The 750-Year-Old Oxford Library That Began in a Locked Chest

At Merton College in Oxford, an antique wooden chest still sits near the entrance of an old library room. In the Middle Ages, three different people had to be called together before it could be unlockedunlocked: Not secured or protected by a lock — 未上锁的, because the treasuretreasure: Anything greatly valued — 珍品,宝物 inside was unusuallyunusually: In an unusual manner — 异常地 preciousprecious: Of great value because of being rare or important; greatly loved or treasured. — 珍贵的；宝贵的. It was not gold or jewelsjewel: A valuable object used for personal ornamentation, especially one made of precious metals and stones; a piece of jewellery — 珠宝,首饰, but books.

That level of security may seem extreme today, but before the printingprinting: The process or business of producing printed material by means of inked type and a printing press or similar technology — 印刷业 pressprinting press: the mechanical press used to mass-produce printed books from the 15th century onward — 活字印刷机 a single book was a real luxury, since every word had to be written out slowly by hand. Merton College therefore asked its 13th-Century scholarsscholar: A specialist in a particular branch of study, especially in the humanities; a learned person. — 学者 to donate volumesvolume: The amount of space that an object occupies; the degree of loudness of sound; a book forming part of a series. — 体积；音量；卷, much as universities now ask alumnialumnus: A graduate of any gender — 毕业生 for money.

The Archbishop of Canterbury issued a formal order in 1276 that turned this practice into a rule, and the library at Merton has run without a break ever since. To put that span in context, the library predatespredate: To exist or to occur before something else; to antedate — 早于,先于 the Aztec Empire, survived the Black DeathBlack Death: the bubonic plague pandemic that swept Eurasia in the mid-14th century — 黑死病, and is still standing after the Covid-19 pandemic. Its readers have ranged from medievalmedieval: relating to the Middle Ages, roughly the period from the 5th to the 15th century — 中世纪的；中古的 mathematiciansmathematician: An expert on mathematics — 数学家 to Lord of the Rings author JRR Tolkien.

The early library looked very different from a modern one, because there was no librarian and no shelves to browsebrowse: To scan, to casually look through in order to find items of interest, especially without knowledge of what to look for beforehand — 浏览，翻阅. According to Dr Julia Walworth, Merton's current librarian, the whole community would gather to open the chest whenever books were needed. In the 1370s, the college built a purpose-built room to hold its growing collection. Horizontalhorizontal: Perpendicular to the vertical; parallel to the plane of the horizon; level, flat — 水平的 shelves were installedinstal: To connect, set up or prepare something for use — 安装 so books could stand uprightupright: Vertical; erect — 直立的, and Walworth notes that this was the earliest recorded use of that storage method in Britain.

Curiouslycuriously: Oddly; in a strange or unexpected way — 奇怪地, the books were placed with their spinesspine: the column of bones down the centre of the back; the central support of something — 脊柱；脊椎；书脊 facing inwards, because chains were clipped to the front edge of each cover, and the fellows believed chainedchained: Bound with chains — 用链子拴着的 books had a better chance of survivalsurvival: The state of continuing to live or exist, often despite difficulty or danger. — 生存；存活. Today only a few volumes are still chained, kept that way for displaydisplay: To show something publicly; to exhibit a quality or emotion. — 展示；展出. The medieval room otherwiseotherwise: In different circumstances; in other respects; or else. — 否则；除此之外 remains a remarkableremarkable: Worthy of attention; extraordinary or striking. — 非凡的；卓越的；引人注目的 time capsuletime capsule: an object or place that preserves something from a past era exactly as it was — 时空胶囊；历史原貌, and students continue to use it during term.

The library's reputationreputation: The beliefs or opinions that are generally held about someone or something. — 名声；声誉 as something ancient grew during the Victorian eraera: A long and distinct period of history characterised by particular features. — 时代；年代, when Oxford became a popular tourist stop. Visitors came to admire its stained-glass windowsstained-glass windows: decorative windows made of coloured glass pieces held in lead — 彩色玻璃窗 and rare books, including a 15th-Century editionedition: A particular version of a published text; a particular broadcast of a regular programme. — 版本；版次 of The Canterbury Tales. In 1884, a young Beatrix Potter described the library's "beautiful oakoak: The wood of the oak — 橡木 roof" and "ancient, dustydusty: Powdery and resembling dust — 粉末状的 smell" in her diary. By 1885, the Encyclopaedia BritannicaEncyclopaedia Britannica: the long-running scholarly English-language encyclopaedia, founded 1768 — 《大英百科全书》 was calling Merton "the oldest existing library in England".

Some claims went further still, and by the 1920s a few writers had begun calling Merton the oldest library in the world. The mythmyth: A traditional story explaining natural or social phenomena; a widely held but false belief. — 神话；谬论 was even strong enough to appear in the classicclassic: Judged over time to be of the highest quality; typical and representative. — 经典的；典型的 novel The Great Gatsby, in which the wealthywealthy: Possessing financial wealth; rich — 富裕的；有钱的 hero fills his mansionmansion: A large house or building, usually built for the wealthy — 豪宅 with copies of famous historic rooms, including a fakefake: Not genuine; made to look real in order to deceive. — 假的；伪造的 "Merton College Library". As Walworth explains, Merton had become a kind of shorthandshorthand: (by extension) Any brief or shortened way of saying or doing something — 简称,代称 for any "best" old library.

Walworth herself is more careful, and she prefers to call Merton "one of the oldest still-functioning academic libraries in Europe". That phrase recognisesrecognise: To acknowledge the existence or legality of; to treat as valid or worthy of consideration — 承认 that not all old libraries can be grouped together, since monasticmonastic: Of or relating to monasteries or monks — 修道院的 libraries worked very differently from later private collections. It also accepts that very old libraries exist in other parts of the world.

The Al-Qarawiyyin library in Morocco, which was restoredrestore: To bring back something to a former condition, place, or position — 恢复；修复 in 2016, has been called the oldest in the world by some media outletsoutlet: a means of expressing one's talents, energy, or emotions; a shop or store; a point from which goods are sold or distributed — 出口；排泄口；经销店；途径. Other sources point instead to Saint Catherine's Monastery in Egypt. The picture is complicatedcomplicated: Consisting of many interconnecting parts; difficult to understand or analyse. — 复杂的；难懂的 further by the Dunhuang Library Cave in China, which was sealed around the 11th Century and only rediscoveredrediscover: To discover again; especially something previously lost or forgotten — 重新发现 in 1900. As one Cambridge historianhistorian: An expert in or student of history. — 历史学家 notes, it really depends on how you count it, and on what should mark the real beginning of a library.

For Walworth, the most interesting story is not really about age but about community. The tradition of donating books that began with the Archbishop in 1276 continues today. Whether new volumes arrive on parchmentparchment: Material, made from the polished skin of a calf, sheep, goat or other animal, used like paper for writing — 羊皮纸 or as digital files, she believes readers will still want to visit a library and see how earlier generations used books.