An appeal to reason
Angry emails from librarians are a fact of life in Oxford. If it was not for the fact that it is impossible to run up a fine of more than £2.33 we might actually pay some attention to them. However, this week we are taking the librarians’ side in the hilarious saga of Christ Church and their missing book.
It transpires that a sixteenth century volume stolen from the House eleven years ago has re-surfaced in, of all places, the Nippon Dental University, and that due to a loophole in the law there is no obligation for the Japanese to give it back. No one seems to know why the Dental University is refusing to return the volume. Perhaps it is pride. But there is another, horrific possibility.
What if they are using ‘De Humani Corporis Fabrice’ to teach their students? Imagine legions of far-eastern dentists whose only knowledge of anatomy is gleaned from a textbook written in 1543. Let us hope for the sake of Japan’s teeth that it is merely gathering dust in a presentation case somewhere.
18th May 2006