The Bodleian Library Livres

The Bodleian Library is home to some of the finest examples of illuminated letters. Now, with An Illuminated Alphabet, readers young and old can enjoy a wide selection of these extraordinary letters in twenty-six pull-out postcards—one for each letter of the alphabet. Each postcard features one illuminated letter from a book or manuscript in the Bodleian Library’s collection. From large gold-leaf initials in medieval and Renaissance  manuscripts to hand-painted examples from early printed books, An Illuminated Alphabet offers an intriguing new way to enjoy the many treasures in the collection of the Bodleian Library. Whether you’re an art lover, bibliophile, or one of the Library’s more than one million visitors each year, this most beautiful of alphabet books is sure to become a favorite.

In 1942 the United States War Department distributed a handbook to American Servicemen advising them on the peculiarities of the `British, their country, and their ways'. By turns hilarious and poignant, many observations remain quaintly relevant today. Reproduced in a style reminiscent of the era, this is a wonderfully evocative war-time memento.

While many bemoan the lack of good manners in society today, the most courteous among us would feel mightily out of place across the dining table from a Dowager Countess. Upholding the highest standards of social decorum was of utmost importance for the 1920s British upper class and even more so for the aspiring middle class that sought to emulate it. Yet the path to perfect comportment seemed strewn—then as now—with pitfalls, from befuddling arrays of silverware to less-than-gracious houseguests. Originally published in the 1920s, this petite guide offers time-honored advice to avoid such pitfalls.            The Art of Good Manners ranges broadly across topics including courtship, children’s behavior, and civilized conversation before taking the reader through each course at a dinner party, where readers are reminded to neither gurgle the soup nor to make haste with the fruit course since “to peel an orange, apple or pear with a fruit knife and fork requires some practice.”             Charmingly presented, The Art of Good Manners is by turns humorously old-fashioned and timeless, and it makes the perfect gift for all who miss this elegant bygone era.

In 1863 a group of victorian Oxbridge graduates, frustrated by the confusing riot of competing rules which characterized the game of football, drew up the first standard set of rules, creating the First Rule Book of the FA, recently recognised as one of the twelve books that changed the world.

The last words of politicians, kings, queens, actors, philosophers, scientists and writers are sometimes profound, sometimes prescient, often strange, funny and usually poignant. The most interesting, controversial and insightful of these exit lines are collected here, from deathbed desperation to the fondest of farewells.

In June 1940, Hitler ordered his generals to organize the invasion of Britain under a plan codenamed Operation Sealion, drawing up a complex set of documents, consisting of maps, aerial photographs, a physical description of the British Isles. This book reproduces a selection of these documents in a handy-sized format.

Jones’ Icones is a stunning six-volume manuscript containing paintings of some of the most notable butterfly and moth collections at the end of the eighteenth century. It is the work of William Jones (1745–1818), a wealthy wine merchant from Chelsea who, on retirement, devoted the rest of his life to studying and painting butterflies and moths. Held in the archives of the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, the volumes contain over 1,500 ink and gouache paintings representing 760 species from around the world. This set of three soft cover notebooks draws from this beautiful collection of images. Nature lovers and writers will rejoice at the high-quality lined paper and saddle stitching, which makes these notebooks perfect tools for on-the-go observation of the natural world.

'Bilbo comes to the Huts of the Raft-elves' is an illustration made for The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien in 1937. In it you can see Bilbo sitting on top of a barrel as it floats down the forest river. He and the Dwarves (who are hidden inside the barrels) have just escaped from the Elvenking. This was Tolkien's favourite watercolour for the book and he was disappointed to find that it had been omitted from the first American edition.Designed to be easily portable or to fit in a small bag, with ruled pages and handy ribbon marker, this stunning journal uniquely features Tolkien's exquisite illustration on both front and back covers. A must for all Tolkien enthusiasts.