The Bodley Club is a speaker society at Merton College, Oxford.^[1] Founded in 1894 as a forum in which undergraduates delivered academic papers on literature,^[2] the Club has changed form over the years, and was reformed in the 1980s as a speaker society.^[3] From 2014, the only members of the Club are the Committee, although it is constitutionally obliged to open its speaker events to all members of the College (undergraduate and postgraduate students, as well as lecturers, fellows, and staff).

The Club began on 19 May 1894 (though it was not christened 'The Bodley Club' until June). The initial constitution contained a rule (Rule 7) which stated that 'a written paper is preferred, but any member may speak on any literary subject instead or may propose that any literary work be read at the meeting.'

Several of the Club's first members from the 1890s went on to become significant figures, including Edmund Trelawney Backhouse, Herbert George Flaxman Spurrell, and William Hamilton Fyfe (whose brother, Henry, spoke as a guest). The early meetings of the Club also included papers given by guests such as Frederic Harrison and the philosopher and fellow of the College, Harold Henry Joachim. In 1911, Ronald Knox, a fellow at Trinity College, delivered a paper subjecting the Sherlock Holmes novels to the same sort of critical exegesis usually reserved for Biblical Studies. This caused considerable mirth, with the ex-President declaring it 'the most brilliant paper the Bodley Club had ever heard'.^[4][5]

The Club was extremely active in the early 1900s, with energetic discussions on literature that strayed into live political discussions of the Irish Land League.^[6]

Whilst he was a visiting student at Merton in 1914 (through a Sheldon Fellowship awarded to him through Harvard University), T.S. Eliot was a member of the Club, which he remembered fondly in a letter to Andrew Corry on 2nd April 1929.^[7] In the 1920s, Verrier Elwin, later a controversial activist in India, was a very active member.^[2]

In the 1930s, John Mulgan, the New Zealand writer, and Sydney Musgrove, later Professor of English at the University of Auckland, were members. In this period, the Club comprised 24 members, 'devoted to being clever', who valued wit above all else.^[8] It was also in the early 1930s that Calvin Brown, the notable early proponent of Comparative Literature in America, was President. ^[9]

Northrop Frye, considered one of the most influential literary critics and theorists of the 20th Century, was elected to the Club on 20th November 1936 (his first term), becoming Secretary in Trinity Term 1939. He delivered two papers to the Club - 'T.S. Eliot and Other Observations' and 'A Short History of the Devil' - the first of which survives and the second of which is extensively summarised in the Club's minute-book.^[10][11]

During the 1940s and 50s, the Club continued to attract future stars of the literary world, and within its circle were such figures as the poets John Heath-Stubbs and Count Potocki de Montalk.^[12]

However, having fallen somewhat into decline in the 1960s and 70s, the 1980s demanded change, and the Club began more and more to invite external speakers, from varied walks of life. In the 1990s, speakers included Lord Kingsdown (former Governor of the Bank of England), Lord Wilson of Tillyorn (former Governor of Hong Kong), William Dalrymple (historian and author of The White Moghuls), and Lord Tugendhat (former Vice-President of the EEC Commission).

In November 2008, the Club hosted a discussion between the Warden of Merton (Prof. Dame Jessica Rawson) and Chinese Diplomat Liu Weimin, which focussed on China's foreign policy.^[13]

2014 Reformation

After a short period of abeyance (for three years), the Bodley Club elected a new President and Committee. A new constitution was enacted. The main aim as stated in this constitution was to host "fabulously interesting" speakers. In the past few years, these have included the following, among others:

• Lobsang Sangay, Leader of the Tibetan Government-in-Exile ^[14]
• Baroness (P.D.) James of Holland Park, novelist ^{[15] [3]}
• The Rt Hon. the Lord (Rowan) Williams of Oystermouth, former Archbishop of Canterbury and Master of Magdalene College, Cambridge ^[15][3]
• The Rt Hon. the Lord (Chris) Patten of Barnes, Chancellor of the University and last Governor of Hong Kong ^[3]
• Maryam Namazie, noted secularist and human rights activist ^{[16] [17]}

References

External links

• Official Webpage