HISTORIC ledgers from Oxford bespoke shoemakers Ducker & Son were snapped up at auction by the Bodleian Library.

The fascinating documents were sold by St Michael's Street auctioneers Mallams last month for £7,000 to an anonymous buyer.

Now the Bodleian Library has revealed it bought the ledgers, which offer a glimpse into the shoe-buying habits of famous customers, including Lord of the Rings author JRR Tolkien and German fighter pilot Baron von Richthofen.

A selection of the ledgers will now go on display at the Bodleian's Weston Library on Saturday and Sunday.

The store closed this month after managers Bob and Isobel Avery decided to retire.

Father-of-four Mr Avery, 71, who started working at the shop in 1990, said: "I closed the door for the last time on Saturday - I enjoyed every minute of it and will remember it all with great fondness.

"We are delighted that the ledgers have been sold to the Bodleian - the staff there will look after them. It was definitely the right place for the ledgers."

The 11 volumes acquired by the Bodleian cover the period from 1910 to 1958 and feature copperplate writing detailing the names, addresses and personal style of thousands of customers.

The detail in the ledgers extends beyond financial transactions - they also include newspaper clippings about high-profile customers that staff have pasted onto clients’ individual pages.

Ducker's, the home of the Oxford brogue, traded from its shop in Turl Street from 1898.

Dr Chris Fletcher, Keeper of Special Collections at the Bodleian, said: "We are delighted that we have been able to save this fascinating piece of Oxford history and to keep the Ducker's ledgers in the city where they have been for more than a century.

"Clothes make the man, as someone once said, and people will have fun looking at the buying habits of some familiar names."

The library bought the ledgers thanks to funding provided by the Friends of the Bodleian.

The library holds the largest collection of original Tolkien manuscripts and drawings in the world and is planning a major Tolkien exhibition, starting in June 2018.

One entry in the ledgers revealed Tolkien bought black rugby boots for 14s 6d in 1913, when he was a student at Exeter College.

Two pages of entries for novelist Evelyn Waugh suggest that he was a loyal customer, buying 20 pairs of shoes or boots between 1930 and 1946.

Another interesting entry includes a pair of lambswool slippers bought by former Prime Minister Herbert Asquith, whose papers the Bodleian holds.

It also emerged that descendants of First World War flying ace Baron von Richthofen, known as the Red Baron, settled his shoe bill in Oxford decades after he left it unpaid.

An entry in the ledger for 1914 shows a 'not paid' note on the Baron’s bill for a pair of shoes for 9s 10d.

But Mr Avery said the outstanding bill had actually been settled by the fighter pilot’s descendants in the late 1970s.

In recent years Duckers featured in several Ian McEwan novels and a pair of Duckers’ brogues were worn by actor Benedict Cumberbatch in the film adaptation of McEwan’s novel Atonement.