The antiquity, the historical associations, and the treasures of the Library combine to give it a peculiar fascination. Founded in the “spacious times of great Elizabeth,” and even then carrying on the traditions of the University library first mentioned in 1320; exhibiting a normal evolution in fabric and contents, without great catastrophes or change of place; and as the receptacle of so many and such great collections that it might be called the National Library for the first century and a half of its development, its very walls are vocal with multitudinous memories, much more its shelves and volumes and accessories. Who can walk down the Old Reading Room, with its quiet alcoves, each with its own window looking out on the Sheldonian Theatre or, if so be, the quiet lawn of Exeter College Garden; or note the old-fashioned fittings, adapted for the mediæval system of chaining books, and still comfortable, though not too luxurious; or enjoy the spaciousness of the Selden End, with its outlook on St. Mary’s and its restful gloom, without feeling that he has found an earthly paradise, a true home of study, a Temple of the _Religio Grammatici_? And when the volumes are found to match the surroundings, and to be such as rank high in the esteem of the whole world, whether as historical monuments, or for beauty of illustration, or as affording ample ground for study and research, great is the content of mind which they engender. The present chapter is designed partly to illustrate these points, and also to be a guide to some of the most prominent treasures of this great repository. It will, in the first place, describe a few of the curiosities of association which cluster round certain volumes, and then settle down to what is by comparison a mere list of valuable books, whether written or printed. Neither part should be taken as in any way exhaustive. _Examples of Association._ [Sidenote: Sayings of our Lord.] The Excavations at Oxyrhynchus (120 miles south of Cairo) produced in 1897 large quantities of Greek papyri, but perhaps the most interesting of all was a dirty, tattered and torn piece about 6 × 4 inches, such as one would throw into the waste paper basket. Yet it contains the ΛΟΓΙΑ ΙΗΣΟΥ, Sayings of Our Lord, as transmitted by oral tradition till they were written down, possibly within the first century. The fragment is quite independent of our Four Gospels, and here alone are found such sayings as “Wherever there is one alone, I say, I am with him,” “Raise the stone, and thou shalt find Me; cleave the wood, and there am I.” Perhaps there never was a greater contrast between external appearance and intrinsic worth, for the genuineness of the sayings is contested by few. A second leaf from another MS. of the same kind was subsequently discovered and is now in the British Museum. [Sidenote: A Schoolboy’s Letter.]