The Bodleian Conveyor

A Marriage Recycled

Discovered and re-discovered: using newly digitised items to find hidden stories in Greek papyri

from Peter Toth, Curator of Greek Collections, Bodleian Libraries

The Bodleian’s two-year project We Are Our History has created a unique opportunity for curators to explore the richness of our collections and to rediscover items that preserve the stories of underrepresented communities, groups, and individuals. The Library’s collection of Greek papyri, spanning almost a thousand years of Egypt’s history, has proved particularly fertile ground for this work. Our previous blog post introduced documents that illustrate the lives of grave-diggers in the Western Oasis of the Libyan desert. Today, we turn to a single object: a striking example of how an everyday document, once discarded as waste, was recycled—and ultimately preserved a unique historical source.

A hypothetical couple from 2^nd-century Egypt. Left: A mummy portrait of a woman (circa 150 CE). In the Louvre Museum’s collection (Accession number: N 2733 3) from Wikimedia Commons . Right: A mummy portrait of a young man (circa 80 CE) in the Manchester Museum from Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).

The item, now preserved as MS Gr. Class. a. 9 (P), is a long strip of papyrus inscribed on its recto, along the fibres of the sheet, with exceptionally long lines of Greek text. The document is precisely dated to the 11th year of Emperor Hadrian, 19 April 127 CE. Written in a professional scribal hand, it records a marriage contract between the father of a young woman named Thais and her future husband Sarapion, setting out the conditions of their union.

Marriage contract from 127 AD on the recto of Bodleian Ms. Gr. Class. a. 9 (P)

The contract itself is fairly typical of its kind. In a style that may strike modern readers as rather formal—even dry—for such a joyful occasion, it notes that the agreement was concluded “in one of the streets of the city of Oxyrhynchus”, in Middle Egypt, and written by the scribe Diogenes. It carefully lists the possessions brought into the marriage, offering a glimpse into Thais’ dowry and personal belongings: “a brooch, a gold necklace set with three green stones, two dresses, and two girdles, one red and the other rose-coloured”. The contract also anticipates less happy possibilities, including provisions for divorce—ensuring that each party retrieves their property—and arrangements governing inheritance in the event of death, with the stated aim of securing a blameless and harmonious marriage.

Portrait of a Woman with jewelry from ca. 140 AD found in the Fayum Oasis, Antikensammlung Berlin Inv. 31161.7, from Wikimedia Commons

This copy of the contract was probably submitted to the local archives for registration shortly after its execution. At some later point, however, it was deemed no longer necessary and reused as writing material. On its reverse, a second set of texts was added. We do not know exactly why the document was discarded, but it appears that a clerk named Apollonios repurposed it to write a memorandum addressed to his colleague, Horion. In doing so, he preserved a rare record of administrative practice.

The beginning of Apollonios’s memorandum to Horion from the back of Bodleian Ms. Gr. class. a. 9 (P).

Apollonios’ note contains copies of two official proclamations issued by the prefect of Egypt concerning the registration and storage of legal documents in Alexandria. Around March 127 CE—close in date to the marriage contract—the authorities became aware of irregularities or tampering in archival practices and introduced stricter controls. In addition to the existing central archive, known as the Nanaion in Alexandria, a second repository, the Library of Hadrian, was established. The decree required that all contracts drawn up in Egypt be registered locally, processed in a central administrative office (the so-called Catalogue, katalogeion). There the documents were to be organised into composite and indexed rolls, their contents were carefully abstracted in two copies to be submitted not only to the Central Archives of the Nanaion but also to the newly established Library of Hadrian to ensure accuracy and prevent alteration.

Artistic reconstruction of the Library of Alexandria from the computer game, Assassin’s Creed: Original from Wikimedia Commons

The regulations also imposed strict limits on access. The custodians of the Central Archives were strictly forbidden to lend or even display documents without explicit authorisation by the director of the Library of Alexandria. In order to secure immediate and careful implementation of the new rules, a second proclamation was issued only a few months later threating all librarians and archivists “who may dare to violate the new rules, whether from disobedience or any illicit reason,” with severe punishment.

