Bodleian Library

The Bodleian Library is identifiable by the monumental, circular, domed stone structure known as the Radcliffe Camera, which sits prominently in the center of the library complex. Founded in sixteen hundred and two by the diplomat Sir Thomas Bodley, this institution is one of the oldest public libraries in Europe. It grew from a fifteenth-century collection of books into a vast research center that now houses more than thirteen million items.