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You are browsing the Blog for Early Printing

Carmelite Missal Leaf of 1509

October 6, 2020 in Bembino, Manuscript Studies, Reports, Uncategorized

Single Leaf on Paper from an
Early-Printed Latin Missal (Missale Romanum)
For use in a Carmelite Monastery

Part of the Mass for Holy Saturday (Sabbato Sancto)

Printed in 1509
by Lucantonio Giunta in Venice
in 2 columns of 36 lines
With Music on 4-Line Staves

J. S. Wagner Collection

Another leaf from the J. S. Wagner Collection takes center stage as we examine its features.  We thank the collector for allowing us to see and to show the material.

Other leaves from this collection are reported in earlier posts. They came from medieval manuscripts and stand on vellum.

  • Updates for ‘Otto Ege Manuscript 19’
  • A Leaf from ‘Otto Ege Manuscript 19’ and Ege’s Workshop Practices
  • The Penitent King David from a Book of Hours
  • A Leaf from Prime in a Large-Format Breviary .

*****

This time, the single leaf stands on paper and came from an early-printed Latin Missal. On paper.  The form of book contains all the instructions and texts necessary for the celebration of the liturgical year.

We offer a description, identification, and 12-page downloadable Report. The Report, by our Associate and Font Designer, Leslie J. French, is available below. It is set in our copyright digital font Bembino (of course).

Worth saying that the printed leaf has sparked the interest of our Font Designer.  Glad for his expert examination and exploration.  This blogpost serves as a foundation, counterpart, and compliment to his report.

J. S. Wagner Collection, Single Leaf from a Latin Missal containing part of the Mass for Holy Saturday for use in a Carmelite Monastery, printed in 1509 Lucantonio Giunta in Venice. Recto, detail. Reproduced by Permission.

J. S. Wagner Collection, Single Leaf from a Latin Missal containing part of the Mass for Holy Saturday for use in a Carmelite Monastery, printed in 1509 Lucantonio Giunta in Venice. Recto, detail. Reproduced by Permission.

Other Materials from the Same Collection

The collector has generously shared with us images of some fragments, manuscript and printed.  They include a leaf from a dismembered Vulgate Bible manuscript, now known as ‘Otto Ege Manuscript 19’, which occupied center stage in earlier blogposts.

J. S. Wagner Collection, Ege Leaf 19, verso, detail. Lower portion, with end of the Book of Malachi, the Argumentum ("Summary") of the Books of Maccabees, and part of the text of I Maccabees.

J. S. Wagner Collection, Ege Leaf 19, verso, detail.

Other leaves carry illustration or decoration (or both) as well as text.  For example, The Penitent King David from a Book of Hours:

J. S. Wagner Collection. Detached Manuscript Detached Leaf with the Opening in Latin of the Penitent Psalm 37 (38) and its Illustration of King David.

J. S. Wagner Collection. Detached Manuscript Leaf with the Opening in Latin of the Penitent Psalm 37 (38) and its Illustration of King David.

And A Leaf from Prime in a Large-Format Breviary :

J. S. Wagner Collection, Leaf from from Prime in a Latin manuscript Missal. Folio 4 Recto, with the end of Psalm 53, the title for the Gloria Patri, and the opening of Psalm 117 (118), set out in verses with decorated initials..

J. S. Wagner Collection. Leaf from from Prime in a Latin manuscript Breviary. Folio 4 Recto.

The Leaf in Question

The text on the leaf to which we turn now contains part of the Mass for Holy Saturday (Sabbato Sancto), including music with notation on staves, for use in a Carmelite Monastery, that is, Carmelites, known as the “Order of the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel” (Ordo Fratrum Beatissimæ Virginis Mariæ de Monte Carmelo). The spiritual focus) of the Carmelite Order is contemplation, encompassing prayer, community, and service.

Pietro Lorenzetti, Predella panel. Carmelite Hermits at the Fountain of Elijah (1328-1329). Siena, Pinacoteca Nazionale di Siena. Image Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Pietro Lorenzetti, Predella panel. Carmelite Hermits at the Fountain of Elijah (1328-1329). Siena, Pinacoteca Nazionale di Siena. Image Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

The features of the Missal Leaf, including fonts, demonstrate that it was printed by Lucantonio Giunta in Venice, Italy. That is, Lucantonio Giunti (or Giunta), prolific book publisher and printer, born in Florence and active in Venice from 1489.

The Numbers Game

The recto of the leaf carries the printed folio number cij. Numbers in pencil in the outer corners at top and bottom label it as folio 148 and as an item-of-some-kind number 49991. The unevenly cut inner edge more-or-less follows the fold-line between the leaf and its mate in the former bifolium, or pair of leaves which nested within the gathering of leaves. The inner edge retains the 5 more-or-less regularly spaced notches which were cut into the fold of the gathering in preparation for stitching the text-block into the binding. (According to Ligatus: The Language of Binding, such features are to be known as “knife-cut recesses”, thus defined.)

The top of the Recto, with alternate Folio numbers in print and in pencil:

J. S. Wagner Collection, Single Leaf from a Latin Missal containing part of the Mass for Holy Saturday for use in a Carmelite Monastery, printed in 1509 Lucantonio Giunta in Venice. Recto, detail: Top Portion. Reproduced by Permission.

J. S. Wagner Collection, Single Leaf from a Latin Missal containing part of the Mass for Holy Saturday for use in a Carmelite Monastery, printed in 1509 Lucantonio Giunta in Venice. Recto, detail: Top Portion. Reproduced by Permission.

The bottom of the recto, with a large number very close to 50,000:

J. S. Wagner Collection, Single Leaf from a Latin Missal containing part of the Mass for Holy Saturday for use in a Carmelite Monastery, printed in 1509 by Lucantonio Giunta in Venice. Recto, detail: Bottom Portion. Reproduced by Permission.

J. S. Wagner Collection, Single Leaf from a Latin Missal containing part of the Mass for Holy Saturday for use in a Carmelite Monastery, printed in 1509 by Lucantonio Giunta in Venice. Recto, detail: Bottom Portion. Reproduced by Permission.

The Leaf in Full

Recto and Verso, one by one. Let us have a look and turn the page.

Recto of Leaf Number CII/148

J. S. Wagner Collection, Single Leaf from a Latin Missal containing part of the Mass for Holy Saturday for use in a Carmelite Monastery, printed in 1509 Lucantonio Giunta in Venice. Recto. Reproduced by Permission.

J. S. Wagner Collection, Single Leaf from a Latin Missal containing part of the Mass for Holy Saturday for use in a Carmelite Monastery, printed in 1509 Lucantonio Giunta in Venice. Recto. Reproduced by Permission.

Verso of Leaf, with Catchword

J. S. Wagner Collection, Single Leaf from a Latin Missal containing part of the Mass for Holy Saturday for use in a Carmelite Monastery, printed in 1509 Lucantonio Giunta in Venice. Recto, detail: Top Portion. Reproduced by Permission.

J. S. Wagner Collection, Single Leaf from a Latin Missal (‘Missale Romanum’) containing part of the Mass for Holy Saturday for use in a Carmelite Monastery, printed in 1509 by Lucantonio Giunta in Venice, Italy. Verso of Leaf. Reproduced by Permission.

Features to note: Well, everything. (It’s what we do.)

Including: the Running Title, the Text, the Initials, the Music; and the Yellow Wash. Etc.  For example, as showcased in our accompanying Booklet (See Below):

J. S. Wagner Collection, Single Leaf from a Latin Missal containing part of the Mass for Holy Saturday for use in a Carmelite Monastery, printed in 1509 Lucantonio Giunta in Venice. Recto, detail. Reproduced by Permission.

J. S. Wagner Collection, Single Leaf from a Latin Missal containing part of the Mass for Holy Saturday for use in a Carmelite Monastery, printed in 1509 Lucantonio Giunta in Venice. Recto, detail. Reproduced by Permission.

In passing, we note that other blogposts have had occasion to observe the placement of a wash or fill of yellow pigment within minor initials of manuscripts.  Some authorities regard the feature as Italian or ‘Italianate’.  See, for example

  • More Discoveries for ‘Otto Ege Manuscript 41″
  • A 15th-Century Theological Volume from Le Parc Abbey
Private Collection, Le Parc Abbey, Theological Volume, Part B, opening page: Peter the Venerable.

Private Collection, Le Parc Abbey, Theological Volume, Part B, opening page: Peter the Venerable.

Other Leaves From This Dispersed Book

It took a while to find some comparanda, as we continued to explore. You know, we might now wonder (story be told), if that dearth of close comparanda might indicate a rarity, we’d be prepared to agree.

