Breadcrumbs

Special collections

In addition to its open shelf collection, Somerville Library has a number of closed-access Special Collections which are listed below. Researchers wishing to use the collections should apply to Dr Anne Manuel, the Librarian and Archivist.

John Stuart Mill Library

In 1907, John Stuart Mill's step daughter Helen Taylor, left what remained of her step-father's library (c 2,000 volumes) to Somerville College to be used by undergraduates in their studies.  For the next sixty years, the collection was on open shelves for the use of students and it was not until the 1960s that it was decided to gather all JSM's books together in a closed collection.  The books reflect his varied interests and range in subject from political theory through  literature to natural science and mathematics.  Many of the books belonged to JSM's father, the political writer James Mill, and contain annotations from both men.   A project was carried out by James Fenn in the 1980s to identify books with marginalia.  Though never published, his notes are available for consultation in the library.  The books are not catalogued on the University union catalogue SOLO,  but are listed here.  Visitors wishing to consult the library for research purposes should make an appointment with the librarian archives@some.ox.ac.uk

 

Amelia Edwards Collection

Amelia Edwards (1831-1892) was a writer, traveller and Egyptologist whose passion for Egypt reflected in her best-selling book ‘A Thousand Miles Up the Nile' sparked an interest in all things Egyptian in England in the late nineteenth Century.  Thanks largely to her efforts, the Egypt Exploration Society was set up in 1882 to promote and regularise the excavations of tombs in Egypt.  A supporter of education for women, she left her books, papers and watercolours to Somerville along with a small collection of Greek and Roman pots.  The books are not catalogued on the University union catalogue SOLO but her papers are listed here.  Her watercolours are not on permanent display but may be viewed for research purposes by appointment with the librarian.

 

 

Percy Withers Collection

Withers  (1867-1945) was a doctor and occasional writer, who accumulated a circle of illustrious friends during the course of his life, including AE Housman, Max Beerbohm, Paul Nash, Lascelles Abercrombie, Gordon Bottomley, Walter de la Mare and Robert Bridges.  The Somerville collection includes photographs, letters, drawings and poems from these men and was presented to Somerville by his daughters Audrey and Monica (who were both alumnae of Somerville, as was Percy's wife Mary).  The collection may be consulted for research purposes by appointment with the librarian.  List of  Corresponents

Vernon Lee (Violet Paget)

Violet Paget (1856-1935) was a writer who published more than 40 volumes on aesthetics, Italian renaissance, music , critical theory and supernatural fiction.  She corresponded with a wide circle of friends from the literary, music and art worlds and much of her  incoming personal correspondence (>2,500 letters) are preserved in the Somerville collection.  List of correspondents .

Margery Fry

Margery Fry (1874-1958) was Principal of Somerville for five years between 1926 and 1931.  She is perhaps better known for her work in the field of penal reform, becoming the first secretary of the Howard League for Penal Reform and being appointed one of the first women magistrates in the country. Her brother was the art critic and painter Roger Fry. Somerville holds a collection of her correspondence and papers.

Vera Brittain

Vera Brittain (1893-1970), the writer, pacifist and feminist, is perhaps most famous as the ‘voice of the Lost Generation' of World War One through her autobiographical work Testament of Youth - one of the first accounts of the Great War from a woman's point of view, and undoubtedly the most influential.  The collection at Somerville consists of a number of her letters and a large amount of research material used in writing her biography, and were given to Somerville Library by her biographers Mark Bostridge and Paul Berry.  The papers are now housed in the Vera Brittain Room in the College archives. Listen to the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography podcast on Vera Brittain.

Collections awaiting sorting and listing:

  • Muriel St Clair Byrne
  • Margaret Kennedy
  • Mary Lascelles
  • Myra Verney

Please note: access to these collections is currently restricted though queries from interested parties are welcome.