PRINT shop at Oxford University first gained
legal recognition from the Crown in the 16th century.
Since the 17th century, the Press has been managed by a group of University academics known as the Delegates of the Press, led by the Secretary to the Delegates.
The Finance Committee has also been in place since the mid-19th century.
Click on the links below to see a range of documents relating to this management structure.
Legal documents (transcriptions and translations)
Supplicatio or Petition to the Earl of Leicester, c.1584
Letters Patent from Charles I to the University of Oxford, 1632
Excerpt from the Great Charter of the University of Oxford, 1636
Delegates of the Press
Extract from Delegates’ Order Book concerning the move to the Clarendon Building, 1711
Extract from Delegates’ Order Book recording the agreement to publish the Oxford English Dictionary, 1878
Finance Committee
First few pages from the earliest Finance Committee Minute Book, 1867
Pages from Finance Committee Minute Book concerning the setting up of the New York branch, 1897