The Report (see below) and this blogpost tell that story.

To start, where we began, once trying to fine some bearings among online resources.

Here is a close relative, exhibited online for sale at one time on ebay and now shown via worthpoint.com as
https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/1509-giunta-missal-leaf-woodcuts-172119411 . It is described thus:

A Leaf From a rare, Giunta Missale, (secundum usum Carmelitarum), numerous woodcuts of New Testament scenes and saints, facing pages with composite borders of figured vignettes, profusion of woodcut historiated and decorative initials. Text and music printed in red and black throughout. The Missal contains the prayers said by the priest at the alter [sic] as well as all that is officially read or sung in connection with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass throughout the ecclesiastical year. This particular leaf features two woodcuts as well as the text for the Mass that is celebrated during Passion Week for The Easter Season. Verso: Text and music printed in red and black throughout. (Venice: Lucantonio Giunta, 13 January 1509). Condition of this leaf is under fine[F-] and this leaf measures 6.75″ x 4.5″.

Note the generic description that addresses a single “Leaf”, but cites multiple leaves from the same source-volume, as it mentions “numerous woodcuts”, “facing pages with composite borders”, a “profusion of woodcut historiated and decorated initials”, “text and music printed in red and black throughout”, etc., and then refers to features on “this particular leaf”. To whit:

This particular leaf features two woodcuts as well as the text for the Mass that is celebrated during Passion Week for The Easter Season.

Even so, the description could serve for any leaf within the portion dedicated to Passion Week, provided that it has “two woodcuts” and carries music on the verso. Perhaps that is the idea.

(We have become familiar with such a generic approach to identical labels circulated with different individual leaves from a single book in our investigations of manuscripts and other textual materials dispersed from the collection of Otto F. Ege (1888–1951), as considered in multiple posts on our blog; see its Contents List.)

We note the seller’s grading of the condition of that leaf: “under fine” or “F-“, according to recognized book-selling terminology for “used books”. Presumably, if that grading is correct, it could aptly apply to other leaves from the same book, unless, that is, other parts of the book suffered different and more extensive forms of damage.

J. S. Wagner Collection, Single Leaf from a Latin Missal containing part of the Mass for Holy Saturday for use in a Carmelite Monastery, printed in 1509 Lucantonio Giunta in Venice. Recto, detail: Bottom Portion. Reproduced by Permission.

J. S. Wagner Collection, Single Leaf from a Latin Missal printed in 1509 Lucantonio Giunta in Venice. Recto, detail: Bottom Portion. Reproduced by Permission.

According to the image exhibited online in the sales offering, its recto (with a single woodcut) carries the printed folio number liv, and 2 more numbers in pencil: another folio number (“109”) in Arabic numerals in the top right corner, and another number in the bottom right corner (“49952”) — the latter in the same hand as the number 49991 on the Wagner Leaf.

Customarily we could think of such large numbers at bottom right as an inventory number in a seller’s marker. Given the specificity of the number, in a high number not always evenly rounded off, it seems clear that the number is not a price, in whatever currency. Identifying the ‘code’ particular to a given seller might aid in deducing the provenance of the piece. Thus might progress a hunt for a particular seller’s style.

That is how we first regarded the high number on the Wagner Leaf. Further exploration, and the discovery of other leaves carrying similar numbers in a sequence which can be revealed to have a specific import relating to the volume itself, is explained in the Report downloadable below.

Spoiler Alert: We still think that these numbers are inventory numbers, which pertain to the individual leaves of the given volume. But they also appear to stand within a very large inventory which could or would involve very many individual leaves extracted from very many individual books.

The Leaf and its Provenance

The present owner reports that the Leaf came to him in a collection, with no identification of its contents or a source for the item.

And so, exploring aspects in turn of the Missal Leaf — as described here and in the 12-page Report by our Associate (and Font Designer), Leslie J. French (see below) — we have discovered that this very Leaf was listed for Sale via faginarms.com, where it was presented as an Italian Missal Page [Update of 17 November 2020:  that post appears to have been removed], with an image clinching the identification:

Straight from the heart of the Renaissance! Printed page, 6 3/4″ x 4 1/2″, by Lucantonio Giunta, Venice, 13 January, 1509. This page with the prayers and songs for Holy Saturday. Excellent and suitable for framing.

Stock Number: FNS3583

Sold

Discovering, if wished, which individual copy of the Missal was dismembered and dispersed, from which collection, and by whom, would require further research.

Other Leaves from the Same Book

Suffice it to say that we have seen online a few other leaves which must have come from the same copy. Mostly, it appears, they passed through eBay. For example, a 1509 Giunta Missal Leaf, described as:

(Venice:  Lucantonio Giunta, 13 January 1509).

More leaves are described in our booklet, for which see below.

The Edition and Its Components

Thus, identifying the printer and the date of the edition led us to consult standard bibliographical resources for the genre of book, the printer, Missals printed by the same printer, and other aspects.

First:

  • William H. James Weale and Hanns Bohatta, ed., Bibliographica Liturgica: Catalogus Missalium ritus latino ab anno M.CCCC.LXXIV Impressorum (London: Bernard Quaritch, 1928).

An earlier version of the catalogue appears online:

  • William H. James Weale, ed., Bibliographica Liturgica: Catalogus Missalium ritus latino ab anno M.CCCC.LXXIV Impressorum (London: Bernard Quaritch, 1886), online via archive.org.

Both versions mention this Missal among the Missals for Use of the Order of the Fratres B. V. Mariae de Monte Carmelo.

But they differ.

In the 1886 version, this Missal is no. 1509 (p. 251), listed only briefly, with the mention of the date and place of publication, and the existence of a copy at “Frankfurt a. M. : S”. I give this detail because you can see its evidence online. I can also report the extra text in the 1928 book, which I possess.

In the 1928 version, this Missal is no. 1887 (p. 319), with more information:

1509, ID. Ian. (13 Jan.) Missale secundum ordinem fratrum Carmelitarum. In Uenetorum ciuitate, Lucas antonius de giunta. 8vo. 44 nn., 299 n., 1 vac = 344 Fol. . . . 2 col. 36 lin.

Frankfurt a. M. : S.

Rivoli 311, 274

That is, in 3 stages:

1) Bibliographical information about the publication itself, its date (the Ides of January, or 13 January, 1509), title, place of printing (“In the City of Venice” or In Uenetorum ciuitate), printer, colophon, format, number of leaves (344), layout in number of columns (2) and lines per page (36), etc.;
2) A known copy of the book, in this case at Frankfurt am Main in the “S[tadtbibliothek].”, however with unspecified pressmark; and
3) The reference to another bibliographical resource, namely “Rivoli” with the numbers “311, 271”.

The 3rd stage refers to a substantial publication by the 3rd Duc de Rivoli (also the Prince d’Essling), Victor Masséna (1836–1910), bibliophile and scholar (see also Essling, Victor Masséna):

  • Duc de Rivoli (Victor Masséna), Les Missels imprimés à Venise de 1481 à 1600: Description — Illustration — Bibliographie. Études sur l’art de la Gravure sur Bois (Paris: J. Rothschild, 1894), p. xviii and no. 274 on pages 311–312, online via 1894.

There we find a more detailed description of the volume, according to the single copy examined or known (“l’exemplaire que nous avons vu”) — albeit lacking its title page and some other pages. As a result, the title for the Missal is not reported. The description includes a list of 22 woodcut illustrations, which appear in a cycle from the Immaculée Conception to Christ de pitié — including some which seen to appear also in other Missals printed by or for L.-A. Giunta. Also noted by the description are:

Nombreuses petites vignettes, dont une certaine quantité a fond noir criblé, principalement dans les encadrements qui se trouvent au recto des pages en regard des grands bois. — Initiales ornées.

No mention of the music, but presumably that is to be taken as a given for the genre of book?

The colophon (on R. 288):

Explicit missale per ordinem fratrum gloriosissime dei genitricis semperque virginis marie de monte carmello : … quod impensa sua ac solerti cura Lucasantonius de giunta florentinus in Venetorum ciuitate floretissima impressit. Anno natalis domini. M. d. ix. idibus ianuarij.

(“Here ends the Missal for the Order of the Brothers of the Most Glorious Mother of God and eternal Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel, . . . which, at his expense and by the diligence of skills, Lucas Antonius de Giunta, the Florentine, printed [or caused to be printed?] in the city of Venice. In the year of the Lord, 1509, on the Ides of January.”)

Rivoli identified the sole copy under his consideration as belonging to the city library at Frankfurt, with a pressmark: “Francfort, B[ibliothèque]. de la Ville, Rit. cath. 512”.

