In the article below we said that the Bodleian library's collection included a 10th-century translation by King Alfred of a pastoral letter by Pope Gregory. King Alfred died in 899. The Bodleian's manuscript is a ninth-century scribal copy of his translation of Gregory's Pastoral Care, thought to have been sent by the king to the Bishop of Worcester.
Broad Street in Oxford was simmering in hazy autumn sunshine last week, which was a great relief to the shredded nerves of the curators and library staff at the Bodleian.
In sunshine or downpour they regularly lug priceless manuscripts and documents across the street in plastic crates, between the different buildings of a world famous library grinding to a standstill under the sheer weight of its books.
Next week the local authority will consider Oxford University's solution, a £29m new store to hold 7.8m books, which the Bodleian estimates would not only solve the current crisis but also give it shelving space for the next 20 years. However, many in Oxford regard it as the wrong building in the wrong place and claim it could pose a threat to cherished views. They also point out that it will be sited on a flood plain.
The need for a new store is unarguable. Books fill every corner of the buildings, piled up in staff offices and meeting rooms. The Bodleian has repeatedly run out of space since the present library was founded in 1602, gradually annexing all its neighbours. The New Bodleian, designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott to solve the problem forever when the university flattened a row of ancient houses to build it in 1940, has been described as "130% full" in one report. The overflow store, with 1.3m books, is full, and the university has already been refused permission to extend it. Hundreds of thousands of less frequently used books are stored in Wiltshire, and in a salt mine in Cheshire.
Deep beneath the feet of the gaping tourists, a Heath Robinson conveyor belt known as "the bicycle chain" judders through a tunnel trundling books under the road; the arms of the curators are judged safer transport for the real treasures.
"This is one of the greatest libraries in the world, but we can't just operate as a books warehouse, we must be a national and international centre for the study of the books," Sarah Thomas, the new American director of the library, said. "We are simply getting to the point where we cannot fulfil the purpose for which we were created in these buildings."
The New Bodleian's 11 storeys of book stacks, three underground, were state of the art when built, but are now regarded as a fire hazard and a conservation nightmare. Some books are shelved under pipes carrying liquids, and in the caged sections books are stacked waist high. Only three floors have air conditioning, and only the most jaw-droppingly precious volumes - such as the 10th-century translation by King Alfred of a pastoral letter by Pope Gregory, which Chris Fletcher, head of western manuscripts, calls "arguably the most important book in the English language", or the original hand written manuscript of Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows - are kept in a strongroom.
Ms Thomas would love to show off these treasures to visitors, in a permanent display such as the Treasures gallery at the British Library.
The library also needs a proper conservation studio, where staff can work on recent acquisitions such as the 1960s letters between Philip Larkin and Monica Jones, which came to them like paper lace, shredded by bookworm and light. There are provisions for all of these in an even more expensive scheme to gut and rebuild the New Bodleian - but first they need to get the books out.
It was unfortunate for the university that the planning application came before the council in July, when flood waters were lapping at the edge of the city, and thousands of acres of northern England and the Midlands were under water. The proposal is to build on university-owned land on an industrial park at Osney Mead, across the river from the town centre - and on a flood plain.
The university was asked to defer the application and come back with more information. Next week it will argue that the store, including flood defence walls, a raised ground floor, and provision to store flood water on the site, would be safe for everything up to a once in 5,000 years disaster which would leave all of central Oxford under water.
This has done nothing to mollify the scheme's critics. Councillor Paul Sargent said: "I believe the university probably can find an engineering solution to keep its own books safe - but what has to be considered is the impact of placing such an enormous building on the flood plain, and where the water it diverts might hit next. If the floods last summer taught us anything, it is that the once in a lifetime disaster could come at any time. I think the university needs help and advice to find a better answer."
The Oxford Preservation Trust remains implacably opposed to the location of the huge building, and says it would have a serious impact on the classic "dreaming spires" view of the city- something the university disputes.
"There is no question about it, this is an appalling building, and it will be an absolute disaster," Debbie Dance, director of the trust, said.
"I don't think most people have grasped just how enormous it is. We support the Bodleian, we want it to remain a world-class institution - but not at the price of this building."
Ms Thomas insists that the university has consulted, and that this building on this site is the right answer, the key to the Bodleian remaining one of the world's greatest working libraries.
"You know, we love these books, love them," she said. "Why would we ever want to do anything that would harm them in any way?"