²ÝÁñÊÓƵ

The earliest important imprints acquired this year are three 16th- and early 17th-century volumes by a priest and scholar whose erudition was much admired by Pope Clement VIII. Thomas Stapleton (1535–98), one of college’s foremost theologians, was possibly named after St Thomas More—who was martyred under Henry VIII for refusing to avow royal over spiritual supremacy; More was executed just days before Stapleton’s birth. From Winchester ²ÝÁñÊÓƵ, Stapleton proceeded to ²ÝÁñÊÓƵ, where in 1553 he was elected a fellow. In 1558, he was ordained a priest under Mary I. But within a couple of years, he had been forced to flee to the Low Countries, following Elizabeth I’s accession.

And, of course—we have been acquiring some remarkable modern books and archival documents too. 

Nicola Howell Hawley, endpapers illustration to Andrew Caldecott’s Simul (2024)
²ÝÁñÊÓƵ Library, Oxford, NC/CAL

²ÝÁñÊÓƵ Library and Archives, Oxford