty from the 1700s.  

There's the underground tunnel connecting libraries that feels like a spaceship, the light-filled upper reading rooms with ancient windows (usually open) looking out to the Radcliffe Camera, and a gorgeous floating staircase that wraps round and round the inside going up to the upper Camera. Come with me as I share more. It's not a dream - 'pinch' 'pinch'.

Spires that Drowse and Dream

 

The moonlight over Radcliffe Square
Small sunset spires that drowse and dream,
Thin bells that ring to evening prayer,
Red willow-roots along the stream,
And perilous grey streets, that teem
With light feel wandering unaware,
And winter nights with lamps agleam,
Globed golden in the violet air.

From "Lay" (1916), Dorothy L. Sayers

Okay, so I don't have moonlight over Radcliffe Square in a photo, but I have the poem to imagine it. Sayers' imagery is so lovely and mysterious, moody, and accurate. Thin bells are always chiming around the square, echoing off the stone, globed lamps rest on the steps of the Radcliffe Camera. Spires dream and drowse, to borrow from poet Matthew Arnold (Oxford's dreaming spires comes from him- "And that sweet city with her dreaming spires, She needs not June for beauty's heightening,") and I certainly felt drowsy leaving the Bodleian library after working hard all day. I've had the immense joy and privilege of spending most of my March days researching in the Bodleian Libraries each day.  

Sharing about a time that was like a dream (the best kind of dream) is more difficult than if I was just sharing a quick weekend away visiting some interesting site. I can state facts and details of this and that, but to invoke the feelings and joy (the inner longing always there gets these glimpses that glow like warm lamps but move by too quickly) is much more challenging for how can I put those experiences into words that are worthy of expression?

We shall start with the basics - stepping into Radcliffe Square. 

Depending on the time of day you come into the square, you will either be greeted with a quiet hush (early morning and later evening) or the chatter and clamor of tourists if during the day. Big tour groups, small tour groups, and perhaps a whole class of youth could be passing through, stopping for photos, and some guide telling them about the Bodleian Library. The guide probably says how it now has almost 14 million volumes in its collection, with a huge offsite facility in Swindon that holds more than $8-9 Million out there, and readers can request delivery of books from offsite to have delivered to a library to read there. Maybe they talk about how the Bodleian Library is not a lending library, so readers can only read books there in the reading rooms, they cannot leave the buildings. Or that the Bodleian is a legal deposit library, meaning, they have the right to have a copy of every book published in the UK, which is now up to around 1,000 new books everyday. 

The Radcliffe Camera is always a favourite site to admire, with the Old Bodleian squarely rising up behind it with those dreaming spires lofty above. 

I've visited Oxford many times, over 10 now, and my question has always been around - how can I study there? How can I spend time finding and reading books there? Well, this time I got to do just that, to fulfill my greatest desire for getting to know Oxford even better. Come along with me in that great and inspiring adventure. 

Oxford Golden Sunshine Arrival

 

O Lamb of God: that takest away the sins of the world,; grant us thy peace.
(from the Litany)

I arrived in Oxford on a bright sunny day, and these bright sunny days have lingered - I am questioning if I carried the sun and blue sky with me, but the rain will come soon enough. This is England after all.

Arriving just in time for the tradition of the pancake day relay runs at Oriel College was a bit cheery after a very long journey. As I was standing in the porter's lodge, the students gathered just outside in the quad with excitement and the race started. Shouts and laughs continued, as the students dressed in their Oxford sub fusc participated in this tradition. 

First order of business after getting into my home away from home was to walk the streets of Oxford to say hallo to the Bodleian Library, Blackwell's Bookshop, Sheldonian Theatre, Bridge of Sighs, Turl Street, etc. They all greeted me this day with their glowing stones, basking in the bright sun. I couldn't get over the deep blue sky we've had for so many days. 

I did some essential grocery shopping since I can cook for myself. It's been quite fun to get completely different foods and am picking out all the British vegetables to cook up for dinners and British apples to eat each day. Carrots, parsnips, onions. Basic things I could eat everyday and be very happy. Good tea was a first purchase at Bird & Blend on High Street. I already have a list of my preferred foods I will be going back for on my next food shop day.

After a lunch at the best lunch spot, The Vaults and Garden (complete with a pot of jasmine green tea), a delightful thing I got to attend was a lunchtime organ concert at Queen's College. The young organist played Bach, my favourite. During term there are many lunchtime concerts at various colleges, it's a treat to include if you can. I'll try to catch more this week before term ends. 

I was treated with a dinner in hall at Oriel, before dashing off to the Ash Wednesday service there in the Oriel College Chapel. I always like to attend an Ash Wednesday service to start off the season of Lent. It is a humbling and heartful service, encouraging a mindful and meditative attitude of heart, to prepare for the Lenton journey. 

Those first arrival days are always exhausting, full, hectic, and full of good reminders of why this place continues to draw me in, and I always feel a deep, deep thankfulness. I am simply melting in with the scenes of Oxford now, and it's pure joy.