New Online Resource: “Stories of a Lost Oxfordshire Tudor Mansion Rediscovered through the Bodleian Archives”
From the Bodleian Library (Oxford University):
The stories behind Rycote, one of England’s most important lost Tudor mansions, have been rediscovered with the help of the Bodleian Libraries archives.
Work to uncover the history of Rycote has revealed this great mansion’s important historical connections and the key role the house played in local and national history. Now a new website (Rediscovering Rycote: http://rycote.bodleian.ox.ac.uk) brings these stories online, revealing the mysteries that were left in Rycote’s wake when the building was demolished in 1807.
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Now for the first time the public can go online to discover the fascinating stories that have been uncovered to reveal the history of Rycote. An interactive timeline explores key moments in the history of Rycote and the lives of its owners while a mini-documentary gives an insight into just how a Bodleian Libraries Archivist was able to piece Rycote’s story together. The Rediscovering Rycote website includes a number of other features, many of them interactive, such as:
- An interactive map allows users to explore the mansion and its grounds as they appeared at the beginning of the eighteenth-century.
- An ‘Add to the Archive’ function, which allows visitors to the website to comment on the displayed objects and stories, contributing to Rycote’s story in the 21st century.
- A beginner’s guide to palaeography: an online tutorial that teaches visitors how to read Tudor and Stuart handwriting using Bodleian manuscripts as examples.
- A dedicated research area for academics and students featuring searchable catalogues, a bibliography and full texts of selected papers delivered at the Bodleian’s 2012 Rycote symposium.
Direct to Rediscovering Rycote Web Site
Learn More About the New Resource
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About Gary Price
Gary Price (gprice@gmail.com) is a librarian, writer, consultant, and frequent conference speaker based in the Washington D.C. metro area. He earned his MLIS degree from Wayne State University in Detroit. Price has won several awards including the SLA Innovations in Technology Award and Alumnus of the Year from the Wayne St. University Library and Information Science Program. From 2006-2009 he was Director of Online Information Services at Ask.com.