Limited edition contemporary architectural prints
by Ian Fraser

Magdalen College was founded in 1458 by Bishop Waynflete, Lord Chancellor of England, for the study of theology and philosophy. The site was originally occupied by the Hospital of St. John the Baptist, parts of which are incorporated in the college buildings.
After the Great Tower, which has become the pictorial symbol of Oxford, the cloisters are the best known of Magdalen buildings. On the west side are the Muniment and Founder's Towers and the Old Library, on the east and north sides are rooms for members of the College. The carved figures on the buttresses date from about 1509. The quadrangle was given its present appearance a little more than a hundred years ago. In 1822 the north side was pulled down. The building was said to be in a dangerous state of decay, but in fact the demolition was apparently carried out at the instigation of a faction among the Fellows during the long vacation. A fever of controversy broke out when it was discovered what had been done and the north Cloister was rebuilt from new designs in 1823. These proved so displeasing that this new building was at once demolished, and the Cloister was rebuilt on the old lines in 1824. The east side of the Cloister was rebuilt in 1825-7, on the model of the new north Cloister and from the same Bath stone. It was from this date that the Quadrangle received its present uniform appearance.