THE BODLEIAN LIBRARY.

Press, Volume LVIII, Issue 17411, 23 March 1922, Page 5

THE BODLEIAN LIBRARY.

rfEW ZEALANDEB'S GIFT OP £SOOO. j (from oub own coeeespondent.) LONDON, February 1. A gift of £SOOO from Mr George Bodley, of Hamilton, to the Bodleian Library, Oxford, not only gains fitting acknowledgment in the pages of the "Bodleian Quarterly Record," but the benefaction is noted in most of the London daily papers. "The Library," says the "Record," "has just received a very interesting as well as a very welcome gift of £SOOO from Mr George Bodley, of Hamilton, New Zealand. "That oar latest benefactor bears the name of our founder is not a mere coincidence. Mr George Bodley does not claim kmship with Sir Thomas, but there is a tradition in his family that such a connexion exists. He has always had a great respect for his illustrious namesake, and after reading accounts of the library decided that he would like to help in carrying out the intentions of the founder. We should like to claim Mr George Bodley as one of the family, but however that may be, in generosity and public spirit he certainly belongs to it. We hope that, he may find time to visit Oxford before long, so that we may show him something of the institution which he has so graciously helped." "Mr Bodley, a citizen of New Zealand," says the "Daily Mail," "has shown the magic which a famous name exerts on its possessors by his generous gift of £SOOO to the famous library ,at Oxford, that was endowed by Sir Thomas Bodley's munificence in Elizabethan days. He claims no direct relationship with Sir Thomas Bodley, though there is in his family a tradition of connexion with him which this donation may help to establish. For it shows something of Sir Thomas's love of learning, his desire to benefit his race, and his affection for a great centre of culture. Nowhere will such a benefaction be more precious or more valued, as it is the bitter truth that, owingto the poverty of the university, the Bodleian is at present stinted of funds and has experienced difficulty in the p'roper cataloguing of its vast wealth of manuscripts and .books." The Librarian to-day informs me that the money will be regarded as capital, and bas already been invested. The interest will be used for current expenses. This is the wisest policy, ho says and is in accordance with the wishes of the donor. ,