Today is the annual #AutumnFours. 🚣♀️🚣The Autumn Fours Rowing Race is a side-by-side coxed rowing regatta that takes place in Oxford during (you guessed it) the autumn. This photo, from 1878, (archival accession ref. 2025/63) shows the winning team from Magdalen

🚨⚠️ New blog post ⚠️🚨 Unlocking the mysteries of a Magdalen College treasure. Read our latest blog post, written by our lovely volunteer Yanjing, all about our 1665 volume "An Embassy from the East-India Company to the Emperor of China." www.magd.ox.ac.uk/blog/from-tw...

Would be much more fun to be a Traitor, though, right? A quote from The Picture of Dorian Gray. #WeeklyWildeWitticism Enjoy the final! #TheTraitorsUK

Thank you to those who came to our Meet A Rare Book, where George was talking about Jane Barker's manuscript of poetry. This manuscript is very special as it was handwritten by the author and is truly a working document.

Magdalen has won University Challenge four times to date: in 1996-7, 1997-8, 2003-4, and 2010-2011. After the third victory, we were allowed to keep this trophy. It's displayed in the Longwall Library. Let's hope for similar success in this evening's match, where Magdalen take on Darwin College.

Stuck for something to do this Halloween? We’ve got a few favourites from our popular 'Witches in History' collection, plus new books on magic and the moon. 💫🌙 If you’re in the mood for a movie, we’ve round up our best films from our DVD collection. On display in the Longwall Library foyer. 🎥🍿

Happy Halloween! Here we have a German edition of Oscar Wilde's short story, The Canterville Ghost (ref. Magd.Wilde-O. (GES)) illustrated by Rüdiger Stoye.

Basil has a Halloween joke for you 🎃👹👻

The actor Robert Hardy was born #OnThisDay 100 years ago. Hardy was a Demy student at Magdalen in 1944 and 1947-8. Here we have a programme for a Magdalen Players production of "The Flies", by Jean-Paul Sartre, performed at Magdalen from 28 May to 2 June 1948 in which Hardy took a leading role.

This week is #GreenLibrariesWeek2025. We've put together a book display showcasing titles which explore the relationships between humans and the natural world. 💚🌿🌱🍀

Stop scrolling and get back to your studies! The Longwall Library now has a brick device. The brick lets you temporarily suspend distracting apps and notifications on your smartphone - effectively turning it into a brick. You'll find our brick in the foyer. We hope you'll find it helpful.

Thanks to everyone who came to this afternoon's Meet a Rare Book session. Today we had not 1 but 3 books to showcase. They may be tiny but we think they are also fascinating. Ranging from 3 to 9cm high, these are some of the smallest books in our collection.

19- 25th October is Ace Week, an annual campaign to raise awareness of asexuality. Here we have a few books that we think are ace. Do you have any suggestions for more ace (in both senses of the word) reading material. Let us know! 🖤🩶🤍💜

The writer Alan Garner was born #OnThisDay in 1934. He studied classics at Magdalen in the 1950s. Here we have two of his works which are part of our Magdalen Authors Collection, Red Shift and The Owl Service. Both books have been signed by the author. Many happy returns to Mr Garner 🎉🎂🎈

#WeeklyWildeWitticism Oscar Wilde was born #OnThisDay in 1854. Last 16th Oct, we opened our exhibition, Magdalen's Wilde, celebrating the writer's time as a student at Magdalen and his life afterwards. You can see the online version of our exhibition on our website: magdalenswilde.magd.ox.ac.uk

Fed up of people badgering you during your study session? Why not follow Basil's lead and use the library's new Brick? The brick lets you temporarily suspend distracting apps and notifications on your smartphone - effectively turning it into a brick. You'll find our brick in the Longwall foyer🦡

It's the beginning of Michaelmas Term! Happy 1st week and welcome back to all our returning students. Here are some words of wisdom from a former Magdalen student! #WeeklyWildeWitticism

One of the latest additions to our Special Collections is this copy of John Betjeman's Continual Dew, signed by the author. Published in 1937, this was the first time Betjeman's famous poem 'Slough' appeared in print.

Pam dw i'n dysgu Cymraeg? To annoy C.S. Lewis, of course! Here we have one of our latest acquisitions to Magdalen's archive. A note typed by the poet John Betjeman. Betjeman was a student at Magdalen in the 1920s and was taught by C.S Lewis. Lewis described Betjeman as 'an idle prig.'

This October marks Black History Month, a reminder to educate ourselves on Black history, experiences and culture. The theme this year is Standing Firm in Power and Pride. This book display showcases a selection of fiction, non-fiction, essay collections and poetry by Black British writers.

Tomorrow is the beginning of 0th week, a busy week for the library - we'll be welcoming our new students at their Longwall Library inductions. We hope our new students like Magdalen as much as former student, Oscar Wilde, did. (Let's not focus on the last part of the quote...) #WeeklyWildeWitticism

Here's a drawing of Martin Routh, President of Magdalen College 1791-1854. Routh was very traditional and continued to wear a wig (made of horsehair) long after it was fashionable to do so. After his death, Charles Daubeny had it fossilised in a petrifying spring. IYKYK. #MeanGirlsDay #ItsOctober3rd

Today is #nationalpoetryday So we've put together this book display Featuring poets from across the world Many of whom, we're sure you'll have heard So why not visit the library today To pick one out for yourself, hooray? We promise that the poems in these collections are much better than this one!

