In the summer of 1594 William Shakespeare decided to invest around 50 Pounds to become a shareholder in a newly formed acting company: Lord Chamberlain's Men. This lecture examines the consequences of this decision, unique in English theatrical history. By examining the early modern theatrical marketplace and the artistic development of Shakespeare's writing before and after this moment, it is hoped that this talk shows why 1594 was, by some measure, Shakespeare's most important year.

Richard Ballam talks about the rich collections of games and pastimes he has recently donated to the Bodleian, the subject of the display Playing with History. Playing with History celebrates Richard Ballam's donation to the Bodleian of his rich and varied collection of games and pastimes. This small selection of items from the wider collection gives us insights into the presentation of history to children, and the ways in which they were encouraged to engage with contemporary issues, such...

Keynote lecture by Margreta de Grazia, (Emerita Sheli Z. and Burton X. Rosenberg Professor of the Humanities, University of Pennsylvania) for the Marginal Malone conference held in Oxford on June 26th, 2015. Introduction by Tiffany Stern, Professor of Early Modern Drama, Faculty of English, University of Oxford

What do geniuses have in common, across the arts and sciences? And how do we distinguish genius from talent? Andrew Robinson, author of Genius: A Very Short Introduction, considers (a little of) the evidence.

A lunchtime lecture by Julie-Anne Lambert accompanying the exhibition Marks of Genius: Masterpieces from the Collections of the Bodleian Libraries. The John Johnson Collection of Printed Ephemera is one of the lesser-known collections of the Bodleian. This talk discusses why and how was it formed, what ephemera are, and how can they contribute to our understanding of history.

Lunchtime lecture by Will Poole accompanying the exhibition Marks of Genius: Masterpieces from the Collections of the Bodleian Libraries. Henry Savile (1549-1622) founded at Oxford in 1619 the two Professorships that still bear his name, one in Astronomy, the other in Geometry. He equipped his professors with a library, which they in turn augmented down the centuries, and that library was transferred to the Bodleian itself in 1884. The Savilian books therefore comprise one of the most...

Lunchtime lecture by Richard Mulholland accompanying the exhibition Marks of Genius: Masterpieces from the Collections of the Bodleian Libraries. Outside of the natural sciences, the work of Ferdinand Bauer (1760-1826), the pre-eminent eighteenth century natural history painter is little known. However, his botanical and zoological paintings on paper are considered to be among the finest in the world. Of particular interest is the unusual drawing and painting technique he used, recording...

A lunchtime lecture by Clive Hurst accompanying the exhibition Marks of Genius: Masterpieces from the Collections of the Bodleian Libraries. Some dozen items bequeathed to the Bodleian Library by Francis Douce in 1834 feature in Marks of Genius, ranging from medieval manuscripts to a panoramic print of Shakespeare's London, from Mughal paintings to a bible presented to Elizabeth I. Three works are known by his name: the Douce Apocalypse, the Douce Pliny, and the Douce Ivory. But Douce wasn't...

'Buying beauty in the Victorian period' Dr Jessica Clark looks at the Victorian beauty industry, and the transition from disapproval of artifice to a celebration of the wonders of cosmetics. Drawing on the John Johnson Collection of ephemera at the Bodleian Library, Dr Clark explains what Victorian Britons considered beautiful and considers some of the products and techniques that women, and men, used to achieve physical perfection.

In this talk Stuart Lee will look at the various texts we may call The Hobbit. Starting with the 1937 edition (on display) he will look at the changes enforced on Tolkien after he had finished The Lord of the Rings and how he coped with these. Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 2.0 UK: England & Wales; http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/uk/

Fourth Lunchtime lecture accompanying the exhibition Marks of Genius: Masterpieces from the Collections of the Bodleian Libraries. With Dr Dirk Obbink.

Third Lunchtime lecture accompanying the exhibition Marks of Genius: Masterpieces from the Collections of the Bodleian Libraries. With Mr David Helliwell.

Second in the Marks of Genius series, with Dr Christina Dondi

Professor Michael Suarez, in the Lyell Lectures 2015, urges scholars to remember the books that most readers encountered: the cheaper abridged versions of popular novels and accounts such as Cook's voyages.

Professor Michael Suarez, in the Lyell Lectures 2015, locates the visual sources of a famous illustrated edition of Caesar's works and comments on the social and political significance of the subscription plate book.

Professor Michael Suarez continues the Lyell Lectures 2015, showing that archival evidence is necessary to understand the history of newspapers

Professor Michael Suarez traces the transatlantic journey of a famous image deployed against the slave trade.

Professor Michael Suarez continues the Lyell Lectures 2015, asking what role colour plays in bibliographical description?

Professor Michael Suarez gives the first Lyell Lecture of 2015.

Professor Robin Wilson, author of Alice's Adventures in Numberland, gives a talk on the history of studying Mathematics at Oxford, which is as old as the University itself. Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 2.0 UK: England & Wales; http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/uk/

Political biographers D R Thorpe and John Campbell speak about their subjects' careers culminating in the role of Chancellor of the University of Oxford. The discussion was chaired by Lord Patten of Barnes.

In this short talk Professor Martin Ceadel, Fellow and Tutor in Politics, New College, Oxford discusses the issue of military conscription and conscientious objection during the first world war.

Dr Adrian Gregory, Fellow and Tutor in History, Pembroke College, Oxford discusses the use of propaganda by all sides during the first world war.

A conversation between Professor Sir Hew Strachan and Professor Margaret MacMillan, chaired by Professor Patricia Clavin.

Marie-Claude Felton, Royal Bank of Canada-Bodleian Visiting Scholar, gives a talk for the Bodleian Library BODcasts series Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 2.0 UK: England & Wales; http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/uk/