Events Archives -

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 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.

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).

2020 Symposium 1

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.

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.

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

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 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
3 Comments »

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 at WMU International Congress on Medieval Studies at Kalamazoo May 2019. Photograph Mildred Budny.

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.

Read the rest of this entry →

Tags: Animals in Celtic Magical Texts, Beinecke Takamiya MS 23, Business Meeting, Celtic Magical Texts, Classical Deities, Classical Deities in Medieval Northern European Contexts, Dionysus, Ecstasy Defense, Grettisfærsla, Hêliand, History of Magic, Lapidaries, Mary Moody Emerson, Medieval manuscripts, Medieval Studies, P.-O.M.o.N.A., Reception, Societas Magica
No Comments »

Heidere Diplomas & Investiture

July 24, 2019 in Design, Events, Parties, Uncategorized

Celebration of Collegiality

Our tradition over the years in the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence, from our earliest days, is to thank people who have contributed to our mission and activities by inviting them to join our group of Honorary Invited Associates. Our Associates belong to different walks of life, both educational and beyond in the wider world, as their accomplishments and interests amply demonstrate.

The Associates in Early Years, Listed on Our Letterhead

At first, we listed our Associates on our Letterhead —once we had chosen our name, selected our official Font, designed our Logo, laid out our official Letterhead, and accomplished related tasks — as shown, for example, in some Invitation Letters to the Seminars and Workshops during our years as a group emerging from our innovative Research Project at The Parker Library of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge . (The process of our design choices, letterhead included, are considered in the Interview with Our Font and Layout Designer .)

An example of our Letterhead in Action, Associates Included (12 November 1993):

Invitation Letter Page 1 for Workshop on 'Corpus Christi College MS 41' on 11 December 1993

Invitation Letter on RGME Letterhead for Workshop on 11 December 1993

Moving our principal base to the New World in October 1994, we continued to follow this practice. The Invitations to Symposia and other Events, however, took the forms of Posters, Save the Date Announcements, and Booklets, beyond the Letterhead practices.

Associates Now, Listed on our Website, Once We Had One (2007–)

With the arrival of our website — thanks to the generous donation of our Associate and WebMaster, Jesse Hurlbut — in its first, Drupal, version (2007–2014) and then in its revised, expanded, and updated WordPress version (2014–), it became possible to list online (if they permitted) our Officers, Associates, and Volunteers .

To start with, we listed names, with locations or affiliations, as before, tout court. Then, encouraged by our Associate Ioana Georgescu, given the extra facilities of the WordPress site (2014–), we added links and pictures (as our Associates agreed), so as to enliven the list of Names with ‘attributes’ and with ‘appearances’.

A Special Case, Diplomas Included

Between those stages, there arose a new and special case when we invited James Heidere to become an Associate of the Research Group. He accepted the invitation, and asked for a Diploma.

Responding to his convivial style, we made sure to provide a Diploma worthy of framing and displaying among his other Diplomas, while we also thought that a larger version might be worthy of the competition. Also, with one large-size version, why not make two? And so, and lo.

The Diplomas

Here, in response to his request, are the Versions of Jim’s RGME Diplomas.

Not only did we think that he deserved an enlarged Diploma, better to stand out on his wall of diplomas, we also believed that, given his and our spirit, he ought to have a comparable outlandish version, puns included. The choice of a dramatic border with interlace patterns for a frame seemed obvious.

And so:

The Official Version

Diploma 1

The Unofficial Version

Diploma Version 2

The ‘Investiture’ Ceremony, with Roger Reynolds as Officiant

The ceremony took place on 1 April 2002, in Roger Reynold’s apartment at the Institute for Advanced Study, with Roger officiating and with gathered witnesses.

The Diploma Display

The framed diplomas took there place on the Dentist Office Wall and on the Kitchen Wall, by turns, as I can attest, having seen the in both places. In fact, sometimes they changed places, with the Official and the Unoffocial Versions turning up otherwise. Occasionally, my own copy might appear in a Research Group celebration, as at a party at the home of our Associates David Immerman and Pamela Jones, where Jim posed beside one of his Diplomas. The Official one, as might be.

James Heidere with his RGME Associate’s ‘Diploma’

We thank Jim for his many generous contributions to our activities, and in good spirits. We wish him the very best in future projects!

*****

Tags: design layout, Interlace, Research Group designs
No Comments »

2019 M-MLA Call for Papers

March 3, 2019 in Announcements, Conference, Conference Announcement, Events, M-MLA, Manuscript Studies, Midwest Modern Language Association

Call for Papers

“Duality and Manuscript Evidence”

2019 Theme for the

Permanent Panels sponsored by the
Research Group on Manuscript Evidence
at the
Midwest Modern Language Association (M-MLA)

2019 Convention
Chicago, Illinois
November 14–17, 2019

[Posted on 2 March 2019]

Poster announcing the Call for Papers for the Permanent Panels sponsored by the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence, to be held at the 2019 MMLA Convention in Chicago in November. Poster set in RGME Bembino and designed by Justin Hastings.