The threat to the “disobedient librarians” from the edict of the governor issued in August 127AD from the back of Bodleian Ms. Gr. class. a. 9 (P).

It may well have been fear of this severe punishment that prompted Apollonios to copy the decrees for his colleague Horion. By writing them on the back of an obsolete marriage contract, he reused available material in a practical and economical way. At the same time, his act of recycling has preserved a unique witness to the administrative reforms governing the central archives of second-century Alexandria—an unintended but invaluable survival.

Living on the margins: gravedigger families in Bodleian papyri from 1,800 years ago

Discovered and re-discovered: using newly digitised items to find hidden stories—in Greek papyri

from Peter Toth, Curator of Greek Collections, Bodleian Libraries

The Bodleian’s two-year project, We Are Our History, has provided an excellent opportunity to explore diverse and rich collections through a new lens: highlighting the voices of underrepresented communities, groups, and individuals.

The Library’s extensive collection of Greek papyri offers particularly fertile ground for this work, enabling users of Digital Bodleian to rediscover people from the distant past whose voices are uniquely preserved, yet have often remained hidden within ancient documents or confined to specialist scholarly publications.

Panel from the side of a painted coﬀin. Thebes, Roman period (c. 50– 150 CE). Nicholson Collection, Chau Chak Wing Museum, NMR.344

As part of the We Are Our History project, the curatorial team identified and digitised fifteen unique papyrus fragments that represent women, children, slaves, and other marginalised communities in the ancient world whose lives are often overshadowed by more prominent historical figures. This series of blogposts about Greek papyri presents some of these groups and individuals through the documents that preserve their stories.

The first group we turn to is an unusual one: the gravediggers of the Great Oasis in Egypt. Their documents, dating back some 1,800 years, have survived on papyrus fragments, many of which are now held in the Bodleian’s collections.

Position of the Kharga Oasis from Google Maps

The Great Oasis, also known as the Kharga Oasis, was the furthest habitable region of Egypt’s Western Desert and an important centre of caravan routes in antiquity. It contained several small but thriving settlements, including Hibis, the capital, and the nearby village of Kysis. Around 1890, a group of papyrus fragments was excavated in this region, possibly as a single find, and quickly dispersed among collectors in Western Europe. Among the earliest buyers were the Oxford-based papyrologists Bernard Grenfell and Arthur Hunt. Their collections were later acquired by the British Library, the Bodleian Library, and the Egypt Exploration Society in Oxford.

The “gravediggers”

The papyri — around 48 in total — appear to derive from a single family, a dynasty of gravediggers whose documents record aspects of their everyday lives over roughly 80 years (c. 237–314 AD). This was a family profession, in which men and women seem to have participated almost equally. Their work extended far beyond simply digging graves, as the Greek term nekrotaphos suggests. They were involved in a range of funerary activities, including mummification, embalming, and aspects of burial rituals. For this reason, they are often described in modern literature as the “undertakers” of the Great Oasis.

The job title “gravedigger” (νεκροτάφος) from a sales contract dated 28 June 244, from the collection of the Egypt Exploration Society, 89B/6(a)

Other terms used to describe them reflect their marginalised social status. They are sometimes called exopylites (“those outside the gates”) or allophyloi (“foreigners” or “outsiders”), perhaps referring to their association with cemeteries outside inhabited areas, as well as their resulting separation from ordinary civic life after prolonged work in such spaces.

The gravediggers depicted as “foreigners,” from a petition dated 30 June 310AD, in the collection of the Egypt Exploration Society, 89A/106

Although they appear to have been illiterate — their documents are consistently written and signed by others on their behalf — they were nevertheless active participants in a wide range of legal and economic affairs, including purchases, inheritance, and other forms of employment.

A gravedigger nurse

One of the nekrotaphoi documents in the Bodleian collection (MS. Gr. Class. C. 282 (P)) preserves part of a contract from around 308 AD. It records an agreement between a female “undertaker” named Thermuthis and a family who hired her as a wet nurse for a newly adopted foundling — a child described as having been “picked up from the dung heap.”