In Frankfurt, the Stadtbibliothek now combines with another major institutional library, as the Stadt- und Universitätsbibliothek Frankfurt am Main (since 1945). So far, we have not been able to learn about its copy of this Missal (pressmark “Rit. cath. 512”) through the library website.

The apparent rarity of appearances of copies (or fragments) online or in some standard reference works might show a small-scale printing to start with, or a wider disinterest in the edition as such, given some with earlier dates and/or heightened extents of illustration. If it was a rare issue, then the dismemberment of the volume sold piecemeal online (perhaps not very recently) would represent an even more lamentable loss, with the destruction of the integrity of an early-printed object not easily to be found or replaced elsewhere.

Because Rivoli does not illustrate any of its woodcuts in this edition, we may glimpse their character and perhaps their style from other illustrations of the same subjects in other of Guinta’s Missals which appear among Rivoli’s figures and descriptions. Some of these correspondences or resemblances which Rivoli noted in his entry for this 1509 Missal, by referring to other Missal numbers and to other pages (as with “Missel 59 et p. 167” for the Annonciation XVI, the Assomption (“Cf. pp. 22, 25), and the Nativité de la Ste Vierge (“Cf. p. 113”) — subjects centering upon the Virgin Mary presumably of especial interest to the Carmelites.

Some examples:

  • 1509 Giunta Missal Leaf Medieval Music Leaser Lent
  • Recto only of Leaf 49952, with a part-page woodcut. An opportunity described in these glowing terms:

A Wonderful Leaf for The Manuscript Collector and A Great Gift Idea! Purchase Three or More Individual Auctions and There Will Be No Charge For Shipping We Now Accept PayPal WE SHIP WORLDWIDE – PLEASE CONTACT US FOR A FREE SHIPPING QUOTE! for more information.

The Printer and His Works

The printer’s career is surveyed in Lucantonio Giunti or Giunta (1457 – 1538), or in English via Lucantonio Giunti. We learn, for example:

Lucantonio Giunta or Giunta (1457–1538) was a Florentine book publisher and printer, active in Venice from 1489, a member of the Giunti family of printers. His publishing business was successful, and among the most important in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. Through partnerships, often with members of his family, he expanded the business through much of Europe.

It is useful to note that for some works he served directly as printer in the production, and for others indirectly as publisher in the distribution.

The Printer, His Devices, and Examples of Title-Pages

Over the course of his output, Giunta employed several forms of printer’s device. Some are gathered and displayed online via Luca Antonio Giunta. Examples appear in Missals both earlier and later than the 1509 Carmelite Missal, in various formats, and for various Orders, as well for the practices of various Churches — as with the Church of Rome in the Missal Romanum. Some title-pages for his Missals are illustrated in Rivoli (1894).

Here follow a few specimens.

Florence, Biblioteca Nazionale, Missale Romanum printed by Lucantonio Giunta (1521), Title-page, detail: Printer's Device. Image Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.

Florence, Biblioteca Nazionale, Missale Romanum printed by Lucantonio Giunta (1521), Title-page, detail: Printer’s Device. Image Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.

1) From the Roman Missal of 1501 in Folio Format

The title-page of the Missale Romanum nouiter impressum, printed by Lucantonio de Giunta on 20 November 1501 in Venice.

Florence, Biblioteca Nazionale, Missale Romanum printed by Lucantonio Giunta (1501), Title-page. Image via Creative Commons.

Florence, Biblioteca Nazionale, Missale Romanum printed by Lucantonio Giunta (1501), Title-page. Image via Creative Commons.

The end-page with the colophon displays a mostly full page of text printed in black and red.

Florence, Biblioteca Nazionale, Missale Romanum printed by Lucantonio Giunta (1501), End-page.  Image via Creative Commons.

Florence, Biblioteca Nazionale, Missale Romanum printed by Lucantonio Giunta (1501), End-page. Image via Creative Commons.

The edition is listed in Weale and Bohatta (1928), no. 964 (p. 169); and Rivoli (1894), no. 59 (pp. 167–168).

2) For the Dominican Order of 1504 in Folio Format

The title-page of a folio Missale secundum ordinem fratrum Predicatorum, printed by Lucantonio de Giunta on 30 June 1504 in Venice.

The full title, citing the “most beautiful figures (figuris)” describes the work thus:

Missale predicatorum nuper impressum ac emendatum cum multis missis: orationibus pulcherrimisque figuris in capite missarum festiuitatum solennium de nouo superadditis: ut inspicienti patebit.

The edition is listed in Weale and Bohatta (1928), no. 1828 (p. 311); and Rivoli (1894), no. 256 (pp. 300–301).

The tapered title is surmounted by a woodcut illustration of a full-length and haloed figure holding flowers and an edifice, in a depiction of the founder and patron of the Order, the Castilian Saint Dominic (1170–1221). At the bottom of the page appears the printer’s device in an upright rectangular frame, including the initials L and A. The whole volume appears online from a copy still in Venice, at the Biblioteca nazionale Marciana: here.  The title-page, from Biblioteca nazionale Marciana – Venezia – IT-VE0049 :

First page of the 'Missale predicatorum' (1504), printed by Lucantonio de Giunta in Venice. Image Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.

First page of the ‘Missale predicatorum’ (1504), printed by Lucantonio de Giunta in Venice. Image Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.

3) From a Missal Romanum of 10 May 1521 in Folio Format

That is, Missale romanum nuper adoptatum ad commodum. Venetijs in aedibus Luce antonij de giunta.

The Title page carries a variant version, within a paneled border.

Florence, Biblioteca Nazionale, Missale Romanum printed by Lucantonio Giunta (1521), Title-page, detail: Printer's Device. Image Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.

Florence, Biblioteca Nazionale, Missale Romanum printed by Lucantonio Giunta (1521), Title-page, detail: Printer’s Device. Image Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.

The page in full:

Florence, Biblioteca Nazionale, Missale Romanum printed by Lucantonio Giunta (1521), Illustrated Title-page. Image via Creative Commons.

Florence, Biblioteca Nazionale, Missale Romanum printed by Lucantonio Giunta (1521), Illustrated Title-page. Image via Creative Commons.

The detailed title:

Missale Romanum ordinarium. Missale romanum nuper ad optatum comodumquorumcumque sacerdotum summa diligentia distinctum et ortographia castigatum atqueita ex nouo ordine digestum . . .

The edition is  Weale and Bohatta (1928), no. 1046 (p. 182); Rivoli (1894), no. 92 (pp. 196–198).

From the copy in Florence, Biblioteca nazionale centrale, shelfmark MAGL.2.109 (identifier info:sbn/CNCE011532), some specimen pages are shown in the Biblioteca digitale italiana via www.internetculturale.it, specifically here.  The colophon:

Florence, Biblioteca Nazionale, Missale Romanum printed by Lucantonio Giunta (1521), End Page with Colophon. Image via Creative Commons.

Florence, Biblioteca Nazionale, Missale Romanum printed by Lucantonio Giunta (1521), End Page with Colophon. Image via Creative Commons.

4) From a Missale Nouum of 21 April 1537 for the (Hungarian) Order of Saint Paul the First Hermit in Quarto Format

From a copy in Budapest, National Széchényi Library, I. II, 66:

Budapest, National Széchényi Library, I. II, 66, Title-page. Missal (1537). Image Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.

Budapest, National Széchényi Library, I. II, 66, Title-page. Missal (1537). Image Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.

This edition is Weale and Bohatta (1928), no. 1814 (p. 308); Rivoli (1894), no. 247 (p. 296).

*****

In sum, the Wagner Missal Leaf belongs to a dispersed copy of Guinta’s Missal of 1509 for Carmelite Use.

We offer more information about the leaf and its edition in this 12-page illustrated booklet prepared by our Font and Layout Designer.  Free to download.  Enjoy!

  • Leslie J. French, “A Detached Printed Leaf containing Part of The Mass for Holy Saturday for Carmelite Use: A Process of Discovery” (Princeton: Research Group on Manuscript Evidence, 2020), available here.

We thank the owner for permission to examine the material and to present it here.  We thank Leslie French for his research and booklet.

*****

Camelite Booklet Cover Page with New Front Cover with border

Camelite Booklet Cover Page with New Front Cover with border

Suggestions for Further Reading

More information about this printer, his Missals, and their Music:

  • Mary Kay Duggan, Italian Music Incunabula: Printers and Type (Berkeley, etc.: University of California Press, 1992)
  • Lesley T. Stone, From Chapel to Chamber: Liturgy and Devotion in Lucantonio Giunta’s Missale romanum, 1508 (M. A. dissertation, Department of Art and Art History, University of South Florida, 2005), examining the edition of 3 October 1508 (especially its woodcuts),
    online via https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1877&context=etd = University of South Florida Scholar Commons
  • Leslie J. French, “A Detached Printed Leaf containing Part of The Mass for Holy Saturday for Carmelite Use: A Process of Discovery” (Princeton: Research Group on Manuscript Evidence, 2020), freely available for download here.

