32nd International Congress on Medieval Studies

8–11 May 1997

Co-Publication of the Illustrated Catalogue

[First published on 20 August 2015, with updates]

I.  Receptions at the Congress
to Celebrate the Co-Publication of
Insular, Anglo-Saxon, and Early Anglo-Norman Manuscript Art
At Corpus Christi College, Cambridge

In this year, the two-volume Illustrated Catalogue of Insular, Anglo-Saxon, and Early Anglo-Norman Manuscript Art at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, was published in time for distribution at the Congress and for a series of Receptions there to celebrate the “Cast & Crew” responsible for its collective achievement.  Book-signings continued also at other stages during the Congress, as the author (also the Director of the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence) delivered copies to colleagues who had responded to the special pre-publication discount, and had chosen to collect them on site.  A happy time!

Front Cover Volume II: Plates

Front Cover Volume I: Text

Fruits of Collaboration

List of Manuscripts in the Brochure

Years in the making, the Catalogue — described here — resulted from co-publication by Medieval Institute Publications in association with the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence, the Parker Library, Corpus Christi College. The owners of joint copyright of the photographs generously waived reproduction fees for the publication.  A grant from the Getty Grant Program contributed to the costs of printing and binding.  Other donations in funds or in kind over years helped greatly to advance with the work and to complete its production.

The idea of the Catalogue — at first conceived as a volume of plates of photographs from Anglo-Saxon and related manuscripts at Corpus Christi College, to complement other publications of photographs from other collections — in fact began in discussions at the International Congress on Medieval Studies, which Mildred Budny began to attend in 1986, already before her arrival at Corpus Christi College by 1987 as its Senior Research Associate at the Parker Library.   So, yes, a long story!

The Catalogue publishes the fruits of detailed, long-term examination of a selected group of manuscripts by a team of scholars, a large number of photographs in color and in black-and-white made specifically for this publication, and results of the many seminars and workshops on “The Evidence of Manuscripts” which contributed to the process of research at the Parker Library (listed here), as well as the first symposia in the series of Symposia on “The Transmission of the Bible” which followed the move of the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence to the United States in October 1994. You can learn more here about its Contents.

The publication is available through Medieval Institute Publications. [Update: Formerly it was available via “http://wmich.edu/medieval/mip/books/non-series.html”. With the distribution transferred to the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence, you may now benefit from the Promotional Offer].

The Beauty of Design

The covers and the promotional brochure for the Catalogue were designed by Linda K. Judy of Medieval Institute Publications.  Like the Reception Invitation (shown above), the layout of the text and the plates alike were designed by the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence, which provided the camera-ready copy for printing.

The choice of font, corresponding with the preferred official font of the Research Group at the time (Adobe Garamond), and the practices of the design layout conformed with our Style Manifesto.  Samples of the layout appear in our Gallery of Layout Designs.  The design of the invitation to the Receptions (shown above) is likewise set in Adobe Garamond by the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence.

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II. Session

Also, as part of the Session on “Telling a Book by its Cover:  Medieval Manuscript Bindings” organized by our Associate Elizabeth Parker McLachlan, Mildred Budny, our Director and author of the Catalogue, presented a Response.  As customary, various of our Associates participated in this Congress in diverse capacities.

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The full 1993 Congress program is archived as the 32nd International Congress on Medieval Studies.

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Our next appearance at the Congress occurred at the 2003 Congress. Meanwhile, we accomplished the series of Annual Symposia on the Transmission of the Bible, as well as other endeavors, as described in our Report for the 1993 Congress.

Further events followed in succession, still ongoing.  Their accomplishments and plans are displayed on this website.  Examples include our Congress Activities and various other Events. Updates are reported in our News blog and in our News & Views Reports.

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Update:  With a change in direction at Medieval Institute Publications, the distribution of the Illustrated Catalogue passed to the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence in 2015. This occasion made it possible to prepare a special Promotional Offer, which reflects the unusual position of the Research Group as a publisher without as many overheads as larger publishers and enables individuals and institutions to obtain their own copies at an attractive price.

See the Promotional Offer, which describes the enduring characteristics of the publication and gives choices for ways to order it for yourself and others.

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