Photographic Exhibitions and Master Classes

Since 1990, sometimes as part of its Seminars, Workshops, and Conference Sessions, the Research Group has held photographic exhibitions on Anglo-Saxon and related manuscripts at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge; the University of Oxford; and elsewhere.  Mostly using photographs by Mildred Budny, they include:

• "The Integrated Approach to Manuscript Studies," held with variations at the University of Tokyo at Komaba, at Chuo University, Tokyo, and at Aoyama Gakuin University, Tokyo (November and December 1992).

• "The Integrated Approach to Manuscript Studies," held with further variations twice at Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo (May 1993 and May 1994), with the latter designed to celebrate the opening of its new Richard Rawlinson Center for Anglo-Saxon Studies.

• "The Monastic Library:  Books from St. Augustine's Abbey, Canterbury," held at Wilson College, Princeton University (March 1995).

Since 2006, invited Master Classes taught by Mildred Budny, in Princeton and elsewhere, have provided instruction on aspects and techniques of responsibly photographing manuscripts, documents, and works of art for purposes of research, preservation, exhibition, and publication. Some of these classes accompany or augment our continuing work on the "Family History Project."

Often our publications or co-publications include photographs of the manuscripts themselves and related materials (many or mostly by Mildred Budny).  Some publications contain so generous a number of photographs as to constitute a form of exhibition, as notably with the two-volume illustrated catalogue of Insular, Anglo-Saxon, and Early Anglo-Norman Manuscript Art at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge.  Please see the list of our Publications.

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In August 2008, in exploring new developments and potential for our website, we have been granted generous permission to photograph a group of medieval manuscript fragments and documents in a private collection, and to publish these images here.

The photography has now begun, and we prepare to issue a selection of these images.  They are designed to show the whole objects, as well as details of some elements.  

In stages, we plan to invite, conduct, and report research on these materials.  With their accompanying descriptions and assessments, the display will constitute a virtual exhibition.  

We welcome questions or comments about the images.  We hope that exhibiting them in this way will promote fuller knowledge of their nature, context, significance, and relatives.

We may also use this opportunity to discuss suitable techniques of photographing manuscripts and other artifacts responsibly, with respect to the directions of scholarly interests as well as curatorial and conservational concerns.  Not always do these interests and concerns need to stand at odds with or against each other, especially with communication and collaboration.  Such discussion may function, for example, as form of a tipsheet or masterclass.

Please watch this space for further developments, as we prepare to unveil a new, illustrated page in our history.