Falconer Madan

Who was Falconer Madan?

Falconer Madan was Librarian of the Bodleian Library of Oxford University.

Falconer was the fifth son of George and Harriet Madan. He was educated at Marlborough College and Brasenose College, Oxford, where he took part in Oxford and Cambridge Chess matches in 1873 and 1874, and won the University Singles Fives prize in 1874. He was Fellow of Brasenose from 1875 until 1880, when he was appointed sub-librarian of the Bodleian Library. In 1890 he was given the task of the creating a Summary Catalogue of the manuscripts of the Bodleian beginning with those not included in the catalogue of 1697. The completion of the Summary Catalogue is the chief monument of his work. In 1889 Madan became a Fellow again and lecturer in Palaeography until 1913. Another significant publication of this period is his The early Oxford Press: a bibliography of printing and publishing at Oxford, 1468–1640.

In 1912 Madan became Librarian of the Bodleian. During this time, a new underground book-store under Radcliffe Square was opened, the Library records were put into systematic arrangement, and the Bodleian Quarterly Record, a periodical of more than local interest, was started. He resigned the Librarianship in 1919.