Rare book donated in 1587 returns after 300 years

The volume was given to the Library in 1587 by a group of nine students on receiving their Master of Arts degrees, their names being written in the title page.

The group includes James Calfhill, headmaster of Durham Grammar School, Edmund Gwyn, Vicar of Market Lavington (and grandfather of actress Nell Gwynn) and George Limiter, civil servant and solicitor to the Dean and Chapter of Westminster.

After spells in various private collections and nearly 100 years in the John Rylands Library in Manchester, it has made its way back to Christ Church around 300 years after the library first disposed of it in the 18th century.

Christ Church was the first Oxford college to introduce a system of encouraging those graduating to give either a book or money to the Library, but there is much research to be done on how that practice was organised.

The book also provides an insight into the history of mathematical teaching at Christ Church. The donation of the 1570 Euclid in 1587 might suggest that the group who donated it felt that it was time the College started teaching mathematics in the vernacular, rather than in Latin.

Dr Philip Beeley (Oxford Centre for the History of Science, Medicine and Technology) said of the acquisition: 'Books which have been visibly used or which contain ownership details are particularly valuable because they provide important clues enabling the creation of a historical narrative.

'The recent acquisition by Christ Church of a copy of the 1570 Billingsley edition of Euclid’s Elements in the vernacular, donated to the College by nine contemporary undergraduates, is a wonderful resource and will be avidly scrutinized by historians pursuing such investigations further.'

Christ Church is very grateful to the Friends of the National Libraries, Dr Fiona Hollands and Ethan Berman for making it possible for us to acquire this wonderful book and look forward to making this book available for research, enjoyment and public engagement.