*****

Do you know of other leaves from this Missal? Do you have information about the provenance of this copy?

Please let us know.

Add your Comments here, Contact Us, and visit our Facebook Page.
Follow our blog on blog for further research on dispersed books, and watch its Contents List.

J. S. Wagner Collection, Single Leaf from a Latin Missal containing part of the Mass for Holy Saturday for use in a Carmelite Monastery, printed in 1509 Lucantonio Giunta in Venice. Recto, detail. Reproduced by Permission.

J. S. Wagner Collection, Single Leaf from a Latin Missal containing part of the Mass for Holy Saturday for use in a Carmelite Monastery, printed in 1509 by Lucantonio Giunta in Venice. Recto, detail. Reproduced by Permission.

*****

Tags: Carmelite Missal of 1509, Dominican Order, Duc de Rivoli's Missels, Early Printing, Early Printing in Venice, history of printing, Holy Saturday, J.S. Wagner Collection, latin Missal, Lucantonio Giunta, Roman Missal, Weale and Bohatta
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Keeping Up: Updates for Spring 2020

April 4, 2020 in Abstracts of Conference Papers, Announcements, Bembino, Business Meeting, Conference, Conference Announcement, ICMS, Index of Medieval Art, International Congress on Medieval Studies, Kalamazoo, Manuscript Studies, Princeton University, Societas Magica

Keeping Up:

Updates for Spring 2020

Baltimore, The Walters Art Museum, MS W.782, folio 15r. Van Alphen Hours. Dutch Book of Hours made for a female patron in the mid 15th century. Opening page of the Hours of the Virgin: "Here du salste opdoen mine lippen". Image via Creative Commons. At the bottom of the bordered page, an elegantly dressed woman sits before a shiny bowl- or mirror-like object, in order, perhaps, to perform skrying or to lure a unicorn.

Baltimore, The Walters Art Museum, MS W.782, folio 15r. Van Alphen Hours. Scrying, Perchance? Image via Creative Commons.

This Spring, the cancellation of 2 of our major events planned for this year, and intended to take place in mid-March and mid-May, produces perforce a redirection of energies and activities.  Call it “Regrouping”.

We report updates.

1.  Our 2020 Spring Symposium:  “From Cover to Cover”

Planned for 13–14 March at Princeton University
But Cancelled or Postponed

As preparations were proceeding apace, the event was cancelled by Princeton University — along with other events — on 9 March, in response to growing concerns for the spread of COVID-19 on a global scale.  Although at short notice, it was possible swiftly to cancel reservations for the venue, catering, and other services before participants had begun their journeys.

What We Planned

  • 2020 Spring Symposium: Save the Date
2020 Symposium "From Cover to Cover" Poster 2

2020 Symposium Poster 2

We aimed to consider, “From Cover to Cover”, activities dedicated to manuscripts, early printed materials, and beyond, from collecting and cataloguing to deciphering and beholding.  We prepared to gather specialists, teachers, students, and others engaged or interested in activities such as “Collecting, Curating, Conserving, Cataloguing, Deciphering, Reading, Reconsidering, Editing, Teaching, Displaying, Accessing, Beholding, and More”.

The focus was designed to center primarily upon medieval and early modern materials, both Western and non-Western.  The presentations would include reports of discoveries, work-in-progress, cumulative research, and collaborative projects by specialists from multiple centers, including independent scholars and younger scholars.

Included were workshops over original materials in manuscript and early print, a demonstration of materials and processes for medieval scripts, discussions about databases devoted to manuscripts and rare books, and sessions addressing multiple activities approaching medieval, early modern, and other textual resources.  Subjects would span a wide range geographically and chronologically, and take care to attend to the material and bibiographical evidence.

What We Can Do

There are requests for rescheduling the Symposium, or parts thereof, when conditions might permit.

Meanwhile, we can publish the Symposium Booklet.  At the time of cancellation, it had come close to completion for printing and distributing at the event and then afterward, as is our custom.  For example:

  • 2019 Anniversary Symposium on “The Roads Taken”
  • 2016 Symposium on ‘Words & Deeds”
  • 2014 Symposium on “Recollections of the Past”
  • 2013 Symposium on “Identity & Authenticity”

For all these and our other Booklets (see our Publications), the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence is the nonprofit publisher and distributor.  The design and layout conform with our Style Manifesto and employ our own digital font Bembino .

Florence, Galleria degli Uffizi, Anonymous, Still Life of an Illuminated Book, German School, 15th century. Oil on Wood. Opened book with fanned pages. Image via Wikimedia, Public Domain.

Florence, Galleria degli Uffizi, Anonymous, Still Life of an Illuminated Book, German School, 15th century. Image via Wikimedia, Public Domain.

The new 44-page Symposium Booklet contains the 2020 Symposium Program, Abstracts of the Papers and Masterclasses, and a set of accompanying Illustrations (some published for the first time).  The Booklet includes corrections and revisions offered by several of the authors as we completed the layout and editing, after the cancellation of the event.

It is the longest so far of all our Symposium Booklets. The 2019 Booklet for “The Roads Taken” has 28 pages, and the 2016 Booklet for “Words & Deeds” has 24 pages.  Only the Booklet for our multi-lingual digital font Bembino is longer, at 56 pages, including all the font tables for the different styles and languages. That Booklet and the font itself (now in Version 1.6) are freely available for download and use (commercial use included).  Here:  Bembino .

Our illustrated 2020 Spring Symposium Booklet is likewise freely available for download. As with other cases, for your convenience, we make it available in 2 versions, which may suit different printing arrangements, as wished.  The versions are:

  • printable in consecutive quarto-sized pages (8 1/2″ × 11″)
    2020 Spring Symposium Booklet as Consecutive Pages
  • printable as double sheets (11″ × 17″) which can be folded into the booklet, nesting the bifolia within each other
    — a design which does not require staples for closure and perusal
    2020 Spring Symposium as a Foldable Booklet

We thank our hosts, sponsors, contributors, owners and donors of images, editor, copy-editor, and layout designer. The publication is our gift to all who aimed to participate in the event and to follow its ‘ripples’ after the accomplishment of the Symposium. We offer it as a ‘souvenir’ of what our contributors, and the spirit of generous participation, intended for the event.

While we may explore plans to reschedule the event, or its parts, in some way or ways, the Booklet stands as a place-holder, and as a vivid glimpse of what could be and, indeed, can be. The gathering energy and enthusiasm for the event, as the weeks and days advanced toward it, remain a testimony to the constructive collective spirit which inspired it.

2020 Symposium "From Cover to Cover" Poster 1

2020 Symposium Poster 1

_____

With these observations, I am reminded of the Motto which I chose, years ago, for the 2-volume Illustrated Catalogue, co-published by the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence.

For Books are not absolutely dead things,
but doe contain a potencie of life in them
to be active as that soule was whose progeny they are;
nay, they do preserve as in a violl the purest efficacie and extraction
of the living intellect that bred them.

John Milton, Aeropagitica (1644)

Perhaps same as it ever was.

_____

Cover Page for Sorenson (2020 Spring Symposium Paper as Draft for Comment), with an array of illustrations and the title "Introduction to Indian Manuscripts"

Cover Page for Sorenson (2020 Spring Symposium Paper as Draft for Comment)

P. S.  Already one of our speakers, David W. Sorenson, has provided a draft version of his intended Symposium Paper for feedback. It expands the Abstract which appears in the 2020 Spring Symposium Booklet.

The paper provides “A Quick Introduction to Indian Manuscripts for the Non-Specialist”, with examples and illustrations.

With permission, we offer here his pdf.

Please contact us with your questions or suggestions.  (Contact details below.)

*****

2.  Our Activities at the 55th International Congress on Medieval Studies

Planned for 7–10 May at Kalamazoo
But Cancelled or Postponed

On 17 March, this year’s International Congress on Medieval Studies in May was cancelled, and with it all the activities which we were to sponsor and co-sponsor there, including Sessions and other meetings.  The Congress organizers declared that “We invite the organizers of sponsored . . . sessions approved for the 2020 Congress to re-propose them for the 2021 congress.  If proposed, they will be approved automatically”.

Unlike some organizations, who have declared this intention to re-present for the 2121 Congress, we do not know automatically if such a course would be appropriate for us, or for each and every one of our sessions.  Time will tell.

