On Monday, we started a three-week lecture series on British history, society and culture. We'll have two or three lectures a day, five days a week, on various topics. On Monday, the lecture topics were "How to Write an Essay for Tutorials" and "The English Education System." The lecture on education wound up being closer to a discussion on the philosophy of education, which I found fascinating.
This morning, we heard lectures on "British Moral and Political Philosophy" and "The British Legal System." Tomorrow we'll be breaking off into smaller discussion groups after lectures to talk about the ideas so far in greater depth.
Our afternoons this week are almost entirely free. Yesterday afternoon, I took a bus over to east Oxford to visit a friend of a friend, Aidan Mackey. Mr. Mackey is a renowned scholar of G.K. Chesterton and the Inklings, and an extension is being built at one of the colleges in Oxford to house his collection of Chestertoniana. (Don't you just love that word?) We talked about Chesterton, C.S. Lewis, and Tolkien, and he offered to take me and any other interested students on a tour of the Kilns, Lewis's old home.
This afternoon, I stopped by a used bookstore, St. Philip's. From the outside, it looks like almost nothing - there's a sign hanging above a little alley (more like a hallway) that leads back to where the shop is. I wasn't quite sure what to expect, and I was very pleasantly surprised when I got inside. It's much bigger than it looks from the outside, and there are bookshelves lining very nearly all the walls - even going partway behind the desk with the register.
This morning, we heard lectures on "British Moral and Political Philosophy" and "The British Legal System." Tomorrow we'll be breaking off into smaller discussion groups after lectures to talk about the ideas so far in greater depth.
Our afternoons this week are almost entirely free. Yesterday afternoon, I took a bus over to east Oxford to visit a friend of a friend, Aidan Mackey. Mr. Mackey is a renowned scholar of G.K. Chesterton and the Inklings, and an extension is being built at one of the colleges in Oxford to house his collection of Chestertoniana. (Don't you just love that word?) We talked about Chesterton, C.S. Lewis, and Tolkien, and he offered to take me and any other interested students on a tour of the Kilns, Lewis's old home.
This afternoon, I stopped by a used bookstore, St. Philip's. From the outside, it looks like almost nothing - there's a sign hanging above a little alley (more like a hallway) that leads back to where the shop is. I wasn't quite sure what to expect, and I was very pleasantly surprised when I got inside. It's much bigger than it looks from the outside, and there are bookshelves lining very nearly all the walls - even going partway behind the desk with the register.
I have to admit, some of the books I saw were very tempting. I found an ancient-looking copy of Liddell and Scott's Greek Lexicon, which is THE definitive dictionary for ancient Greek. I have an abridged version, but this was the practically immovable full version - around six inches thick and quite possibly fifteen inches tall. They wanted 60 pounds for it, and I suspect it was worth every penny. Even though it was finished in the 1800's, it is as valuable a resource today as it was back then.
Another book that caught my eye was a leather-bound King James Bible from 1860. The pages were gilt-edged, and even though I don't know a whole lot about antique books, it looked to be in very good shape to me. They had a Latin Vulgate from 1883 and a Greek New Testament too. (Before anyone asks - yes, I have a Vulgate. Yes, I have a Greek New Testament. Yes, the only difference is that mine aren't as old. Your point is?)
And all that was just in the hallway. Most of the books were in the front room, with the bookshelves arranged in a sort of U-shape to fit as many of them in as possible. Old books, older books...a whole section for C.S. Lewis books...and then, at the very end, a glass-fronted bookcase with rare books locked away inside of it.
The lady behind the desk asked me whether I was looking for anything in particular. I said no, I was just browsing...and did she by chance know how old that copy of Lord of the Rings in with the rare books was? She came over and unlocked the case for me and let me have a look at it. Turns out it was a first edition - all three books, complete with their original dust jackets, and in very good shape. Turns out it also was priced at 225 pounds...
I definitely plan to go back there. Of course, the first edition LOTR is a bit beyond my budget, but some of the other books were nice too - and I didn't really expect to spend three and a half months here without coming into possession of at least a couple of new books. Or, better yet, old books.
Another student on the program said that Blackwell's, another bookstore, has a rare copy of a Latin translation of the Iliad for sale - for 2,500 pounds. I don't think I've ever seen a book worth that much in my life. (Of course, I haven't seen it yet, but Blackwell's very conveniently happens to be on my way to and from lectures...so there's another bookstore I'll be paying a visit to at some point in the near future.) The only real question now is how to make my luggage hold more than its physical capacity on the way home...
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