Poster designed by Justin Hastings

The Research Group on Manuscript Evidence, in keeping with the MMLA conference’s theme of “Duality, Doubles, and Doppelgängers” for the 2019 Convention in Chicago, is sponsoring panels on duality in manuscripts broadly conceived.

Information about the conference appears on the MMLA website: MMLA Convention.

For our panels, possible senses of duality include, strictly by way of example, textual variants, recensions, and copies. It also includes more figurative senses of duality, like the dialectic between text and marginal glosses.

We invite all approaches — including hermeneutical, textual, art historical, codicological, and paleographical — as well as all time periods. Despite the RGME’s traditional medieval focus, which has expanded, not least through these panels at the MMLA, we declare that all proposals considering the material evidence contained in handwritten documents are warmly welcomed.

Interested panelists should send brief abstracts of no more than 300 words to

jhastings@luc.edu by Monday, 01 April 2019.

*****

Thanks to the expert initiatives by our Associate Justin Hastings, this will be the 4th year that the Research Group sponsors Permanent Panels at the Annual Convention of the Midwest Modern Language Association.

It is a special pleasure that our panels at the 2019 Convention form part of our anniversary celebrations. 2019 marks the 20th anniversary of our nonprofit educational corporation based in Princeton, New Jersey, and the 30th anniversary of our international scholarly society founded at the Parker Library of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge.

2018 M-MLA Panel on “Consuming Cultures and Manuscript Evidence”
2017 M-MLA Panel on “Artists, Activists, and Manuscript Evidence”
2017 M-MLA Panel Report
“Marginalia in Manuscripts and Books” for the 2018 M-MLA
2016 M-MLA Report

As customary for our Sessions at the International Congress on Medieval Studies, we publish the Abstracts of the Papers for our Panels at the M-MLA Convention in our Panel Announcements and Reports.

*****

The continuation of the tradition of Permanent Panels at the M-MLA Convention is most welcome, and we thank our organizer, Justin Hastings, and the Midwest Modern Language Association. We congratulate Justin for his expert organizational skills and outstanding collegiality, and we applaud his willingness to continue to organize the panels for the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence.

*****

Further information about the Convention and the Call for Papers for Permanent Panels can be found on the M-MLA website:

Please Contact Us with your questions and suggestions. See you there!

*****

Tags: Manuscript studies, Medieval manuscripts, Midwest Modern Language Association
No Comments »

2019 International Congress on Medieval Studies Call for Papers

July 5, 2018 in Announcements, Call for Papers, Conference, Conference Announcement, Events, ICMS, Index of Medieval Art, International Congress on Medieval Studies, Kalamazoo, Manuscript Studies, Societas Magica

Sessions
Sponsored and Co-Sponsored
by the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence
at the 54th International Congress on Medieval Studies
9–12 May 2019

Call for Papers
Deadline for Proposals = 15 September 2018

[Published on 5 July 2018, with updates]

With the achievement of our Activities at the 2018 International Congress on Medieval Studies, as announced in our 2018 Congress Program, we both give a 2018 Congress Report and prepare a Behind the Scenes Report.

For updates, please watch this space and our Facebook Page. [And now, with the completion of the span for the CFP in mid-September 2018, we prepare the Programs for our Sessions at the 2019 Congress, for which see, in time, our 2019 Congress Program announcement.]

*****

Now we proceed to preparations for the 2019 Congress. This next year, the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence celebrates its 20th year as a nonprofit educational corporation and its 30th year as an international scholarly organization.

This coming year, 2019, we prepare events at the Congress and elsewhere, so as 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.

In June 2018, we learned that most — not all — of our Session Proposals (due on 1 June) for the 2019 Congress have been accepted by the Congress Committee, so that we progress to their Call for Papers. We regret the rejections for proposed Sessions which, for example, promoted initiatives by Graduate Students and by Independent Scholars, and which we wished to support.

The Congress Committee will publish the full 2019 Call for Papers for the 54th ICMS, with the list of Session Titles and Sponsors. Here we announce our 5 sponsored and co-sponsored Sessions and describe their aims.

As in recent years, we co-sponsor Sessions with the Societas Magica (2 Sessions). It will be the 14th year of this co-sponsorship. It will be the first year of co-sponsorship with the newly-founded organization Polytheism-Oriented Medievalists of North America (POMONA).

Also, like the 2015–2018 Congresses, we plan for

an Open Business Meeting and
a Reception.

As usual, we aim to publish the Program for the accepted Papers, once the Call For Papers has completed its specified span. We will publish the Abstracts for these Papers as the preparations for the Congress advance and as their Authors permit. Abstracts for previous Congresses appear in our Congress Abstracts, conveniently Indexed both by Year and by Author.]

