Illustrating Daily Life in Seventeenth-Century Oxford

A few months ago, Special Collections acquired the 1675 first edition of David Loggan’s Oxonina illustrata at the 2014 Melbourne Antiquarian Book Fair.[1] The book consists of some of the most detailed engravings depicting the city of Oxford and the university, including a plan of the city, all the Oxford colleges, halls and public buildings, and a plate showing examples of academic dress.[2]

Engraving of St John's College, Oxford — St John’s College

Though Loggan’s architectural engravings are of course the centre piece of his work, it was the small vignettes illustrating activities outside the university walls that generated much conversation amongst staff. Below is a sampling of these miniature images of daily life in seventeenth-century Oxford, from people selling goods and men driving animals, to horse-drawn carriages and a child’s run in with a dog.[3]

'The Prospect of Oxford from the South near Abbington Road' — Farmers in a field from ‘The Prospect of Oxford from the South near Abbington Road’

Engraving of two gentlemen on horseback outside University College, Oxford — Two men (one with a peg leg) on horseback outside University College

Engraving of carriage and beggars outside the Bodleian Library — Carriage and two men begging outside the Bodleian Library

Engraving of a youth being chased by a dog outside Jesus College — Youth being chased by a dog outside Jesus College

Engraving of a team of pack horses outside the Church of St Mary the Virgin — Team of pack horses outside the Church of St Mary the Virgin

Engraving of tenant house next to Trinity College — Out building and workers near Trinity College chapel

Engraving of a man leading horse cart outside Merton College — Man leading horse cart outside Merton College (note one cask has sprung a leak!)

Engraving of woman with children and two dogs outside Queen's College — Woman with children and two dogs outside Queen’s College

Engraving of a woman selling produce outside Magdalen College — Woman selling produce outside Magdalen College

Engraving of cattle outside St Alban Hall — Cattle outside St Alban Hall

Anthony Tedeschi (Deputy Curator, Special Collections)

[1] David Loggan, Oxonia illustrata … Oxoniae: E. Theatro Sheldoniano, [1675]; Melbourne copy with the bookplate of Australian military historian and academic Alec Hill (1916–2008).

[2] Oxonia illustrata was evidently intended as a companion to Anthony Wood’s Historia, et antiquitates Universitatis Oxoniensis (1674). Special Collections holds a later English language edition published in Oxford by the Clarendon Press in 1786. An appendix to this work was published in 1790.

[3] Special Collections also holds two pre-1801 editions of Loggan’s Cantabrigia illustrata, a companion volume of views of Cambridge first published c. 1690, at which time Loggan was appointed engraver to the University of Cambridge. These volumes are held as part of the Pierre Gorman Cambridge Collection.

November 17, 2014

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Illustrating Daily Life in Seventeenth-Century Oxford

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