2019 Anniversary Reception Invitation. set in RGME digital font Bembino.

2019 Anniversary Reception Invitation.

Poster for our Session co-sponsored with the Societas Magica on "Celtic Magic Texts", organized by Phillip A. Bernhardt-House and sponsored by both the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence amd the Societas Magica at the 2018 International Congress on Medieval Studies. Poster set in RGME Bembino.

2018 Poster

The cancellation came in time before all reservations for the journey had been set into place.  Because our customary year-long preparations for the Congress had not reached the last weeks of its approach, we had not yet prepared the customary Posters for our Sessions or the Invitations to the Reception and Business Meeting, nor had the Agenda for that Meeting yet been drawn up.  Posters for previous Congresses show the standards.

However, we did in place have a series of posts on our website (You Are Here) announcing the plans for our 2020 Congress Activities, in stages with updates:

  • the Call for Papers for our approved Sessions, with descriptions of their aims and with selected Images (poster-worthy when the time would come) to exemplify their subjects and scope
  • the 2020 Congress Program, with the authors and titles of the selected Papers for each Session — including a permitted extra Session, given the strength of the responses to the Call, for our proposed Session “Seal the Real”
  • the 2020 Congress Program Announced, with the times and rooms assigned by the Congress Committee for our Program Activities, and with some of the Abstracts for the Papers.

In keeping with custom, we had begun, one by one (starting with the New Year), to post the Abstracts, as a foretaste for the presentations and discussions to come.

The cancellation of the Congress brought these stages to a halt, for a while, during which time we turned to other tasks — including the on-going follow-up from the cancellation or postponement of our Spring Symposium, and the completion of its Booklet.

Baltimore, The Walters Art Museum, MS W.782, folio 15r. Van Alphen Hours. Dutch Book of Hours made for a female patron in the mid 15th century. Opening page of the Hours of the Virgin: "Here du salste opdoen mine lippen". Image via Creative Commons. At the bottom of the bordered page, an elegantly dressed woman sits before a shiny bowl- or mirror-like object, in order, perhaps, to perform skrying or to lure a unicorn.

Baltimore, The Walters Art Museum, MS W.782, folio 15r. Van Alphen Hours. mage via Creative Commons.

What We Planned

  • 2020 International Congress on Medieval Studies Program Announced

We prepared for 5 Sessions with Papers, an Open Business Meeting, and a Reception.

These resemble the numbers and sorts of our activities in recent years at the Annual Congress.  For example:

  • 2019 Congress
  • 2018 Congress
  • 2017 Congress
  • 2016 Congress
  • 2015 Congress

This year’s plans also involved our 2 co-sponsors in recent years for Sessions and/or Receptions.

A.  Sessions

We prepared for 5 Sessions this year.

3 Sessions Sponsored by the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence

1–2. Seal the Real: Documentary Records, Seals & Authentications

organized by Mildred Budny

Part I.  Signed & Sealed
Part II.  × Marks the Spot

3. Prologues in Medieval Texts of Magic, Astrology, and Prophecy

organized by Vajra Regan

Logo of the Societas Magica, reproduced by permission

Logo of the Societas Magica

2 Sessions Co-Sponsored with the Societas Magica
in the 16th year of this collaboration

4–5. Revealing the Unknown

organized by Sanne de Laat and László Sándor Chardonnens

Part I.  Scryers and Scrying in the Middle Ages and Early Modern Period
Part II.   Sortilège, Bibliomancy, and Divination

B.  2020 Open Business Meeting of the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence

1-Page Agendas customarily provided at the time.  This year we send it out already.  (See below.)

C.  Reception co-sponsored with the Index of Medieval Art at Princeton University
in the 3rd year of this collaboration

_____

P. S.  Part of Mildred Budny’s on-going research on the subject of seals and signatures, which would have figured in her Response to Session II of our “Seals” Sessions, now appears on our blog, Manuscript Studies, presenting Preston Take 2.  (See the Contents List for the blog, as more discoveries await publication.)

_____

P. P. S.  It is not lost on us that some of our planned Sessions for 2020 were to consider aspects of the history of divinatory skills across time and place.  But when we collectively chose these, as well as other subjects, last year for our sponsored and co-sponsored Sessions this year, it was not easy to guess then that this year’s Sessions would not take place, after all, at their appointed time and place.

Adèle Kindt (1804–1884), The Fortune Teller (circa 1835). Antwerp, Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten. Image via Wikimedia Commons. A young lady, brightly lit and beautifully dressed, looks outward as an older woman, beneath a dark hood, holds a set of cards and stares at them with intent.

Adèle Kindt (1804–1884), The Fortune Teller (circa 1835). Antwerp, Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten. Image via Wikimedia Commons.

What We Can Do

A.  Abstracts for the 2020 Congress Papers

Detail of opened book with schematic text. Photography © Mildred BudnyOur custom is to post on our website the Abstracts for the Papers of our Sessions at the Congress.  (See our Abstracts for Congress Papers.)  This year is no different.

In the winter of 2019–2020, we had begun to post the 2020 Abstracts, one by one, as is our custom.  They are linked to our announced Program: 2020 Congress Program Announced. The Abstracts function as a foretaste of the ‘Menu’ of the Sessions, and can provide a record of their subjects, aims, and scope of the presentations.

Already in earlier years (as with the 2016 Congress and the 2014 Congress), as a sign of appreciation, we chose to adopt the tradition of posting Abstracts even when a contributor was unable to travel to the Congress and to present the paper in person.  The publication of such Abstracts states that, although proposed, accepted, and scheduled within the Session and Congress Program, the paper was not, in the event, presented.

Before March 2020, only once before, in more than 30 years of activities in many centers in the United States and elsewhere (see our Events and Congress Activities), has the Research Group had to cancel an event itself.  That case was only 1 Session among 7 sponsored and co-sponsored Sessions at the 48th International Congress on Medieval Studies in May 2013.

This year, after the cancellation of both our 2020 Spring Symposium (see above) and the 2020 Congress, we first turned to completing the Symposium Booklet, and then to completing the posting of the 2020 Abstracts.

Those tasks are now accomplished.  For these Congress Abstracts, see

  • 2020 Congress Program Announced and Abstracts of Congress Papers Listed by Year.

For the Symposium Booklet, see

  • 2020 Spring Symposium: Save the Date

Thus we honor the intentions of our participants and their readiness to contribute to our events.

Next, we might turn to contemplating further activities, and perhaps rescheduling some of these ones.

[Update:  In the summer and autumn of 2020, we advance with planning to hold the same Sessions, albeit with a few changes, at the 2021 Congress.  See the 2021 Congress Program in Progress.]

B.  Agenda for the 2020 Business Meeting

Meeting to be rescheduled:  Time and Place to be Determined

The Annual Agendas for our Open Business Meetings, customarily held at the International Congress on Medieval Studies, remain available for consultation.

  • 2019 Agenda
  • 2018 Agenda
  • 2017 Agenda
  • 2016 Agenda
  • 2015 Agenda

These 1-page statements serve as concise Reports for our Activities, Plans, and Desiderata.  After the Meetings, the Abstracts are available for download on our website.  Some of them remain among the most popular downloads here.

Normally, the Agenda is presented at the Meeting.  This year, we send it out ahead of time.  It incorporates the updates of Spring 2020 and their constructive measures.

  • 2020 Agenda

It is not yet clear when this year’s Meeting, which had to be postponed, will take place.  Under present circumstances, we may contemplate a virtual meeting, say via online conferencing in some form.

Please let us know if you wish to participate in the Meeting.  We invite your comments, questions, and suggestions.  (See below.)

C. More

We thank all our contributors to the 2020 events.  The continuing momentum for such activities is a tribute to you all.

Please Contact Us with your questions and suggestions, for example to items on our  2020 Agenda.

For updates, please visit this site, our News & Views, and our Facebook Page .

For our nonprofit educational mission, with tax-exempt status, your donations in funds and/or in kind (expertise, materials, time) are welcome. Join us!

Tags: 'Manuscript Studies' Blog, 2020 Congress, 2020 Symposium, Bembino, Bembino Digital Font, Business Meeting, Early Printing, History of Documents, Manuscript studies, Medieval Studies, Seals and Signatures, Style Manifesto
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2020 Spring Symposium: Save the Date

February 15, 2020 in Announcements, Conference, Conference Announcement, Events, Index of Medieval Art, Princeton University, Reception, Uncategorized

New York, Grolier Club, \*434.14\Aug\1470\Folio. Flavius Josephus, De antiquitate Judiaca and De bello Judaico, translated by Rufinus Aquileinensis, printed in Augsburg on paper by Johannn Schüsseler in 2 Parts, dated respectively 28 June 1470 and 23 August 1470, and bound together with a manuscript copy dated 1462 of Eusebius Caesariensis, Historia ecclesiastica.

