Which is the smallest book in the Bodleian Library? How many miles of shelving are there in its Book Storage Facility? What is fasciculing? Who complained when their secret pen name was revealed in the library’s catalog? Why did the library refuse to lend a book to King Charles I? The answers to these questions are just a few of the remarkable bits of bibliophile trivia uncovered by Claire Cock-Starkey and Violet Moller in this intriguing collection of curious facts about one of Britain’s oldest university library.       
           
With more than twelve million items and many priceless treasures, including the Gutenberg Bible, Shakespeare’s First Folio, five thirteenth-century copies of Magna Carta, and Tolkien’s original watercolors for The Hobbit, the Bodleian also boasts many strange events and eccentric characters through the ages that contributed to its world-class renown today. From deep within the archives, Cock-Starkey and Moller have compiled a great many lesser-known facts about the Bodleian Library’s fascinating history, organizing them into easily browsable lists, factoids, and statistics.
 

Charles Dickens is among the greatest English novelists, and the power of his prose can be found in his portrayals of the harsh social realities of his time, from the depiction of poverty-stricken orphan Oliver Twist to the squalor of the slums and skewering of the justice system in Bleak House.

Published to celebrate the twohundredth anniversary of Dickens’s birth, this book brings together quotations from Dickens’s novels and letters with photographs of their original covers and Victorian-era images—among them, prints, posters, and newspaper pieces—that shed light on the topics about which Dickens writes. Ordered by theme, the book covers such topics as schools in Victorian England, domestic entertainment, the introduction of the railroad, and the poor conditions in prisons and workhouses, which loom large in Dickens’s novels—and, indeed, his own childhood. Dickens was also an avid theater enthusiast who arranged productions and public readings of many of his works, and this book explores his role throughout his later years in adroitly adapting his novels for the stage.

The Curious World of Dickens breathes new life on this momentous occasion into the vibrant world inhabited by Dickens and his characters.

Oxford is one of the world’s great cities—a source of inspiration to generations of poets, novelists, journalists, and commentators who have visited or called it home. Be it praise or colorful invective, everyone, it seems, has something to say about the city and this slender volume—filled with wise, witty, and sometimes scandalous quotes—presents the full range of impressions it has made.

Oxford, “City of Dreaming Spires,” earns high marks from Hillaire Belloc, who writes that “there are few greater temptations on earth than to stay permanently at Oxford . . . and to read all the books in the Bodleian.” But it is also, according to Anthony Trollope, “the most dangerous place to which a young man can be sent.” And none other than Max Beerbohm blames it for making him insufferable.

For fans, foes, and those planning a trip to the city in the hopes of forming an opinion, this collection will be welcomed.