Ragtime to riches, a musical legacy at the Bodleian Library (UK)

The Bodleian Libraries' first display in 2012 showcases a selection of material from the largest donation ever made to the library. Bequeathed to the Bodleian in 1974, the collection belonged to Walter Harding who worked as a ragtime pianist in Chicago. He built the largest collection of popular music and verse from the 17th and 18th centuries in the world. Packed in 900 boxes weighing 20 tonnes, the donation was flown from Chicago to Oxford in two chartered aircraft. The display will tell the story of Walter Harding, his collection, and its journey to Oxford, and will showcase a selection of the remarkable and varied holdings of the collection. These range from rare Italian part books to broadsheet ballads, miniature theatres and eighteenth-century French opera. It will also explore the act of collecting: Harding’s meticulous indexing of his library, and his relationship with his books