New York, Grolier Club, *434.14Aug1470Folio.

“From Cover to Cover”

Activities Devoted to Manuscripts, Early Printed Books & Beyond
From Collecting & Cataloguing to Deciphering & Beholding

2020  Spring Symposium
of the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence

Princeton University
Friday & Saturday 13–14 March 2020

 

Update 5 April 2020

The Symposium Booklet, with illustrations and Abstracts of Papers, is now published and available for download.
See Keeping Up: Updates for Spring 2020.

The Abstract of one paper in the 2020 Symposium Booklet has been expanded to a Draft Paper, available for Feedback:

  • “A Quick Introduction to Indian Manuscripts for the Non-Specialist”, with examples and illustrations,
    downloadable here.

Update 9 March 2020

This event is now cancelled, as Princeton University and other institutions respond to current health concerns, and take precautions regarding travel and meetings of various kinds in person.
The Symposium might be rescheduled, conditions permitting.  

Meanwhile, the Research Group aims to complete the Symposium Booklet and distribute it to contributors, registrants, and others, as a souvenir of our speakers’ good intentions.  Already, as a sign of appreciation, we have adopted the custom of posting on our website the abstracts of contributors who become unable to attend to present in person (as with the 2018 Congress, among others).

This time, under wider — even global — circumstances affecting the ensemble as a whole, we wish to show appreciation for the remarkable enthusiasm and dedication for the collaborative event demonstrated by our hosts, sponsors, speakers, moderators, and others.  This knowledge is something to remember with satisfaction, gratitude, and praise.

The publication could, perhaps, give a token to show for our shared efforts, and to demonstrate something of the spirit of dedication and focus which prepared to assemble for the event itself.

This aim might help to ease some of the disappointment over cancellation, while the cancellation itself might ease some uncertainties about travel at present.

P. S.  Only once before, in more than 30 years of activities in many centers in the United States and elsewhere (see our Events and Congress Activities}, has the Research Group had to cancel an event.  It, however, was only 1 Session among 7 sponsored and co-sponsored Sessions at the 48th International Congress on Medieval Studies in May 2013, when the Session organizer and 2 presenters were unable to travel to the Congress.  We honored their intentions to contribute by continuing to record their abstracts and the statement of purpose of the Session on this  website.

Similar solidarity pertains to our record of this intended 2020 Spring Symposium.  A summary of this Update appears in its own post.

Here we preserve the description of the event in the updated version just before the decision to cancel this Symposium, among many gatherings at Princeton University and elsewhere at the beginning of the week in which the Symposium was planned to take place.

*****

What We Planned

Saint Andrew. Oil on Canvas. Artus Wollfort (1581–1641). Private Collection, Public Domain. Via Wikipedia Commons.

Saint Andrew. Oil on Canvas. Artus Wollfort (1581–1641). Private Collection, Public Domain. Via Wikipedia Commons.

We announce the next Symposium of the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence, to be held at Princeton University on Friday afternoon and Saturday, 13–14 March 2020. This event follows from, and builds upon, our earlier events, including our 2019 Anniversary Symposium, also held at Princeton University.

Our subject this time: “From Cover to Cover”.   Some say, “That Covers It”.  (We might well agree.)

Such activities include Collecting, Curating, Conserving, Cataloguing, Deciphering, Editing, Reading, Teaching, Translating, Displaying, Accessing, Beholding, Reconsidering, and More.  Cover to Cover.

Naturally, these activities need not necessarily occur in that order, and often they appear in combination.

In addition we consider activities dedicated to manuscripts, early printed books, and beyond, in terms (as is our custom) of both media and chronology.  As often, we consider medieval manuscripts and early printed books from Western Europe, but also— as usual — we examine materials from other cultures, languages, and time-frames.

This recognition of the processes (necessarily integrated) infuses the collection of presentations and conversations which our Symposium aims to gather.  In a nutshell:  Food for Thought, Refreshments included.

For which ability, we have Sponsors, Hosts, Trustees, Associates, Contributors, and Volunteers heartily to thank.

Sponsors

Research Group on Manuscript Evidence

Department of Art & Archaeology, Princeton University

The Index of Medieval Art at Princeton University

Program in Medieval Studies, Princeton University

James Marrow and Emily Rose

Barbara A. Shailor

Celia Chazelle

The Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies

The Bibliographical Society of America

Vassar College

On the Road

Poster 1 for 2019 Anniversary Symposium, with symposium information with images of manuscript and early printed pages..

Poster 1 for 2019 Symposium

Poster 2 for 219 Anniversary Symposium, with symposium information and 2 images of cropped initials, from 12th-century Latin manuscripts, from the Princeton University Art Museum.

Poster 2 for 2019 Symposium

Following upon, and building upon, the success of our Anniversary Symposium last year, we prepare the 2020 Spring Symposium.  Its date is now set, as is the Schedule.  (See below.)

For our 2019 Anniversary Symposium, see its Report and its freely downloadable 2019 Anniversary Symposium Booklet.  Like the Booklet, the 2 Posters (seen here) illustrate examples of manuscripts (Western and non-Western) showcased in the Symposium, its papers, and its workshops.

All these publications, as customary, are set in our very own copyright multilingual font Bembino , and designed and laid out according with our Style Manifesto.  This font is freely available through our website, for your use – whether individual, nonprofit, or commercial.

Both the font, and its descriptive Booklet, are downloadable here .  We have also prepared a booklet showing its abilities in setting multiple languages, both Western and non-Western.  See Multi-Lingual Bembino . Plus our Style Manifesto .

Cover Story

Now we turn to our 2020 Spring Symposium.  Please register (details below).

Gladly we list the Sponsors, Speakers, and Moderators.

Speakers and Moderators (in alphabetical order)

Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Libraries, Lawrence J. Schoenberg Collection, MS LJS 101, folio 1v. Opening of Boethius's translation of Aristotle's "Peri erimenias" within a collection of secular and classical texts, France, possibly at the Abbey of Fleury (Saint-Benoît-sur-Loire), 9th–11th centuries. Photograph courtesy OPenn.

Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Libraries, Lawrence J. Schoenberg Collection, MS LJS 101, folio 1v. Photograph courtesy OPenn.

Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, MS latin 190, folio 1r. Opening page of the Commentarii notarum tironiarum, with an enlarged initial decorated with interlace and foliate ornament. Image via gallica.bnf.fr.

Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, MS latin 190, folio 1r. Photograph via gallica.bnf.fr.

Christine E. Bachmann (Art History Department, University of Delaware and Graduate Student Fellow 2019–2020, Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies, University of Pennsylvania)

Mildred Budny (Director, Research Group on Manuscript Evidence, Princeton)

Raymond Clemens (Curator, Early Books and Manuscripts, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University, New Haven)

Meghan Constantinou (Librarian, The Grolier Club, New York, New York)

Barbara Williams Ellertson (Books as Symbols in Renaissance Art and Research Group on Manuscript Evidence)

Lynley Anne Herbert (Curator of Manuscripts and Rare Books, The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, Maryland)

Carson Koepke (Program in Medieval Studies, Yale University)

Laura Light (Director and Senior Specialist, Text Manuscripts, Les Enluminures)

John T. McQuillen (Associate Curator, Printed Books & Bindings, The Morgan Library & Museum, New York, New York)

Bernard Maisner (Bernard Maisner and Bernard Maisner, Master Calligrapher)

New York, Morgan Library & Museum, PML 7, folio P2r. Blockbook of Apocalypsis Sancti Johannis, printed in Germany circa 1468. Revelation 15:1, with hand-colored illustration.

New York, Morgan Library & Museum, PML 7, folio P2r. Blockbook of Apocalypsis Sancti Johannis, printed in Germany circa 1468. Revelation 15:1, with hand-colored illustration.

Sabrina Minuzzi (Researcher in Early Modern History, Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellow, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice)

Ronald D. Patkus (Associate Director of the Libraries for Special Collections and Vassar Head of Special Collections, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, New York)

Pamela Patton (Director, Index of Medieval Art at Princeton University)

Lynn Ransom (Curator of Programs, The Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies, University of Pennsylvania Libraries)

Helmut Reimitz (Professor of History and Director, Program in Medieval Studies, Princeton University)

Jessica L. Savage (Art History Specialist, Index of Medieval Art)

Barbara A. Shailor (Department of Classics, Yale University, and President, Bibliographical Society of America)

       David W. Sorenson (Independent, Quincy, Massachusetts)

Kelly Tuttle (Project Cataloger, Manuscripts of the Muslim World, University of Pennsylvania Libraries)

Eric White (Curator of Rare Books and Acting Curator of Manuscripts, Special Collections, Firestone Library, Princeton University)

Princeton University Library, Rare Books and Special Collections, William H. Scheide Library, 53.8. Latin Bible in double columns of 49 lines, printed in Strasbourg by Johann Mentelin, not after 1460 CE.

