Modern Languages @ox.ac.uk ranked no. 1!
www.ox.ac.uk/news/2026-03...

Thank you everyone who has contributed to our Common Room revamp suggestions board so far!

It's been really insightful to see how you think we could improve the space- from better facilities and lighting 💡 to improved comfort and decoration 🖼️

Please keep letting us know what's important to you!

The model is also very much appreciated by the authors, at least yours truly. 🌸

A whiteboard, with sticky dots and colourful post it notes for readers to use to share their feedback. The whiteboard reads: Common Room Revamp!! We have a small amount of funding to improve this room... What should we prioritise? (unfortunately we can't have a microwave or kettle :( ) Suggestions on a post-it note or upvote with a sticker dot. The categories listed are: Lamps/better lighting, Cushions + blankets, Plants + artwork, Craft materials, Games, Leisure reading, and your suggestions. There is a purple post-it with the suggestion: 'Wool + needles for knitting or crochet'

🗣️What should we prioritise in our Common Room revamp?📣

Tell us what do you care about most: lamps, cushions, plants, crafts, games, leisure books, or something else? 🌱🎲🛋️📖

This is certainly what @hlaehnemann.bsky.social and I have been doing with Taylor Editions! @tayoxford.bsky.social The model is appreciated by reviewers, e.g. muse.jhu.edu/article/965571

Screenshot of a review, with buttons for downloads in different form

screenshot of a review

Really pleased with this review of Katarzyna Kapitan's edition of the Hrómundur Saga in the @tayoxford.bsky.social Editions series run by @emmahuber.bsky.social & myself as a not-for-profit open access initiative muse.jhu.edu/article/965571 #TEI #xml @oxmedstud.bsky.social @bkhistoxford.bsky.social

MSt in Creative Translation | University of Oxford About the courseThe MSt in Creative Translation is designed to enable you to work in Translation Studies, both as an academic subject and a creative practice.

For the next generation of human translators! Very excited abt new Masters in Creative Translation starting at Oxford, on which I (very happily!) will be teaching History of Translation & Digital Editions 📯
Deadline 3rd March 2026 @ox.ac.uk @tayoxford.bsky.social
www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/g...

I can highly recommend this to anyone interested in food history! #bridgertonmenus

I received a Playmobil Thomas Mann anonymously through our internal post. Thank you very much to whoever sent it!!

An image of a poster from the Taylorian. The poster features a photograph of a dog, possibly a corgi, wrapped in a grey-green blanket. The text of the poster reads: 'Feeling chilly? borrow a blanket from the Enquiries desk, and keep warm this winter. You can use your blanket anywhere in the library. Please return it to the desk when you are finished using it. We hope you find them helpful. Let us know what you think!'

A photograph of a clear plastic box containing fuzzy green blankets. The box is sitting on a wooden window ledge overlooking St. Giles. Trees and buildings are visible outside in the background.

With the temperatures dropping outside, the temperatures in the upstairs reading rooms can get a bit chilly❄️To help with this, we've got some blankets for readers to borrow! Just ask at the enquiry desk 🧣

Screenshot of the poets' gallery in the SPARQL examples

The #RomanticPeriodPoetryArchive is officially in beta and open for testing! 🚀

We are modelling #GlobalRomanticism through the #SemanticWeb and your participation is encouraged and appreciated!

Explore the beta: www.romanticperiodpoetry.org

#Romanticism #19thC #poetry #DigitalHumanities

📖 Book launch! 📖

Tomorrow evening, we are hosting a book launch for 'Luisa Hewitt: The Girl Who Lived in the Library', a book about a woman who grew up living in the Taylorian.

Please do come and join us for what is sure to be an incredibly interesting event! We look forward to seeing you there!

📚 Book launch! 📚

Join us for the release of our new 'Treasures of the Taylorian' book 'Luisa Hewitt: The Girl Who Lived in the Library'- written by Luisa herself, and edited by Christina Ostermann!

📍Room 2, Taylor Institution Library
📅 Wednesday 15th October
⏰ 5:00 - 6:30pm

🖌️New Exhibition 📖

Our new exhibition, 'Le Livre d'Artiste', is now open, and showcases two approaches in the Artist Book tradition.

