Wadham library houses a fine collection of older books and manuscripts, acquired, largely through donation, over the course of its history. The collections are organised by donor and subject. They are accessible via a card catalogue and partly, in an ongoing project, through SOLO. There are beautiful manuscripts, and also British and European printed books of the fifteenth to eighteenth centuries, covering a wide range of subject matter from literature to theology and the sciences.
Donations have come in many sizes from ones and twos, to thousands, and from many sources. These range from Philip Bisse, who knew the Wadhams and gave his library on the foundation of the College, to Fellows and students of the College, while they were here or later, and still others, unconnected with the College, who gave material which would tie in with other collections already here. So, for example, our collection of Spanish theological works attracted the donation in 1867 of the much studied Wiffen papers on Protestantism in Spain.
