Free exhibition at the Bodleian's Weston Library on the Book of Psalms, using the library's manuscript holdings.
Little lower than the angels: the Psalms between heaven and earth opens at Weston Library on Monday 19 October, a small display on the Book of Psalms. It's put together by the Bodleian Libraries and runs daily through to Saturday 28 November, with the closing date still to be confirmed.
The display centres on the Book of Psalms, a Hebrew anthology that may have been assembled as far back as the 5th century BCE. Its lyrical poems have since been used in public worship and private prayer by Jews and Christians to express the full range of human feeling towards God. It's a collection that spans a vast amount of time and tradition, and the display brings it down to something you can actually see and touch.
To do that, it draws on the Bodleian's own manuscript holdings, including MS. Douce 118, the Aspremont Psalter. Seeing these pages in person puts the text in a different light — you're looking at the physical objects that people have actually used for prayer and worship, rather than just reading the words on a screen or in a printed book.
Every week we pick 🏆 the 5 best 🏆 things to do in Oxford and send them to your inbox. Just one weekly email, no spam.
By submitting your email, you accept our Privacy Policy
It's a free display, so you can just drop in whenever you're around the city. You'll find it in Blackwell Hall within the Weston Library on Broad Street, OX1 3BG. It runs every day from Monday 19 October to Saturday 28 November, with the final date yet to be confirmed.