Fragment of a wet nurse contract with Thermuthis, dated 4 November 304AD, Bodleian Library, Ms. Gr. Class. c. 282 (P) b.

Wet-nursing was a well-established and relatively well-paid occupation for young mothers, subject to detailed legal regulation. This contract, now digitised, specifies a nine-month term of employment, with a fixed payment of two talents and full provisions provided to the nurse. It offers a vivid glimpse into the fate of abandoned children — who might be taken in and raised within new households, often as slaves — as well as the economic opportunities available to young mothers within this gravedigger family.

A mandate

Another fragment preserves a mandate from around 300 AD, issued by a woman named Aurelia, also a member of the gravedigger family. In it, she appoints a relative, Aurelios — himself a gravedigger — to represent her in a legal matter in the city. Unfortunately, the document is badly damaged, and the nature of the case remains unknown but we see a woman grave-digger actively engaged in public affairs outside her profession.

A receipt for the dead

A third fragment illustrates the family’s core occupation. It records the formal receipt of the body of a man named Heron, delivered to the gravediggers sealed and received in the same condition. Although the text is fragmentary, it suggests that issuing such receipts formed part of the administrative routines of their work.

Fragment of a document recording receipt of the dead body of Heron, issued in July 311, Bodleian Library, Ms. Gr. Class. c. 272 (P).

Together, these documents offer a rare and intimate view of a marginalised professional group whose lives, preserved on papyrus for nearly two millennia, can now be rediscovered through the Bodleian’s collections.

Learning letterpress at the Bodleian: Dominus illuminatio mea

Students on the English Master of Studies course at the University of Oxford have produced this pamphlet of Psalm 27 (or 26, depending on your version), which begins ‘The lord is my light,’ in Latin, ‘Dominus illuminatio mea,’ the motto of the University. The students completed a six-week class in historical printing at the Bodleian Bibliographical Press. Helped by Richard Lawrence, the teacher of printing, and by curators from Bodleian Special Collections, they produced a quarto booklet of the psalm in Latin and English (KJV).

Courses for students run in the autumn and winter terms, and shorter workshops are held throughout the year. The workshop is located in the Old Bodleian Library.

A week in the Centre for the Study of the Book

This week at the Centre for the Study of the Book started on 27 October with a visit from the Bodleian Printer in Residence for 2025-26, James Freemantle, proprietor of the St James Park Press. During his residency James will lead workshops on making a birdwatching notebook, taking as inspiration John J. Audubon’s Birds of America. The Bodleian’s copy of Audubon’s book is audio-described in this recording focussing on proprioception, from the exhibition ‘Sensational Books,’ at the Weston Library in 2022.

Examining specimens in preparation for the talks on decorated paper, Crafting the Bloomsbury Book

On Wednesday we had a layout of decorated papers from several Bodleian collections, in preparation for the talk and workshop event, ‘Crafting the Bloomsbury Book,’ at the Weston Library on 7 November. At the talks session, doctoral student Reanna Brooks will present her research on the decorated papers used at Virginia and Leonard Woolf’s Hogarth Press, and Curator of the John Johnson Collection Jo Maddocks will show earlier decorated, marbled and patterned papers from the Bodleian collections. That will be followed by a marbling workshop led by Alice Hackney, in the Bodleian Bibliographical Press. (The sessions are already fully booked.)

At the end of the week we were looking at two new typefaces that recently arrived in the Bodleian Bibliographical Press. The first is some Arabic type, originally from the OUP and returning to Oxford courtesy of The Jericho Press, Virginia, the private press of J.F. Coakley.

On Friday we received in the post the Tonic solfa type made by Nick Gill at the Effra Press. That will be used in the workshop led by Philip Burnett, ‘Printing Sounds’, on Thursday 13 November, registration is open.

Arabic type and proofs from The Jericho Press

Teaching with Special Collections: the visualiser / visualizer

October: Another term of teaching begins in the Weston Library for Special Collections. For many years the Bodleian Department of Special Collections has used visualisers to share library items with classes meeting in the library seminar rooms. The visualiser, or document camera, projects the ‘live’ image of a manuscript or printed book onto the screens usually used for slides. Physical inspection of books and manuscripts is an important part of the teaching that takes place here. The visualiser enables a lecturer to point out details to the whole group of students while the books are in the room. Meanwhile the item can also be seen on the table.

