2014 Colloquium on “When the Dust Has Settled” Accomplished

November 17, 2014 in Abstracts of Conference Papers, Anniversary, Bembino, Book & Exhibition Reviews, Conference, Events, Exhibition

We report successful completion of the Colloquium on Friday, 14 November 2014 at Princeton University.

[This post updates both the Announcement for this event (published as Colloquium Announced), and its Colloquium Program.]

Document of Berengarius, detail, unfolded, with concluding date and gathered dust in the fold. Photography © Mildred Budny

“A Settling of Dust”

When the Dust Has Settled

(or, When Good Scholars Go Back . . . )

A Colloquium
co-sponsored by the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence
and the Index of Christian Art at Princeton University

Sponsors

Department of Art and Archaeology, Princeton University
John H. Rassweiler
Celia Chazelle

The Aim
“Settled Dust Could Give Clarity of Vision”

What happens when a dedicated specialist returns to a subject of long-term interest after other tasks — other projects, jobs, administrative tasks, life in general — have cleared away? While the world, methods, tools, and aims of research (let alone publication) have changed dramatically, sometimes beyond recognition, a return to the chosen subject might also draw upon experience and reflection gained through the passage of time, an accumulation of experiences, and extended “immersion” both in the subject matter and its wider contexts. Thus, although daunting, the return need not involve a start completely from square one or ground zero.

When the dust has settled, and, it may be, the air has cleared, a return might allow for renewal, which could build upon an available, partly remembered, foundation for direction and refinement in this light. Our colloquium offers informal reflections, questions, and discussions about the challenges and potential of returning now to a variety of subjects, in the arts and letters, from Antiquity to Modernity.

The new exhibition at the Index of Christian Art from the archives of its founder Charles Rufus Morey (1877–1955), selected by Jessica L. Savage, forms a centerpiece for reflections about the gathering of cumulative resources. We celebrate the anniversaries of the Research Group this year (25 years as an international scholarly society and 15 years as a nonprofit educational corporation based in Princeton) and the long-term co-sponsorship for the Research Group’s scholarly meetings by the Index of Christian Art and other departments and programs of Princeton University.

Other events and publications celebrating this anniversary year include

  • a Party in Princeton (in March),
  • a series of Sessions and a Reception at the International Congress on Medieval Studies (in May),
  • a Symposium on “Recollections of the Past” at Princeton University (in May),
  • the launch of a Newsletter ShelfMarks (in November), and
  • the on-going redesign of the Research Group website.

Detail of Document of Berengarius, viewing the interior of the right-hand side of the folded flap at its bottom, to reveal the gathered dust and glimpse part of the red silk cord. Photography © Mildred Budny

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Program

Document of Berengariius, folded and tied, seen from the front with identifying inscription. Photography © Mildred Budny

“Fit to Be Tied”

Sessions in 106 McCormick

1:15 – 1:30 pm. Introduction and Welcome

Mildred Budny (Research Group on Manuscript Evidence)

1:30 – 2:30 pm. Session 1: Back to the Middle

Presider: Catherine Fernandez (Index of Christian Art)

  • Richard K. Emmerson (Manhattan College)
    “Approaching the Apocalypse Yet Again”
  • Herbert Broderick (Lehman College, City University of New York)
    “Me and the Man of La Mancha:
    Pursuing the Impossible Dream (Considering Moses in the Illustrated Old English Hexateuch)”
  • Mildred Budny (Research Group on Manuscript Evidence)
    “Still Tied Up in Knotwork: Interlace Ornament and the Royal Bible Master”

3:00 – 3:30 pm. Coffee Break

3:30 – 5:00 pm. Session 2: Back Again

Presider: Henry Schilb (Index of Christian Art)

  • Judith Oliver (Colgate University Emerita)
    “Rethinking Haseloff: The ‘Schools’ of Flemish Psalter Illustration in Their Mercantile Context”
  • Thomas Jacoby (Research Group on Manuscript and Other Evidence)
    “Qal‘at Sim’an and Deir Sim‘an 40 Years Later”
  • Michael T. Davis (Princeton Theological Seminary and Rider University)
    “Fast Forward: Manuscripts Ancient and Modern, with Views of Ezra Pound and His Editor”

[Photographs © Mildred Budny from a document of Berengarius, reproduced by permission.]

Discussion and Concluding Remarks: 5:00 – 5:30

Presider: Celia Chazelle (The College of New Jersey)

Reception at the Index of Christian Art

5:30 – 7:00: Reception

With visit to the exhibition from the archives of Charles Rufus Morey, guided by Judith Golden (Index of Christian Art)

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Now that the event has been accomplished, we publish here some of the materials circulated first at the Colloquium in its Folder.  The Folder contained this set of publications, mostly set in RGME Bembino:

  • the Colloquium Poster
  • Cover page for 'In a Knotshell' Handout by Mildred Budny for her paper at the 2014 Colloquium on 'When the Dust Has Settled'. Photography by Mildred Budny. Photograph and Image reproduced by permission.the Program Booklet, with the
    Program
    Abstracts of the Presentations
    Exhibition Notes for the Index exhibition, along with a new photograph of the exhibition
  • a set of publishers’ Discount Offers
    by Penn State University Press and Medieval Institute Publications
    for their publications with our two Colloquium sponsors,
    the Index of Christian Art and the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence
  • a copy of the Handout for one of the presentations
    “Still Tied Up in Knotwork” (which updates an earlier Handout available on academia.org)
  • The first issue of ShelfMarks, the Newsletter of the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence
    Volume 1, Number 1 = Autumn 2014.

Please subscribe to our Newsletter and notices about our activities here:  Subscribe.

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Information about the exhibition at the Index appears here [no longer]: via
https://www.facebook.com/icaprinceton/posts/787630671301408 as a post announcing the “First exhibition of archival materials”, including
Photography by Mildred Budny with views of the exhibition, reproduced by permission.

[Update. With the change of name in 2017 from “The Index of Christian Art” to “The Index of Medieval Art”, that post has disappeared.  Our web report and Program Booklet preserves an online record of the event.]

The entrance to the Index of Christian Art, with an exhibition from the archives of its founder, Charles Rufus Morey (1877–1955), with his portrait overlooking the entryway, and with photography by Mildred Budny

The entrance to the Index of Christian Art, with an exhibition from the archives of its founder, Charles Rufus Morey (1877–1955)

 

Selection from the Archives of Charles Morey on Exhibition at the Index of Christian Art, with photography by Mildred Budny

Exhibition up close and personal

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[Update in 2016. The Program Booklet for this Colloquium is one of the most popular downloads on our website, second only to our FREE multilingual font Bembino.

Update in 2017.  This Program Booklet continues to hold a strong place among the top downloads, which now also include

  • the next version of Bembino
  • the new tradition of 1-page Agendas for our annual Open Business Meetings2015
    2016
    2017, and

All are free, all are laid out using our copyright font Bembino, and all employ the principles and practices of our Style Manifesto.

Enjoy!

Update in 2018.  Happily we report the publication of Herbert’s dedicated study of Moses the Egyptian in the Illustrated Old English Hexateuch:  London, British Library Cotton MS Claudius B.iv (University of Notre Dame Press, 2017).

We look forward to more conversations about this manuscript and its relatives. ]

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