The Radcliffe Camera (often abbreviated to "the Rad Cam" in Oxford), is a building in Oxford, England, built by James Gibbs in 1737–1749 to house the Radcliffe Science Library. The building was funded by a £40,000 bequest from John Radcliffe, who died in 1714. Nicholas Hawksmoor proposed making the building round.

Image:Radcliffe-camera-oxford.jpg|Radcliffe Camera, viewed from the University Church Image:Radcliffe Camera (2005).jpg|Radcliffe Camera from ground level in Radcliffe Square Image:MakePovertyHistoryRadcliffeCameraOxford20050608 CopyrightKaihsuTai.jpg|Make Poverty History campaigners form a human ring around Radcliffe Camera, 2005-06-08.

After the Radcliffe Science Library moved into another building, the Radcliffe Camera became a reading room of the Bodleian Library. It now holds books from the English and History collections. There is space for around 600,000 books in rooms beneath Radcliffe Square.

J. R. R. Tolkien remarked that the building resembled Sauron's temple to Morgoth on Númenor.

Elizabeth Kostova's The Historian includes a very intense scene set in the interior of the Radcliffe Camera.

External links

• Britain Express information
• Photograph from Daily Information
• Images of Radcliffe Camera

1749 establishments | University of Oxford | Buildings and structures in Oxford

Radcliffe Camera | Radcliffe Camera