The visualiser power button is turned on and it is connected to the laptop using the USB connector.

When you select the ‘camera’ function of the laptop, and switch from the ‘face camera’ (as used for online meetings) to ‘Change camera’, the laptop software will recognize the visualiser.

Now the visualiser is positioned over a book, which is safely on its bookrests. The screen of the laptop displays the image from the visualiser’s camera, and when the laptop is plugged into a screen (with HDMI or USB) that image will show on the screen.

The adjustable neck of the visualiser, or use of the zoom buttons, enables the whole group to discuss details. (Apologies for streakiness of the projection screen: that’s my own camera.)

During Covid times, when students could not gather in the seminar rooms, the visualiser came in handy as a way of sharing books in internet meeting rooms; see a couple of previous posts.

Six medieval manuscripts, two laptops, a curator and a document camera – The Bodleian Conveyor

A virtual tour of Dante 1481 in multiple copies – The Bodleian Conveyor

Seventeenth-century botanical engravings flower again

A detail of the plate for Section 12, Tab. 11 of Robert Morison’s herbal, after cleaning.

In 1996, 291 copper plates, engraved with images of botanical specimens, were re-discovered (according to a later account) ‘in use as counterweights to a lift in the Radcliffe Science Library’,^[1] one of the Bodleian Libraries of the University of Oxford.

They had been engraved by leading engravers of the time for two volumes of Robert Morison’s herbal, Plantarum historiae universalis Oxoniensis, published in 1680 and 1699. They had been wrapped in newspaper in the 1950s and stacked together but were found to be in very good condition. Twenty plates were expertly cleaned by the Conservation and Heritage Science team at the Bodleian Library, and re-housed in acid-free tissue with foam surrounds.

When The Old School Press proposed to print from these cleaned plates, the opportunity was taken to print these exceptional survivors once more on the rolling (or etching) press; twelve of the twenty were chosen as examples.

At top, the plate of Section 8, Tab. 13 of Morison’s herbal. Below, the printed plate in a copy of Morison’s published work in the Bodleian (Wood 660o) on the left, and a proof taken from the same copper plate by Jim Nottingham in 2024.

The Old School Press printed from the twelve chosen plates for a limited edition book. To limit any possible degradation of the plates, just forty prints were allowed to be taken from each, and the work of printing them was entrusted to Master Printer Jim Nottingham. To accompany the prints, Professor Stephen Harris, Druce Curator of the Oxford University Herbaria, prepared descriptions of the subject matter of each of the plates; Cambridge historian Scott Mandelbrote provided an introduction to Morison’s herbal and its history; and Jim Nottingham described the plates and the process for printing from them. The book, Plates for a Herbal, was published in May 2025.

Following the cleaning of twenty plates, the Bodleian Library initiated a project to examine in detail portions of both cleaned and uncleaned plates. During 2019 these were scanned in Optical 3D profilometry (O3D) in an Alicona machine at the Department of Engineering Science, at the University of Oxford. (See the earlier blogpost: https://blogs.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/theconveyor/copper-plates-in-the-bodleian-libraries/ )

After printing of only a few pulls from a few of the plates in 2024, the same portion of one cleaned plate was measured again using O3D. The results showed that this method requires much refinement before it is able to provide conclusive measurements of the wear on the copper plates. The initial profilometry had been able to show the complete contours of the plate surface, including the canyon created by the engraved lines, but the re-scanning following printing was unable to follow the contours into the depth of the lines due to wet ink trapped below the surface of the plate; at the bottom of the lines the Alicona machine was not able to take an accurate measurement due to the reflectivity of the new ink. Considering that the abrasion to plates during cleaning is one of the sources of wear, it was decided to forego further cleaning for the purposes of measurement. On inspection the plates did not appear to have suffered damage in undergoing the process for which, after all, they had originally been made.

