The Oxford Historical Society has published nearly 150 volumes since its founding in 1884.
The Society’s publications are divided into two series. The First Series, which was issued to subscribers between 1884 and 1936, and the New (second) Series, which has been issued from 1939 to the present day. Details of the volumes within each series can be found below.
Subscribers wishing to purchase back volumes still in print should contact the Secretary to ensure they benefit from the special subscriber’s discount, which includes P&P.
Members of the public are very welcome to purchase any Society volume still in print directly from Boydell & Brewer.
The Society’s most recent publication (2023) is an edition of the minutes of the Oxford Paving Commissioners for 1771-1801 by Malcolm Graham.
The Paving Commissioners were given sweeping powers to modernise Oxford, and they transformed the city. Streets were widened, buildings demolished, a new Magdalen bridge created, the Covered Market built, and the city’s sewage and drainage systems improved. The appearance of today’s Oxford owes a great deal to the work of the Commissioners, which is described in detail in their minute books. The Commission was also a remarkable collaboration between “town” and “gown”. From the first, successive Mayors and Vice-Chancellors were Commissioners, as were many dons and heads of college, and city aldermen.
This edition includes an extensive introduction on the history and work of the Commission, as well as several maps and plates. The book as a whole provides invaluable evidence for the history of the topography of Oxford, but also sheds interesting light on the social life of Oxford, be it for the lists of Commissioners, or the details on occupants of houses.
Dr Malcolm Graham was head of the Centre for Oxfordshire Studies for many years, and has published extensively on many aspects of the history of Oxford.
The Oxford Historical Society is grateful to the Greening Lamborn Trust for a subvention towards the cost of publication of this volume.