We suppose Oscar Wilde would have approved of this statue of him in Dublin #WeeklyWildeWitticism

Happy #NationalDoodleDay. Here's our copy of Tallis's Litany - a collection of prayers and psalm tunes. Here we can see some of our choristers may have been a bit distracted during their choir practice. One of them has signed his name, Richard Redhead - who was a chorister in the 1830s.

Last week, we very much enjoyed hosting The John Betjeman Society to view an exhibition on the poet, and former Magdalen student, in our Old Library. Items on display included two of Betjeman's teddy bears, Archie and Jumbo.

Check out our latest addition to Digital Bodleian! MS Lat 217, a collection of scholastic questions from the late 1200s, is now available for you to consult online.

What do you call a pirate who loves to read? Captain Hooked, of course! Happy #InternationalTalkLikeAPirateDay. Get hooked on these books, featuring captains and pirates, available in the Longwall Library. ☠📚

It's Open Day! Be sure to join one of the College's student-led tours. They'll show you the most important places - including the library!

Doesn't this look like the dream office? This painting depicts the office of President Martin Routh. One of Magdalen's most legendary figures, Routh was born #OnThisDay 270 years ago. He served as our President for 63 years, between 1791–1854.

It was great to see so many people in our Old Library yesterday, during Oxford Open Doors weekend. We had 595 (!) people throughout the day. We hope they enjoyed it as much as we did 😀

We hope everyone has been enjoying Oxford Open Doors so far! Our Old Library will be open, 📣TODAY 11am-3pm.📣 Magdalen has had a library in this room since the 1480s, and the beautiful Gothic interior now holds over 20,000 volumes dating from 1500-1800.

This weekend is #OxfordOpenDoors, where the city opens its doors to visitors free of charge. We have to agree with this quote from our favourite alum, Oscar Wilde. Be sure to visit Magdalen this weekend! #WeeklyWildeWitticism

As part of Oxford Open Doors, on Sunday 14 September, the Old Library will be open, 11am-3pm. Magdalen has had a library in this room since the 1480s, and the beautiful Gothic interior now holds over 20,000 volumes dating from 1500-1800. On display are some of the treasures of the collection.

Library staff will be cleaning in the Beckwith Room, between 2-4pm, over the next couple of weeks. This will involve using a Conservac to remove any dust from our book collection. If you prefer absolute quiet while you're working, please use one of our other reading rooms during these times.

Happy #FrankensteinDay!🧌 Follow the link for library books about the great writer, Mary Shelley, born #OnThisDay in 1797. buff.ly/PvG9RHP

Mr, or rather Sir, John Betjeman, born #OnThisDay in 1906, was a student at Magdalen in the 1920s. From our library gift book, we can see Betjeman didn't forget Magdalen after he left - donating a copy of his 'London's Historic Railway Stations' to the library in 1973.

🐾Happy #InternationalDogDay 🐾 Here we have a group photograph #FromTheArchives of Magdalen's Fellows standing outside the New Buildings in 1858. There are some esteemed names from Magdalen's past here; including John Rouse Bloxam, who played a part in reviving Magdalen's May Morning traditions.

Have a great Bank Holiday 😎

She's shocked because it's such a terrible joke — and we gossip all the time! 😝 #TellAJokeDay

With apologies for the very short notice. The Longwall Library will be closed to readers until Monday in order to carry out essential maintenance work. We are sorry for any inconvenience this will cause.

You heard it here first! We love hearing positive feedback on our graffiti wall! Students may use the graffiti wall to write anonymous feedback, ask questions, and give suggestions for improvement.

Quite right. #WeeklyWildeWitticism Happy #BookLoversDay 📚 📚 📚

Today is #BookLoversDay. Do you have a favourite genre of reading material?

Today is #InternationalCatDay. #FromTheArchives here we have History tutor K.B. McFarlane who loved cats. He was evidently quite the multitasker: here he uses his right hand to stroke a cat on his lap, his left hand to pat a dog by his side - all while smoking a cigarette.

In the last couple of weeks, Senior Assistant Librarian George and Special Collections Librarian Jessica have been cataloguing a wonderful bequest of books from the College's late President, Anthony "Tony" Smith CBE (1938-2021). (1/2)

We're excited to announce that four more of our medieval manuscripts are available on Digital Bodleian!

#WeeklyWildeWitticism We wonder what Wilde would have made of the many, many books in Magdalen Library written about him? buff.ly/hUjDMIe

Have you been watching the ICC World Test Championships? It's a shame they don't dress like this anymore! Here we have a team photo of Magdalen College Cricket XI, #FromTheArchives (ref. MC:O2/1/P6/9) taken in 1886. #WTC27

Quoted in Oscar Wilde: His Life and Wit. Wilde would definitely have been a Lionesses fan. #WeeklyWildeWitticism #EURO2025