The imaging of copper plates contributed to the results of a project begun at the Bodleian in 2021, a collaboration with the Factum Foundation, to make high-resolution images of low-relief surfaces. The ARCHiOx project has yielded further discoveries, the technological equivalents of finding historical printing surfaces in a lift shaft. (See the earlier blogpost: https://blogs.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/theconveyor/archiox-research-and-development-in-imaging/ )

The entire collection of the surviving plates for Morison’s herbal has now been returned to the Sherardian Library of Plant Taxonomy at the University of Oxford.

To watch Jim Nottingham printing from one of the plates visit https://youtu.be/1vfIE5i_Lv0.

To learn more about the published book visit www.theoldschoolpress.com/bookpages/pfah.htm

[1] Anne Hancock, ‘Robert Morison, the first Professor of Botany at Oxford’, Oxford Plant Systematics, 13 (2006), 14-15.

From Jean le Bon to Good Duke Humfrey: a new manuscript witness toAnglo-French cultural exchange

A day symposium on Friday 21 March 2025 in the Sir Victor Blank Lecture Theatre, Weston Library

Registration is free:
https://visit.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/event/mar25/from-jean-le-bon-to-good-duke-humfrey

11 am-12.30pm: Origins

Clive Sneddon (St Andrews), Translating the Bible into medieval French

Emily Guerry (Oxford), The Cholet Master and manuscript illumination in Paris at the end of the 13th century

2.00-3.15pm: From France to England

Laure Rioust (Bibliothèque nationale de France), Biblical manuscripts in the libraries of Kings John II the Good and Charles V the Wise: heritage and dispersal

Laure Miolo (Oxford) and Jean-Patrice Boudet (Université d’Orléans), The circulation and spoliation of scientific manuscripts between France and England in the Hundred Years’ War

3.45-5.00pm: The manuscript in England

David Rundle (Kent), The Lancastrian moment: the manuscript’s English owners

Daniel Wakelin (Oxford), Conclusion and avenues for further research

Reception and launch of the digital facsimile of MS. Duke Humfrey c. 1

2025 ‘Alternative Futures’ Zine Fair

On 22 February, the Centre for the Study of the Book hosted the Bodleian Library’s third annual Zine Fair on the theme of ‘Alternative Futures’ to celebrate zine-making and self-publishing by Oxford students and communities. From poetry collections to wearable zines, over 450 visitors came to view the exciting range of talent and creativity on display in the Weston Library.

Zine Fair poster designed by the first-year BA Graphic Design students at Brookes (left); view of the Zine Fair at the Weston Library (centre); collage activity with Brookes Publishing

Students of Oxford University’s Ruskin School of Art and Oxford Brookes University’s Fine Art, Graphic Design and Publishing showcased a range of projects completed during their studies in a range of media, including risograph prints, collage work, and decorated badges. Visitors also got to try their hand at letterpress printing with the Broad Street Press in the library led by Printer-in-Residence Richard Lawrence. Professor Henrike Lähnemann (Faculty of Medieval and Modern Languages, University of Oxford) additionally hosted a manuscript-making session where visitors made their own facsimiles of a medieval nun’s prayer book.

The Broad Street Press with Richard Lawrence and Alex Franklin (left); view of Zine Fair (centre); manuscript-making with Professor Henrike Lähnemann

Independent artists displayed and sold copies of their original works, including illustrated comics by Sar Cousins and Liz Lancashire, original projects by members of the Warehouse School of Art, and zines from the Bodleian Bibliographical Press curated by Adam Maynard and Caiban Butcher. Local publishing groups and zine collectives, such as Imperfect Bound, Inquisitive Type and OCCULTZ highlighted a wonderful array of materials from queer community care to science fiction. A fantastic day was had by all and we look forward to the 2026 Zine Fair!

Medieval Recipe Book Archive Session Recap

Maria Murad, D.Phil Candidate in Anthropology, Lincoln College

Two of TORCH’s post-graduate research networks, the Critical Food Studies Network and the Medieval Women’s Writing Research Group, collaborated with the Centre for the Study of the Book at the Bodleian for an exciting and interactive session on Medieval recipe books on February 5th, 2025.

