The Bodleian Libraries (BODcasts)

Lunchtime lecture by Richard Mulholland accompanying the exhibition Marks of Genius: Masterpieces from the Collections of the Bodleian Libraries. Outside of the natural sciences, the work of Ferdinand Bauer (1760-1826), the pre-eminent eighteenth century natural history painter is little known. However, his botanical and zoological paintings on paper are considered to be among the finest in the world. Of particular interest is the unusual drawing and painting technique he used, recording colour information about specimens by annotating preliminary pencil sketches with numerical colour codes to be painted at a much later stage referring directly to a painted colour chart. This talk will discuss Bauer's botanical illustrations for the Flora Graeca (1806-1840), one of the most lavish Flora's ever published, the materials and techniques he used, and new research by the Bodleian's Conservation Research department to identify Bauer's 18th century palette, and recreate the lost colour chart that holds the key to fully understanding Bauer's considerable expertise as an artist.

A lunchtime lecture by Clive Hurst accompanying the exhibition Marks of Genius: Masterpieces from the Collections of the Bodleian Libraries. Some dozen items bequeathed to the Bodleian Library by Francis Douce in 1834 feature in Marks of Genius, ranging from medieval manuscripts to a panoramic print of Shakespeare's London, from Mughal paintings to a bible presented to Elizabeth I.

Three works are known by his name: the Douce Apocalypse, the Douce Pliny, and the Douce Ivory. But Douce wasn't only interested in the spectacular and grand - he collected nursery chapbooks, and nursery rhymes, indeed, he edited a volume of the latter in 1810. It is this area of his collection that this talk investigates.

'Buying beauty in the Victorian period' Dr Jessica Clark looks at the Victorian beauty industry, and the transition from disapproval of artifice to a celebration of the wonders of cosmetics. Drawing on the John Johnson Collection of ephemera at the Bodleian Library, Dr Clark explains what Victorian Britons considered beautiful and considers some of the products and techniques that women, and men, used to achieve physical perfection.

Dana Josephson gives a talk for the Marks of Genius Masterpieces from the Collections of the Bodleian Libraries series.

Bibles and religious literature were an integral part of Canadian society and culture between 1830 and 1900. This period saw increased distribution of bibles and religious texts as part of a larger growth of distribution networks and a Canadian consumer culture. Religious organizations and benevolent societies played an especially important role in shaping the religious book trade in Canada, where copyright restrictions strengthened colonial print connections.

This lecture describes the methods and experiences of missionaries who sought to bring Christian scripture to Canadians in the 19th century, and draws on the Bodleian's archival holdings of diaries and letters of individuals, and records of missionary societies.

In this talk Stuart Lee will look at the various texts we may call The Hobbit. Starting with the 1937 edition (on display) he will look at the changes enforced on Tolkien after he had finished The Lord of the Rings and how he coped with these.

Fourth Lunchtime lecture accompanying the exhibition Marks of Genius: Masterpieces from the Collections of the Bodleian Libraries. With Dr Dirk Obbink.

Third Lunchtime lecture accompanying the exhibition Marks of Genius: Masterpieces from the Collections of the Bodleian Libraries. With Mr David Helliwell.

Second in the Marks of Genius series, with Dr Christina Dondi

Professor Michael Suarez gives the first Lyell Lecture of 2015.