📍Voltaire Room, Taylor Institution Library
📅 Until 7th July 2025
⏰ 9am-5pm Mon-Fri, 10am-6pm Sat.

A poster for the Taylor Library free book event. The background is a photo of colourful bookshelves with texts in several languages. The poster reads: Freebie Book Event with coffee and cake Good homes sought for books! Come along and give these books a good home, for free. Mainly in German and Russian. Main Lecture Hall Taylor Institution Library Friday 20th June 2025 From 1.30-3pm We look forward to seeing you!

Save the date!

We're holding one of our ever-popular freebie book events next Friday. Come and check out our wares over a cake and a coffee. 🍰

📍 Main Lecture Hall
📅 Friday 20th June
🕐 1:30 - 3pm

A photograph of the main entrance to the Taylorian, on a sunny day. In the centre of the photo you can see the main door to the Taylorian, with a set of four steps coming down towards the front of the picture. A ramp goes down from the door to the right of the picture, and a white metal railing goes to the left. The rest of the photo is taken up by the large stone building, above and either side of the door. Green leaves on branches can be seen at the top of the picture, from the trees nearby.

👋 Welcome back! 👋

We're very happy to welcome you all back for Trinity Term!

We hope you all had a relaxing and productive vacation!

Good luck to everyone who has exams this term, and please don't hesitate to ask if there is something we can do to help!

The redecoration of the Voltaire Room needs a bit more time, and so will be extending into next week (w/b Monday 7th April).

If you need material from the room before it reopens, please let library staff know at the Enquiry Desk!

Many thanks for your patience as we refresh this space.

Fiedler's Language Course

It's Day 2 of this week's #ShoutOutForGerman initiative! Championing German goes way back for us. Here's a 1929 course by the Taylor's German Professor - for the gramophone: ox.cloud.panopto.eu/Panopto/Page... What are your highlights of learning the wonderful (and useful!) language of Deutsch?

Anatomy of Populism. A Critical Analysis of the AfD and Its Rhetoric (Henk de Berg) YouTube video by Henrike Lähnemann

Aus gegebenem Anlass: recording of a lecture by Henk de Berg on the Anatomy of Populism: The Rhetoric of the AfD (for my lecture series Historical Linguistics, topic: language of totalitarianism) youtu.be/83Loo091juY

A poster encouraging sign up to the Bodleian Libraries Reader survey 2025. An illustration of an angle poise lamp shines a light over the words "Reader Survey". Subheaded "A little survey a BIG result" with a link to the Reader Survey webpage: https://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/about/libraries/performance/reader-survey

📢Reader survey reminder📢

There's still time to have your say here: www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/about/librar...

Survey closes Monday, 24 Feb. It will be another 3 years before the next one, so take this chance to tell us how we are doing and influence our plans!

The Taylor Institution Library's Voltaire room, with the sun streaming in through its south-facing windows. The walls are green with white trim, the curtains are yellow, and there is a classical art piece above a tall bookshelf. In the foreground are two large wooden tables with chairs and lamps with white pleated shades.

It's a new day at the Taylorian, and a new social media platform 🦋

What to expect?
The same content from our previous posts on other sites: Modern Languages events in Oxford, library updates, and top tips for using the Taylorian!

Let's chat! Let us know what you'd like to see on our feed 🌞

Screenshot of a double-spread of the pdf of the introduction to the edition of Martin Luther's seminal 'On Christian Freedom', opened at a chapter explaining early modern German spelling, illustrated by a detail from the original pamphlet featuring a virgula and stops

Our edition of 'Von der Freiheit eines Christenmenschen' is now #openaccess available on google books thx to @emmahuber.bsky.social: books.google.co.uk/books?id=oIx... @oxfordgerman.bsky.social #Reformation #pamphlets #Christian #freedom

Emma Huber at Taylor Editions stand, next to laptop displaying a digital edition

Taylor Edition printed books, in front of a screen showing the online version of one of the books "Canon and Cobbler"

Had a really great time yesterday at the Oxford Digital Festival, representing the Taylor Institution's information skills project, Taylor Editions: editions.mml.ox.ac.uk. I learnt about a huge number of different initiatives. Look out for the event write up and recordings of the main talks!