Speakers Marjory Szurko (left) and Alison Ray (right)

The session began with a presentation from food historian and former librarian of Keble and Oriel Colleges, Marjory Szurko. Her book, Sweet Slices of History, was shortlisted for the Fortnum & Mason Food Book of the Year in 2019. In her talk, Szurko discussed how the discovery of a small Edwardian family cookbook compiled by an alumnus of Oriel College in the recesses of the library inspired her research interest in food history. She later translated and explored the sweet recipes of past centuries and put together equivalent recipes in modern English. As part of her research practice, Szurko believes that actually baking the recipes she translates allows her to better understand how the food she researches must have been prepared and tasted. She has shared these treats at ‘Edible Exhibitions’ at Oriel, where she once presented a meringue sculpture of the College. Attendees learned many interesting facts about the history of food and sweets. Szurko mentioned how the term “dessert” comes from the French verb “desservir” which means “to clear the table” as house staff used to usher those eating at the dining table to another room to eat sweets in order to clear the table efficiently.

(Left) Recipe book by Ralph Ayres, cook of New College, Oxford, dated 1721 and now Bodleian Library, MS. Don. e. 89 and (right) A 1597 edition of John Gerard’s Herbal.

Dr. Alison Ray, current Lincoln College archivist and Support Officer for Academic Engagement at the Bodleian, presented several medieval recipe books from the Bodleian’s collections that highlight the sheer diversity of food-related material accessible at the Bodleian. One recipe book presented is one of the five original hand-written cookbooks of New College. Attendees of the event were able to view the recipe for “New College Pudding”. Other books included a mix of food and medicinal recipes, showing how some of the sweets we eat today were actually used for medicinal purposes in the medieval period. For example, gingerbread cookies were often used as a cold remedy during that time.

Medieval sweets handmade by Marjory Szurko for attendees.

At the end of the session, attendees were invited to try nine different medieval sweets handmade by Szukro. These treats were organized in chronological order and included 14th century “Payn Ragoun” (pine nut sweetmeat) from the Forme of Cury, 16th century shortcakes (shortbread), 17th century gingerbread, and 18th century chocolate puffs (or merengues). The experiential and immersive process of eating food from the recipe books just presented was an incredibly special and interactive experience attendees were grateful for. This event brought together University members from various disciplines and showcased the positive impacts interdisciplinary spaces can bring to researchers at the Bodleian.

Related Link

2021 blogpost by George Haggett, former contestant of The Colin Franklin Prize for Book Collecting: https://blogs.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/theconveyor/medieval-cookbooks-a-student-collection/

An Oxford prints odyssey: mezzotint

A copper plate and mezzotint prints made from it

Mezzotint workshop at the Bodleian Bibliographical Press

Hosted by the Oxford University Society of Bibliophiles, this workshop was led by Antonia Weberling, and used the rolling press at the Bodleian’s printing workshop in the Old Bodleian Library.

The mezzotint printing process creates images in finely-graded tones from velvet blacks to the lightest grey. A mezzotint begins with an evenly and finely pitted surface all over the copper plate, made with a toothed metal rocker. The picture is created by burnishing parts of the surface to smooth out areas which will print in lighter tones: to create white highlights the plate must be burnished smooth. The process was especially favoured for portraits in the seventeeth century as can be seen in this collection of prints from the Ashmolean Museum. The Bodleian Libraries preserve several original mezzotint plates.

*William Faithorne the younger after John Closterman, Portrait of Madame Plowden, 1690–1725. Mezzotint on copper. Bodleian Library, Rawl.Copperplates c.43*. See the blogpost by Chiara Betti: https://blogs.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/theconveyor/researching-and-digitising-copper-printing-plates-at-the-bodleian-library/

Ink is spread all over the surface of the worked plate and then wiped gently away. The aim is to ensure that ink remains held within the pitted areas to print grey and black tones, but is removed from the smoothly burnished areas that are the white parts of the image.

Adding ink to the plate and wiping the plate with tarlatan cloth or ‘scrim’. Washing-up gloves keep the ink off of hands!

The final step is putting the plate through the rolling press. The Bodleian’s rolling press comes from former music printer Victor Hope.