2022 Autumn Symposium on “Supports for Knowledge”
April 7, 2022 in Announcements, Conference, Conference Announcement, Manuscript Studies
2022 RGME Spring and Autumn Symposia
on “Structured Knowledge”
2 of 2: Autumn Symposium
“Supports for Knowledge”
Saturday, 15 October 2022
Online (or Hybrid)

2020 Spring Symposium Poster 2
[Posted on 5 April 2022 with updates]
In 2022, the Research Group returns to our series of Symposia (formerly held in person). The series underwent an interruption with the cancelled 2020 Spring Symposium, “From Cover to Cover”. See its record in the illustrated Program Booklet, with Abstracts of the planned presentations and workshops. Its core and its promise inspire this renewal.
This year, each Symposium in the pair is designed as a one-day event, with sessions and workshops of about 1 and 1/2 hours, giving scope for discussion. The Spring Symposium was held online by Zoom. The Autumn Symposium would be held online, but, conditions permitting, it might be hybrid, that is, partly in person, as well as online. See 2022 Spring and Autumn Symposia.
- Structures of Knowledge (Spring)
- Supports for Knowledge (Autumn)
These events, by request, flow in addition to — and partly from — our other activities during the year:

Lisbon, Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga: The mid 15th-century Saint Vincent Panels, attributed to Nuno Gonçalves. Image via Creative Commons.
1) Continuing Episodes in the online series of The Research Group Speaks (2021–)
2) Our four sponsored and co-sponsored Congress Sessions at the 57th International Congress on Medieval Studies (online) in May
- https://manuscriptevidence.org/wpme/2022-international-congress-on-medieval-studies-program
(Abstracts of the Papers are included).
© The British Library Board. Additional MS 15505
, folio 22r. Italian, early 16th century. Circular diagram with coloured drawings of nine magical seals, as a textual amulet with charms against diseases.
Structured Knowledge (Parts I and II)
The interlinked pair of Spring and Autumn Symposia examine themes of Structured Knowledge.
Some proposed presentations at these Symposia offer refreshed materials which had been planned for the cancelled 2020 Spring Symposium.
- See https://manuscriptevidence.
org/wpme/2020-spring- symposium-save-the-date, with a published Program Booklet including illustrations and Abstracts.
Part I: Spring Symposium (Saturday, 2 April 2022)
on “Structures of Knowledge”

Vassar College, Frederick Thompson Memorial Library, Entry, Ceiling and Gobelin Tapestry Series.
Part II: Autumn Symposium (Saturday, 15 October 2022)
on “Supports for Knowledge”
Note: If you wish to register for the Symposium, please contact director@manuscriptevidence.org.

Private Collection, Book of Hours, Decorated Initial and Stub from Despoiled Leaf. Photography Mildred Budny.
Sessions under consideration include approaches to databases and library catalogs; specific case studies and projects; issues relating to reproductions and display, research and teaching, and more. For example:
- “Catalogs, Metadata, and Databases, Continued (Part III)”
— building upon our Roundtable in February on Catalogs, Metadata, and Databases, Part I and Session 3 on “Catalogs, Metadata, and Databases, Part II” in the Spring Symposium - “The Living Library”
— including David Porreca’s presentation which had been planned for our Spring Symposium: “The Warburg Institute Library: Where Idiosyncracy Meets User-Friendliness - “Teaching with (and through) Manuscripts, Part II”
— including a presentation by William H. Campbell on the experience of teaching this summer using the Les Enluminures Manuscripts in the Curriculum program at the University of Pittsburgh-Greensburg;
and by representatives of the Team from the DRAGEN Lab, at the University of Waterloo (Caley Macaulay, Andrew Moore, Steven Bednarski), reporting on “initiatives in our lab to train students, both undergraduate and graduate, in medieval paleography” - “Hybrid Books”
— including a presentation by Jennifer Larson on selected examples in her collection of miniature books,
and Linde M. Brocato’s demonstration of how to catalog such cases, using some of Jennifer’s examples:“Paths of Access and Horizons of Expectation, II: From Book-In-Hand to Catalog(ues)”- I will demonstrate with some of Jennifer Larson’s books how “hybrid” can be cataloged under current models and technologies of cataloging. I will also address the different kinds of catalog(ues) that provide different levels and kinds of access to materials, and the kinds of bibliographic structures that allow us to access materials.
- “History and Uses of Paper”
- “Manuscripts, Works of Art, Photography, and Facsimiles, I and II”
- “Pattern in and on Books”
- Etc.

