We are staying in St. Edmund Hall, one of the colleges of Oxford University. We had an incredible tour of that shrine of libraries, the Bodleian Library of Oxford University. Dr. Vaisey, Director Emeritus, regaled us with stories of candles being lit (that reader was never allowed back!), of a manuscript being tipped off a conveyor belt onto a pool of oil on the floor, and of the initial funding of the library and the rich history of building and expansion of this library that serves the scholars of the world. The architectural style of this part of the library is English Perpendicular which allows for these lovely long windows to let in the light. Before electricity, the scholars had to work by natural light alone as no candles were allowed!