Princeton University Library, Rare Books and Special Collections, William H. Scheide Library, 53.8. Latin Bible (printed in Strasbourg by Johann Mentelin, not after 1460 CE.) Photograph courtesy Princeton University Library, Rare Books and Special Collections.

The Aim

In a nutshell.

2020 Spring Symposium Announcement, describing the scope of the event, listing the Sponsors, and citing the link to the registration form.

The Plan

Day 1

Friday 13 March: Classes, Workshops, Discussion, and a Reception

1) 12:00–1:00, 12:00–1:30, or 12:00–2:00pm (By Invitation)
Seminar Room of the Index of Medieval Art

“Comparing Notes about Databases:  Past, Present & Futures”
An Informal Discussion

2–3) 1:00–2:45 pm or 3:00–4:45 pm
Classes on Site at Firestone Library (Registration Required and Space Limited)

For registration for these classes and the symposium, see below.

“Material Evidence: A Workshop with 15th-Century Manuscripts and Incunabules”

Classes given (twice) by Eric White, Curator of Rare Books, Princeton University Library, in the Large Classroom of Floor C (Rare Books and Special Collections) at Firestone Library

Please gather in the Lobby at the entrance to Firestone Library, for special escorted access to Floor C, where there are lockable lockers (free) for your coats and cases, before entry to Special Collections.

2) Class 1:  Meet at 1:00 for 1:15–2:45 pm

3) Class 2 (repeated):  Meet at 3:00 for 3:15–4:45 pm

or

4) Session 3:00–5:00 pm
106 McCormick Hall

“Materials, Processes & Products:  A Workshop”

This workshop offers presentations by Bernard Maisner on “The Materials and Methods of Medieval & Renaissance Manuscript Gold-Illumination Techniques” and by David W. Sorenson on “An Introduction to Indian Manuscripts for the Non-Specialist”, along with curated displays of original materials in private collections and demonstrations of results from their close study.

5) Reception

5:00–7:00 pm
Lobby outside 106 McCormick Hall

Florence, Galleria degli Uffizi, Anonymous, Still Life, German school of the XVI century, circa 1510, oil on wood, 70.2 × 65 cm. Opened book with fanned leaves showing pages of text and music set out in double columns and adorned with decorated initials and illustrations. Image via Wikimedia, public domain.

Florence, Galleria degli Uffizi, Anonymous, Still Life of an Illuminated Book, German school of the XVI century, circa 1510. Opened book with fanned leaves. Image via Wikimedia, public domain.

Day 2

Saturday 14 March:  Sessions, Refreshments, and Reception

106 McCormick Hall and its Lobby

6) 10:00 am – 5:30 pm

Sessions, Coffee Breaks, Lunch, and Discussion

7) Reception (5:30–7:00 pm)

2020 Symposium "From Cover to Cover" Poster 2

2020 Symposium Poster 2

*****

The Schedule

The Schedule is available here.

*****

Registration

Please register for the Symposium.  We offer the Registration form as a downloadable pdf .

*****

Maps and Directions

Here.

*****

Please Contact us with questions and suggestions.

Watch this space and visit our FaceBook Page for updates.

We invite you to donate to our nonprofit educational mission. Donations may be tax-deductible. We welcome donations in funds and in kind: Contributions and Donations .

Please join us at the symposium, open to all.  You can register here .

*****

Tags: Early Printing, manuscript fragments, Manuscript Illumination, Manuscript studies, Medieval Manuscript Fragments, Medieval Studies, Medieval Writing Materials, Spring Symposium
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“Gutenberg and After” at Princeton University Library

December 11, 2019 in Book & Exhibition Reviews, Princeton University, Uncategorized

Guided Tours 2019

Gutenberg & Friends

Among the events for our 2019 Anniversary Year (see below), the Research Group enjoys a set of Guided Tours by our Associate Eric White, Curator of Rare Books in Special Collections of Princeton University Libraries.  He guided us through his co-curated Exhibition at Princeton University Library on Gutenberg and After:  Europe’s First Printers 1450-1470 (12 September 2019 – 15 December 2019).

At the Exhibition of "Gutenberg and After" at Princeton University in 2019, the group listens to Eric White's tour..

The Group Listens. Photograph by Mildred Budny.

These tours, which included members of the Princeton Bibliophiles and Book Collectors (a subgroup of the Friends of the Princeton University Libraries), took place on Monday, 18 November, and Friday 13 December.  In appreciation, we took Eric for refreshments afterward nearby.

Thus, it was possible not only to ask questions during the tour itself, but also to reflect further in conversations emerging from those direct, expertly guided encounters with the materials themselves.

At the Exhibition of "Gutenberg and After" at Princeton University in 2019, the Co-Curator Eric White stands before the Scheide Gutenberg Bible displayed at the opening of the Book of I Kings.

Eric White Explains the Choice for Display of the Opening of I Kings in the Gutenberg Bible of 1455 (Scheide Library copy). Photograph by Mildred Budny.

 

Armchair Exhibition

More information about the exhibition, its background, and its selected exhibits, is presented online. Enjoy!

  • Rare Collections
  • About the Exhibition

Close Up & Personal

Accompanying the exhibition is an online series of 7 short, thematic essays focusing upon selected aspects of the materials and their evidence.

1.  Authenticity

Princeton University Library. "La Grant Danse Macabre" (Lyons, 1499), one of two surviving copies. It contains the earliest depiction of a printing shop, albeit accompanied by animated cadavers.

Princeton University Library. “La Grant Danse Macabre” (Lyons, 1499), one of two surviving copies. It contains the earliest depiction of a printing shop, albeit accompanied by animated cadavers.

2.  Indulgences

Princeton University Library, Special Collections. Printed Cyprus Indulgence, 31 Lines. (Mainz: Johann Gutenberg, 1454).

Princeton University Library, Special Collections. Printed Cyprus Indulgence, 31 Lines. (Mainz: Johann Gutenberg, 1454).

3. Illumination

Princeton University Library, Scheide Library. Gutenberg Bible of 1455, Opening Page of I Kings.

Princeton University Library, Scheide Library. Gutenberg Bible of 1455. Opening Page of I Kings.

4. Uniqueness

THURCORUM (Mainz: Gutenberg, late 1456), opening page.

Princeton University Library, Scheide Library. CALIXTUS III, BULLA THURCORUM (Mainz: Gutenberg, late 1456), opening page.

5. Johann Neumeister

Princeton University Library, Scheide Library. Turrecremata, "Meditations" (Albi: Johann Neumeister, 1481).

Princeton University Library, Scheide Library. Turrecremata, “Meditations” (Albi: Johann Neumeister, 1481).

6. Fragments

Princeton University Library, Scheide Library. Donatus, "Ars minor" on vellum (Mainz: almost certainly Johann Gutenberg and Johann Fust, perhaps ca. 1453-54), fragment.

Princeton University Library, Scheide Library. Donatus, “Ars minor” on vellum (Mainz: almost certainly Johann Gutenberg and Johann Fust, perhaps ca. 1453-54), fragment.

7. Survivals

Princeton University Library, Scheide Library. Mainz Psalter on vellum (Mainz: Johann Fust and Peter Schoeffer, 14 August 1457), folio 98.

Princeton University Library, Scheide Library. Mainz Psalter on vellum (Mainz: Johann Fust and Peter Schoeffer, 14 August 1457), folio 98.

Round-Up

These articles are stored here:

Inside Milberg Gallery “Gutenberg and After” .

An online exhibition displays detailed views: here .  There, exploration is possible among the options of “Printer”, “Publisher”, “Subject”, “Language”.  For example, seaching by “Printer” and selecting Gutenberg, Johann yields closer views and detailed descriptions of 7 exhibited items, with their digital facsimiles.  Thus it is possible virtually to turn their pages, from

1.  The 2-volume Gutenberg Bible of circa 1455 from Mainz in the Scheide Collection, with its original Erfurt binding and illuminations

to

7.  A reused leaf from a Gutenberg Bible in the Princeton University Library, in its converted state as a vellum binding cover for a 1666 lawbook — seen here at the left in the exhibtion.

Princeton University Library. Gutenberg Bible Leaves Recycled as Binding Materials. Photograph by Mildred Budny.

Princeton University Library. Gutenberg Bible Leaves Recycled as Binding Materials. Photograph by Mildred Budny.