© British Library Board, London, British Library, Cotton MS Cleopatra C. viii, folio 36r, top: Sapientia in her Temple. Prudentius, Psychomachia, in a Canterbury copy of the late tenth or early eleventh century.
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Other Activities for 2022
Between the Spring and Autumn Symposia, the Research Group sponsors and co-sponsors four Sessions at the 2022 ICMS online in May (see our 2022 Congress Program), proposes co-sponsored sessions for the 2023 ICMS Congress, and prepares more Episodes for The Research Group Speaks: The Series.
For example, Episode 7 in the series is planned for Saturday, 23 July 2022. See “Falling in Love with a Source”: An Interview with Michael Allman Conrad.
Suggestion Box
Do you have suggestions for subjects for the Autumn Symposium and other events, or offers to participate? Please let us know. For updates, see 2022 Spring and Autumn Symposia and The Research Group Speaks: The Series.
If you wish to join our events, please contact director@manuscriptevidence.org.
Do you have suggestions for more Links of Interest (Catalogs, Metadata, and Databases: A Handlist of Links)?
Would you like to donate to our mission and activities, in funds and/or in kind? Suggestions about methods, causes, and purposes are described for Donations and Contributions.
Please leave your Comments below, Contact Us, and visit our FaceBook Page. We look forward to hearing from you.
*****
2022 Congress Preparations
July 16, 2021 in Announcements, Conference, Conference Announcement, Ibero-Medieval Association of North America, IMANA, International Congress on Medieval Studies, Kalamazoo, Societas Magica
Call for Papers (CFP) for Sessions
Sponsored or Co-Sponsored by the RGME
at the 57th International Congress on Medieval Studies (Online)
Monday, May 9, through Saturday, May 14, 2022
CFP Deadline: 15 September 2021
[Deadline for Session Programs: 1 October 2021]

Private Collection, Le Parc Abbey, Theological Volume, Part B: Detail of Vellum Leaf. Photography Mildred Budny.
[Update on 22 September 2021:
Following the close of the CFP on 15 September, we can welcome the received proposals for papers, observe their strength and range, and prepare the programs for each session. With the selection of proposed papers accomplished, it comes time to arrange their sequence within the given Sessions, assign the Presiders for them, and submit the programs to the Congress Committee by 1 October 2021.
When appropriate, we can announce the Programs, report the assignment of their scheduling within the Congress Program overall, and publish the Abstracts of the Papers and Responses, as the authors might be willing. The Congress Program will become available in due course, and registration for the online Congress might commence.
Update on 1 October 2021:
At the close of the deadline for submission of the programs to the Congress, we report that each of our Sessions has three or four Papers; three sessions also have Responses; and we plan to hold a Business Meeting at the Congress, as in previous years. All these activities are to take place online.]
[Posted on 15 July 2021]
After accomplishing the 2021 ICMS Online, with 5 Sponsored and Co-Sponsored Sessions, plus our Open Business Meeting, we produced the 2021 Congress Report, as we turned to preparations for the 2022 Congress. We proposed Sessions, and received answers in stages.
Through the Confex system for the 2022 International Congress on Medieval Studies, we have learned that all but one of our proposed sessions have been accepted.
One of the accepted sessions resumes a series (“Medieval Writing Materials”) which a rejection for the 2015 Congress disrupted. That rejection interfered with the momentum of our series of sessions on the subject at the 2011–2016 Congresses. (See Sponsored Sessions.) The interval between then and now is a long time to wait. We had to turn to other subjects, as the momentum for their own action not only gathered to produce the proposals to sponsor or co-sponsor them, but also found favor by the Congress Committee, so that it could become possible to move to the phase of the Call for Papers for them. With the Pre-Congress Business Meeting in May 2021, as we prepared for this year’s Congress, we aimed to resume that series, as well as to explore other sessions as their subjects and proponents might direct.
So, we can resume the series on Medieval Writing Materials for 2022. But a new rejection of another subject for the Congress leads us to reconsider our approach to its current momentum. This time, learning from experience, we could choose what to do, but elsewhere, before long, with the subject not accepted this time around, rather than waiting for some other year — or decade — at the Congress.
And so, now, we announce the Call for Papers for the 2022 Congress.
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. 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 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. 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 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)
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.

