CONTOURLINES: New Responses to Landscape in Words and Image.

Commissioned for the Magdalene Festival of Landscape 2008-09, and to coincide with the 800th Anniversary Celebrations in the University of Cambridge, Contourlines is a beautiful volume of new responses to landscape.

With contributions by many of our foremost contemporary poets, including Michael Longley, John Mole, Les Murray, Ruth Padel, Nick Drake and Matthew Francis, as well as stunning images, the book is an exciting and challenging contribution to thinking about the environment in which we live, from rocks to oceans, from coasts to cities. The hard-back volume, co-published by Magdalene College Publications and Salt Publications, has been edited by Dr M E J Hughes (Fellow in English at Magdalene) and the highly-regarded poet, Neil Wenborn (Magdalene, 1975).

It is available from the College Office for just £12.99 or by emailing litfest@magd.cam.ac.uk

(Inspection Copy Available at the Porters Lodge and SCR)

The 2009 College Christmas Card is available to buy from the Alumni and Development Office, priced at £3.99 + 50p P&P for a pack of five. 

Purchase enquiries should be made by email or by telephone: 01223 332104.

The College can accept cheques and all major credit cards (excluding American Express).

Members of the College will be saddened to learn of the death of Mickey Dias, former President and Director of Studies in Law.  Mickey died peacefully, surrounded by his family during the evening of Tuesday 17 November.  Generations of Magdalene men and women (and particularly the College’s lawyers) will have known Mickey as a kind mentor and an inspiring teacher.  He was founder of Magdalene’s strong tradition of legal study and an influential author – particularly in the Law of Torts.  Many of Mickey’s pupils have occupied the highest positions in judiciaries all over the world, including the current Lord Chief Justice and the Chancellor of the High Court.

Welcome to the new Magdalene Cambridge website!

Navigate using the new, more intuitive menu system, stay up-to-date with the latest events using our events calendar, and find the answers to your questions using the new search bar.

We hope you find the redesign easy to use, and that you will check back regularly to see news the news and updates from College and the University.

We welcome any comments or suggestions for improvement, which should be directed to the webmaster, Sam Haskell.

Today the College is celebrating four hundred years since the baptism (the date of birth is unknown) of Henry Dunster, Magdalene alumnus and first President of Harvard College.

Dunster entered Magdalene aged 17, graduated in 1630 and took his MA in 1634. He became the first President of Harvard six years later. 

Marking the relationship between Dunster, Harvard and Magdalene, the College Crest adorns the refrectory of Dunster House at Harvard (pictured left), whilst the Harvard arms - the design of which is often attributed to Dunster himself - can be found outside Magdalene's Dunster Staircase in the Lutyens Building.

2009 also marks the 350^th anniversary of Dunster’s death. As part of the 2009 Magdalene in America visit, the Director and Deputy Director of Development visited Dunster's tomb, pictured below.

For a deeper consideration of Dunster's achievements, influences and the links between Harvard and Magdalene, readers are directed to Ronald Hyam's article in the 2008-09 Magdalene College Magazine (pp.43 - 49), and towards the feature 'Henry Dunster, or Magdalene in America seventeenth century style' in the Autumn 2009 edition of Magdalene Matters.

To celebrate Dunster's 400th year, the Harvard University Archives have digitized the Dunster family papers and made them available online.

Julie Daniels' "1409-1509" oil painting from the 'Eight in the Octagon' exhibition series is available to buy.

As one of the eight paintings from the exhibition, the 1409-1509 painting features the Magdalene coat of arms alongside those of King's, Queens', St. Catharine's, Jesus and Christ's, which were also founded in this period.

For more information, contact details and a larger picture, please visit the  Eight in the Octagon website.