The Archival Gem of Oxford- St Cross

Reflecting on the purpose of physical literary archives in modern research

Among the treasures held within Balliol College’s St Cross archive are the numerous ‘book of hours’ (pictured above), one of the most common surviving formats of medieval publishing.

Boasting the largest surviving collection of medieval manuscripts in England, Oxford University’s Balliol College has found itself at the forefront of the preservation of historical British texts. In a quest to better preserve their collections and serve the numerous visiting researchers whose work takes them to Balliol, the college acquired St Cross Church in 2009 with a 999 years lease to convert into an archive. (OUSCR) In 2011 the conversion from church to archival research centre was finished and Balliol collections were transferred to St Cross, though the grounds remain consecrated. (Sander, 2020)

Above) Examples of wood block prints within an English 1700’s book of natural history. This cheap method of reproducing images was later replaced by lithographs in natural scientific works as colours were necessary for identification.

Like the vast majority of archives and libraries within Oxford, St Cross is not usually accessible to the general public without proof that the content within are needed for the purpose of academic research. Assisting over 100 researchers annually the archives succeeded in giving researchers more breathing space and ease of accessibility than had previously been available. The ownership of the St Cross archives by Balliol College and their acquisition of the Church is a fitting theme, considering that one of former heads of Balliol was John Wycliffe, credited as the first to translate the bible into English. (Williston, 1958)

Above — An example of a German manuscript produced using calf skin. Despite being invented over 1,000 years before the production of this manuscript, paper was not a common medium for book production in medieval Europe.

Although the archives were originally preserved as a channel for religious studies, the survival of such documents using extinct production methods tells us as much about the history of publishing as it does about theology. The inclusion of natural history books into the collections also give clues to the history of science, global trade routes and the reach of European colonialism. They also shine light onto how the natural sciences diverged from theology with the development of the scientific method.

A St Cross archivist presenting a rare example of one of the archive's palm-leaf manuscripts

While being an invaluable resource in the study of European printing cultures, one weakness of the St Cross archives is their lack of study of their oriental collection. Examples of palm-leaf manuscripts and other methods of ancient East-Asian publishing are available to researchers, however they are treated as a side companion to the European medieval collections to the point where some have never even been opened.

References:

OUSCR. St Cross Closure OUSCR. https://ouscr.org.uk/index.php?id=48. (Accessed: 13 February 2020)

Sander, A. (2020). Balliol’s Historic Collections Centre in St Cross Church, Holywell. http://archives.balliol.ox.ac.uk/Archives/stcross01.asp. (Accessed 13 February 2020)

Walker, W. (1958). A History of the Christian Church. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons. P269.

(All the above photographs within this blog were taken by student 18040611@brookes.ac.uk)

Professor Lesley Higgins of York University, Canada, shares her research into how the St Cross archives have proven invaluable to her field.