Previews

The Cover Page for the 2019 Anniversary Symposium Booklet displays the name and logo of the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence, the title and subtitle of the Symposium, the List of Sponsors, and a description of the scope and aims of the Symposium. Like the rest of the Booklet, the Cover Page is set in RGME Bembino, the copyright multilingual font of the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence.

2019 Symposium Booklet, Cover Page

2016 Symposium Program Booklet, Cover Page, with RGME logo, Symposium title, list of sponsors, and description.

2016 Symposium Program Booklet, Cover Page.

Eric White presented some of the discoveries which appear in the exhibition earlier for 2 of our Research Group Symposia at Princeton University, including our Symposium in this Anniversary Year.

  • Words and Deeds (2016)
  • The Roads Taken (2019)

The booklets for these Symposia (downloadable through those links) include the abstracts of Eric’s papers and some accompanying images — which present materials included in the current exhibition.  His presentations and workshops for those events gave helpful preparation for viewing the exhibition and for learning more from Eric’s guided tours.

We thank him for teaching us more about these challenging, intriguing, and ground-breaking materials in the history of books.  We look forward to learning more.

*****

Preparations are on course for a printed catalogue of the exhibition.  More to discover!

At the Exhibition of "Gutenberg and After" at Princeton University in 2019, the Co-Curator Eric White answers questions.

Eric Answers Questions. Photograph by Mildred Budny.

*****

Anniversary Celebrations

These events in Princeton form part of our activities during 2019, a landmark Anniversary Year for the Research Group on Manuscript [and Other] Evidence.  They include:

  • Specially Guided Tours for the RGME at the the Princeton University Exhibition on Gutenberg and After (November and December)
  • Permanent Panel at the Midwest Duality and Manuscript Evidence at the Midwest Modern Language Association 2019 Convention (November)
  • 2019 International Congress on Medieval Studies (May)
  • 2019 Anniversary Symposium on “The Roads Taken” (April)

Watch This Space

Building upon the momentum of events for our Anniversary Year, we plan more events for 2020. Among them are the activities for the 2020 International Congress on Medieval Studies in May.

Also a Symposium at Princeton University in the Spring. Perhaps with more news about the background and foreground of the Gutenberg and Beyond Exhibition?  Hopeful.

Join Us

Please Contact Us with your questions and suggestions.

For updates, please visit this site, our News & Views, and our Facebook Page .

For our nonprofit educational mission, with tax-exempt status, your donations in funds and in kind (expertise, materials, time) are welcome.

Join us!

 

Tags: Early Printed Fragments reused in Bindings, Early Printing, Eric White, Fragments, Gutenberg Bible, Gutenberg Press, Indulgences, Johannes Gutenberg, Milberg Gallery
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2019 Anniversary Symposium Report: The Roads Taken

July 28, 2019 in Abstracts of Conference Papers, Anniversary, Announcements, Bembino, Conference, Index of Medieval Art, Manuscript Studies, Princeton University, Reception, Reports

The Roads Taken, Or, The Obstacle Course

Challenges & Opportunities for
Assessing the Origins, Travels & Arrivals
of Manuscripts & Early Printed Materials

2019 Anniversary Symposium
of the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence

Princeton University
Friday 26 & Saturday 27 April 2019

Co-Sponsored by The Bibliographical Society of America

Rejoined Pieces of a Leaf from a Book of Hours. Private Collection, reproduced by permission.

Rejoined Pieces of a Leaf from a Book of Hours. Private Collection.

Sponsors

Department of Art & Archaeology, Princeton University

The Index of Medieval Art at Princeton University

James Marrow and Emily Rose

Celia Chazelle

Barbara A. Shailor

The Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies

Vassar College

The Plan

In 2019 the Research Group on Manuscript [and Other] Evidence celebrates 20 years as a nonprofit educational corporation based in Princeton, and 30 years as an international scholarly society founded at the Parker Library of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. Across the years, we have engaged in multiple events in many places, over multiple manuscripts and other original sources, and on a broad range of subjects. We celebrate our friends, colleagues, hosts, donors, volunteers, and subjects of study.

As part of these celebrations, our Anniversary Symposium took place at Princeton University, host of many of our events over the years, as remembered here.  Sponsorship for this Symposium included Sponsors from earlier years, as well as new sponsorship by The Bibliographical Society of America and by Vassar College .

The Cover Page for the 2019 Anniversary Symposium Booklet displays the name and logo of the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence, the title and subtitle of the Symposium, the List of Sponsors, and a description of the scope and aims of the Symposium. Like the rest of the Booklet, the Cover Page is set in RGME Bembino, the copyright multilingual font of the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence.

2019 Anniversary Symposium Booklet Cover Page

Read the rest of this entry →

Tags: Anniversary Symposium, Early Printing, manuscript fragments
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2019 Anniversary Symposium: The Roads Taken

March 29, 2019 in Anniversary, Announcements, Conference, Conference Announcement, Manuscript Studies

The Roads Taken, Or, The Obstacle Course

Challenges and Opportunities for
Assessing the Origins, Travels, and Arrivals
of Manuscripts and Early Printed Materials

2019 Anniversary Symposium
of the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence

Princeton University
Friday 26 and Saturday 27 April 2019

Co-Sponsored by The Bibliographical Society of America

Rejoined Pieces of a Leaf from a Book of Hours. Private Collection, reproduced by permission.

Rejoined Pieces of a Leaf from a Book of Hours. Private Collection.

Sponsors

Department of Art & Archaeology, Princeton University

The Index of Medieval Art at Princeton University

James Marrow and Emily Rose

Celia Chazelle

Barbara A. Shailor

The Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies

The Plan

In 2019 the Research Group on Manuscript [and Other] Evidence celebrates 20 years as a nonprofit educational corporation based in Princeton, and 30 years as an international scholarly society founded at the Parker Library of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge.  Across the years, we have engaged in multiple events in many places, over multiple manuscripts and other original sources, and on a broad range of subjects.  We celebrate our friends, colleagues, hosts, donors, volunteers, and subjects of study.

As part of these celebrations, we announce our Anniversary Symposium at Princeton University, host of many of our events over the years.  This event takes place on Friday afternoon 26 April and Saturday 27 April 2019.

Read the rest of this entry →

Tags: Book of Hours, Early Printing, History of Paper, manuscript fragments, Manuscript Fragments Reused in Bindings, Manuscript studies, Medieval Writing Materials
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2016 Symposium on ‘Words & Deeds’ Report

June 9, 2016 in Abstracts of Conference Papers, Bembino, Conference, Reception, Reports

Detail of initial from Beinecke leaf from 'Otto Ege Manuscript 35'. Otto Ege Collection, The Beinecke Manuscript and Rare Book Library, Yale University. Photography by Lisa Fagin Davis. Reproduced by permission.

Otto Ege Collection, The Beinecke Manuscript and Rare Book Library, Yale University. Photograph by Lisa Fagin Davis.

‘Words & Deeds’ Symposium Report

With the smooth accomplishment of the Symposium on ‘Words & Deeds’ at Princeton University on 25–26 March 2016, it is time for the Report.

As is our custom, the Save-the-Date Announcement and the Poster(s) for the event, as well as the Program, circulated ahead of time (both in paper and online), in stages as they called for updates.  They did so, for example, as the Sponsors gathered in number, and as the event initially intended for a day’s span extended into one and one-half days, to accommodate the increasing number of Speakers, Panelists, and Sessions.

[Note:  We have now corrected the next link, for the Program Booklet.  It should work correctly.  If not, please let us know.]

The Program Booklet, containing both the Program and the Abstracts of Papers, made its debut, as is customary, on the day itself in print.  In this case, the generous donation of so many images — some of which featured in our post announcing the event — encouraged us to include a greater number and to extend across a larger number of pages than ever before for one of our Symposia.  Extraordinary.

Now we publish those materials online.  In addition, the happy completion of the Symposium calls for a description of its character, account of certain changes in plan, and a celebration of its enthusiastic dedication of expertise and collegial discourse.

Read the rest of this entry →

Tags: Amulets, Book of Hours, Christian Liturgy, Department of Art & Archaeology, Early Modern Studies, Early Printing, Fragmentology, Gutenberg Press, Hortus Deliciarum, Index of Christian Art, Indulgences, Late-Antique Theater, manuscript fragments, Manuscript studies, Mazarine MS 2013, Medieval Documents, Medieval manuscripts, Otto Ege, Otto Ege MS 14, Otto Ege MS 15, Otto Ege MS 35, Otto Ege MS 44, Saint-Denis, Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies, Wax Seals, Yale University
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