Read the rest of this entry →

Tags: Animals in Celtic Magical Texts, Classical Deities in Medieval Northern European Contexts, History of Magic, Index of Medieval Art at Princeton University, Manuscript studies, Medieval Manuscript Fragments, POMONA, Ritual Magic, Societas Magica
No Comments »

2018 Congress Call for Papers

July 3, 2017 in Conference, Conference Announcement, Events, International Congress on Medieval Studies, Kalamazoo, Manuscript Studies, Uncategorized

Sessions
Sponsored and Co-Sponsored
by the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence
at the 53rd International Congress on Medieval Studies
10–13 May 2018

Call for Papers
— Deadline for Proposals = 15 September 2017 —

[Published on 3 July 2017, with updates.
Further update: With the close of the Call for Papers, we have evaluated the proposals received, and chosen the Programs for all the Sessions, both sponsored and co-sponsored. Upon submitting those Programs to the Congress Committee, we prepare an update for our website, which, when ready, will appear as our 2018 Congress Program.]

With the achievement of our Activities at the 2017 International Congress on Medieval Studies, as announced in our 2017 Congress Program, we both give a 2017 Congress Report and begin to prepare a special Behind the Scenes Report (in preparation).

(Please note: Illness and a death in the family have impeded these stages, so please watch this space and our Facebook Page for notice of the appearance of that Extra Report.)

*****

Now we proceed to preparations for the 2018 Congress. All but one of our Session Proposals have been accepted, so that we progress to their Call for Papers. Shame about the refusal for one proposal. It would have been great. (Our opinion.)

The Congress Committee now publishes the full 2017 Call for Papers for 52nd ICMS, with the list of Session Titles and Sponsors. Here we announce our 5 co-sponsored Sessions and describe their aims.

As in recent years, we co-sponsor Sessions with the Societas Magica (3 Sessions). But not, because of that refusal (Boo Hoo!) can there be a session co-sponsored with the Center for Medieval and Early Modern Studies at the University of Florida.

It will be the 13th year of co-sponsorship with the Societas Magica, and it would have been the 5th year with the Center for Medieval and Early Modern Studies. Both collaborations are excellently collegial. (Fun, too!)

IMG_3788 Frank & David P at Soc Mag Reception AZO 2017 cropped

The co-organizers are justly happy with our 2017 Co-Sponsored Session on “Manuscripts to Materials”. Totally. Photography by Mildred Budny.

Also, like the 2017 Congress, we plan for

an Open Business Meeting and
a Reception.

[Update. With the arrival of the date ending the Call for Papers, we now assess the proposals for papers for our Sessions. After deliberating and reporting the selected Programs to the Congress Committee, we can report these developments.

As usual, we aim to publish the Abstracts for the accepted Papers as the preparations for the Congress advance. Abstracts for previous Congresses appear in the Congress Abstracts, listed by Year and by Author.]

Read the rest of this entry →

Tags: Arabic and Persian Occult Texts, Celtic Magic Texts, Center for Medieval and Early Modern Studies at the University of Florida, International Congress on Medieval Studies, Libro de los juegos, Manuscript studies, Picatrix, Societas Magica
No Comments »

Research Group Archives

September 24, 2016 in Events, International Congress on Medieval Studies, Manuscript Studies, Parker Library, Photographic Exhibition, Reception, Seminars on Manuscript Evidence, Uncategorized

Our Archives

[First published on 24 September, 2016, with updates]

As our website (You are Here) records more and more of our activities, which continue to advance and to expand, we also present more elements from our organization’s archives. These elements take various forms, on paper, in photographs, in print, and in scanned materials.

Our Websites (2007‒)

Our official website is a generous, long-term donation by our Webmaster, our Associate Jesse D. Hurlbut. Designed and maintained by Jesse, it is updated by our WebEditor, Mildred Budny, with contributions by Guest Bloggers and Administrators. It is one of our principal Publications, whose number continues to grow.

Our First Website (2007‒2014)

From the first, once we received a website (2007‒), it began to report our activities variously in progress and in preparation. In a series of Pages, it published our Profile (formerly circulated only in print — as with the Profile dated October 1992 — but now online, with updates, starting with our Front Page). With our Mission statement on the Front Page, this first website presented a series of Pages outlined in its sidebar. It named our Officers, Associates, and Volunteers, described our various events, listed our Publications, and more.

That first website is archived in some “snapshots” by the Wayback Machine.

Thenceforth, the Wayback Machine has captured snapshots of our new website (You are Here), starting in June 2015.

June 24, 2015

In the transition between websites (2014), the first site (Drupal) remained active, as a site archived online and still accessible directly, while the second site (WordPress) was launched, albeit with some “teething problems”.

