This week, the Bodleian welcomed back Jana Dambrogio, conservator at MIT and previous visiting fellow to the library, to talk to our conservation and curatorial teams all about the history and art of letterlocking. 💌 Opening facsimiles of historical letters giving us a hands on experience of how the letters would have been folded and sealed. This example is of a letter sent by Beethoven from the Houghon Library collection (MS. Eng. 870). #letterlocking #beethoven #bodleianlibrary

🔍 It’s all in the detail Installing a new display at the Weston Library is a careful and collaborative process, shaped by close attention to both objects and context. Dancing with Jane Austen, now open in Blackwell Hall, brings together rare material, including several generous loans from Jane Austen’s House. Among them is a manuscript music book, copied in Jane Austen’s own hand! On view: – Costume worn by James McAvoy in Becoming Jane (2007) – Manuscript music book owned by Jane Austen – Danc

They didn’t say 'I love you', they said it like this... ❤️ Medieval love, in their own words, curated by Dr Andrew Dunning. 📖 Sources: The Epistle of Othea to Hector, The Letters of Abelard and Heloise, Eclogues 8 & 10, The Siege of Thebes 🖼️ Bodleian manuscripts: MS Douce 195 (fols. 10v, 22r, 13r, 77v), MS Selden Supra 57 (15r), MS Douce 332 (21r) #ValentinesDay