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. mage via Creative Commons.
What We Planned
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:
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
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
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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.
What We Can Do
A. Abstracts for the 2020 Congress Papers
Our 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
For the Symposium Booklet, see
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.
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.
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!
2020 Spring Symposium Cancelled or Postponed
March 10, 2020 in Abstracts of Conference Papers, Announcements, Conference, Conference Announcement, Index of Medieval Art, Princeton University, Uncategorized

Florence, Galleria degli Uffizi, Anonymous, Still Life of Illuminated Book (circa 1510). Image via Wikimedia Commons..
“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 is now published and available for download. See Keeping Up: Updates for Spring 2020.
* 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.
Its plan is described in the announcement to Save the Date for our 2020 Spring Symposium .
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, the Research Group has 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. This post (You are Here) reports the Cancellation or Postponement.
In the post announcing the Symposium, describing its scope, and providing its Program, not only do we now report the Cancellation or Postponement (as here), but also 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. See Save the Date.

2020 Symposium Poster 2

New York, Grolier Club, *434.14Aug1470Folio. 15th-century German binding for historical texts in print (Augsburg, 1470) and manuscript (1462). Image courtesy Meghan Constantinou.
*****
Watch this space and visit our FaceBook Page for updates. For questions and suggesions, please contact director@manuscriptevidence.org.
2020 Spring Symposium: Save the Date
February 15, 2020 in Announcements, Conference, Conference Announcement, Events, Index of Medieval Art, Princeton University, Reception, Uncategorized

, 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.” width=”244″ height=”300″ /> 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.
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
On the Road

Poster 1 for 2019 Symposium

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. Photograph courtesy OPenn.

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.
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 (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.
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
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 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 Poster 2
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The Schedule
The Schedule is available here.
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Registration
Please register for the Symposium. We offer the Registration form as a downloadable pdf .
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Maps and Directions
Here.
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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 .
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2019 International Congress on Medieval Studies Report
September 14, 2019 in Abstracts of Conference Papers, Anniversary, Announcements, Bembino, Business Meeting, Conference, Events, International Congress on Medieval Studies, Kalamazoo, POMONA, Reception, Reports, Societas Magica, Uncategorized
Report: Events Sponsored and Co-Sponsored
by the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence
at the 54th International Congress on Medieval Studies
9–12 May 2019
[Published on 2 June 2019. With the achievement of our Activities at the 2019 Congress, we offer this Report (Abstracts of Papers Included), while we advance with preparations for the 2020 Congress. For updates, as they evolve, please watch this space and our Facebook Page.]

Central Rock Garden. Photograph Mildred Budny.
In 2019, the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence celebrates its 20th year as a nonprofit educational corporation and its 30th year as an international scholarly organization. Accordingly, we hold both customary and extra-special events, both at the Congress and elsewhere. For example, shortly before the 2019 Congress, we
We have a tradition of celebrating landmark Anniversaries, both for our organization, with organizations which which we share anniversaries, and for other events. As described, for example, in our 2014 Anniversary Reflections. For 2019, our events aim to represent, to explore, to promote, to celebrate, and to advance aspects of our shared range of interests, fields of study, subject matter, and collaboration between younger and established scholars, teachers, and others, in multiple centers.
Now we Report the successful accomplishment of our Activities at the 2019 Congress.
Who, What, Why Not
As in recent years, we co-sponsored Sessions with the Societas Magica (2 Sessions). It is the 14th year of this co-sponsorship, and the first year of co-sponsorship with the newly-founded organization Polytheism-Oriented Medievalists of North America (P.-O.M.O.N.A).
Also, like the 2015–2018 Congresses, we held
- an Open Business Meeting, with a convenient downloadable 2019 Agenda, and
- a co-sponsored Reception.
As usual, we publish the Program for the accepted Papers, as their Authors permit. Abstracts for previous Congresses appear in our Congress Abstracts, conveniently Indexed both by Year and by Author.