Oxford
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| In 1810, after graduating from Eton, Shelley entered University
College at Oxford for a brief but tumultuous stay. From
the High Street entrance, the place looks much as it did
in his time. |
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| Shelley’s rooms (staircase one, room 2) were in the southwest
corner of the main quadrangle, in what is now half of the
Junior Common room, and were adjacent to the dining hall.
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The rear of the rooms overlooked what is now the Fellows’
Garden.
Nearby,
off staircase
three,
one can
find the
small mausoleum
that houses
Basil Champney’s
Shelley
Memorial.
It was
originally
designed
for the
Protestant
Cemetery
in Rome,
but was
politely—and
firmly—declined.
Critics
have
lambasted
the
sculpture,
asserting
that
the
poet
resembles
nothing
so much
a slice
of turbot
laid
out
on a
fishmonger’s
scale.
Others
suggested
that
the
figure
was
insufficiently
manly—not
surprising,
considering
that
the
model
was
supposedly
a young
girl.
(Image
courtesy
James
Jayo).
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Slatter
and Munday’s
Printing
Office
at 2-3
High Street,
which
published
Shelley’s
notorious
Necessity
of Atheism,
is no
longer
standing;
the site
is now
occupied
by the
Lloyd’s
Bank
at the
corner
of High
and
Carfax.
An early
engraving
of the
establishment
can
be
found
in the
New
Oxford
Guide
(Oxford,
1818),
however.
Those
wishing
to research
Shelley’s
stay in
Oxford
should
contact
Robin
Darwall-Smith,
the University
College
archivist
(phone:
0865
27695,
email: robin.darwall-smith@univ.ox.ac.uk
).
Access
to the rooms
can be
arranged
through
the Domestic
Bursar’s
office
(phone:
0865
27625).
A wonderful
guide
to the
Bodleian
Library’s
collection
of Shelley
materials
can be
found
in B.C.
Barker-Benfield’s
catalogue
Shelley’s
Guitar:
A Bicentenary
Exhibition
of
Manuscripts,
First
Editions
and
Relics
of
Percy
Bysshe
Shelley (Oxford:
Bodleian
Library,
1992).
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