Are we what we treasure? Curating the Bodleian’s Treasured exhibition

Andrew Dunning and Nicholas Kontovas

What makes something a treasure – Age? Rarity? Price? Or simply the fact that someone has loved and kept it?

The word ‘treasure’ appeared in English nearly a thousand years ago. Some of its earliest uses survive in manuscripts now held in the Bodleian. ‘Where thy treasure is, there also thine heart is’, wrote an Oxford translator in the 1380s. At that time, a treasure could mean not only riches, but a treasury: a place where precious things are kept safe and accessible. The Bodleian has served as such a place for centuries.

In this talk, Andrew Dunning and Nicholas Kontovas, the curators of Treasured will share the stories behind some of the library’s most surprising and overlooked collections. This exhibition reconsiders what a treasure can be through objects from across the world, prompting visitors to reflect on what we ourselves value – and what this reveals about us.

Exhibition open daily, 6 June–26 October 2025, 10am–4pm, free entry

Image: The Duke Humphrey New Testament, Bodleian Library MS. Duke Humfrey c. 1, fol. 39r