As preserved in a final snapshot via the Wayback Machine (December 17, 2014), the first site proclaimed its obsolescent state prominently at the top of the Front Page:

PLEASE NOTE: OUR WEBSITE IS UNDER CONSTRUCTION. We are upgrading and redesigning our website. While we transfer materials from this site (our first website), to the new one, it is now available for viewing: http://manuscriptevidence.org/wpme/). The new site allows for images and other media, so that we can illustrate our activities and publish more of our materials.

At that time in our history, when we could launch our first website in 2007, our principal activities in the form of scholarly gatherings focused upon the Congress Activities (1993‒1995, 1997, and 2004‒), occurring at the annual International Congress of Medieval Studies, held at Kalamazoo each May. Soon, we resumed the tradition of other events as well.

For convenience, we come to distinguish between these many “Congress Activities” (1993‒1995, 1997, and 2004‒) and our other “Events”, which occur elsewhere. Those Events take the forms notably of Seminars, Workshops, Colloquia, and Symposia (1989–).

Another group of Events comprises our Photographic Exhibitions and Masterclasses. They overlap in significant ways with our growing list of Publications, which appear in print and electronic forms.

Our Second Website (2014–)

Snapshots of our second, redesigned website (You are Here) appear in the Wayback Machine.

And so on. The archive presents 11 snapshots for 2016 and 6 for 2017. See manuscriptevidence.org there. Thus the Internet Archive contributes (arbitrarily) to the records of our history outside our own sphere.

With the upgrade and redesign of our website (launched in 2014), we could display more materials, in both images and downloadable pdfs. This opened the path to set up Galleries of Images, for example to show you the Posters for our Events and our Congress Activities, to exhibit examples of our Layout Designs, to display Photographs from our Events, Activities, and Research Discoveries, and to give you more of our Publications, including the Program Booklets for Events and Activities and the Booklets publishing some of our Research Discoveries.

Other Social Media

Research Group on Manuscript Evidence Page on Facebook (2011–). Set up and maintained principally by Mildred Budny.

Seminars, Workshops, Colloquia & Symposia (1989‒)

One of the first phases of the process of opening the Research Group Archives for our website focused upon the Early Years of our Seminars, Workshops, and Symposia, which occurred regularly as part of the collaborative Research Project at the Parker Library of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, from which the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence emerged. This “First Series” was principally dedicated to Seminars on “The Evidence of Manuscripts” (1989‒1995). Organized or co-organized by Mildred Budny, these events took place mainly at the Parker Library of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, and occasionally at other centers in England, Japan, and the United States.

View Toward the Entrance to the Parker Library in mid-1989 photograph © Mildred Budny

Following the move of our principal base to the Princeton in 1994, we developed a wide-ranging further series of Seminars, Workshops, Colloquia, and Symposia. First among them was the annual series of Symposia on “The Transmission of the Bible” (1995‒2000), held in turn at Princeton, Rutgers, and Fordham Universities. There followed the The New Series of Symposia, Colloquia, Workshops & Seminars (2001–), held at a variety of centers, including Princeton University.

While the Research Group continued its Congress Activities at the International Congress on Medieval Studies, with the addition annually (since 2014) of a Reception and an Open Business Meeting (and its handy 1-page Agenda, available on our website), we have also begun the tradition of Sponsored Panels at the Annual Convention of the Midwest Modern Language Association (2016‒).

As the redesigned website took fuller shape, and the work of presenting more of our archival evidence, the site could include a blog on Manuscript Studies (2014–), which, among other things, showcases some discoveries from our long-term, as well as recent, research. See the Contents List for the blog, arranged mainly by subjects and materials.

Detail of an initial M on the verso of the leaf. Photography by Mildred Budny

M for ‘Manus’ (‘Hand’), Bouquets Included

Interviews

A new series of Interviews, in various forms, reflects upon our origins and history as an organization, as well as our publications and activities.

*****

More is on the way. Watch this Space.

*****

Tags: Archives, International Congress on Medieval Studies, Parker Library, Seminars on Manuscript Evidence
No Comments »

Doctor Who-Done-It

June 24, 2016 in Conference, Events, International Congress on Medieval Studies, Kalamazoo, Reception, Reports

Behind the Scenes
at the 2016 International Congress on Medieval Studies

Who Done It? We Did Good!

(With the Useful Discovery that Our Director Apparently Drives a Tardis)

Our Director continues the Reports for our Activities at the 51st International Congress on Medieval Studies, starting with the 2016 Congress Report.

Now, as a second installment for the Report, for the first time in our history, we tell about some experiences Behind the Scenes. With Thanks, Naming Names.

Read the rest of this entry →

Tags: Archaeology of Manuscripts, Bembino Digital Font, Center for Medieval and Early Modern Studies at the University of Florida, History of Magic, History of Paper, Index of Christian Art, Manuscript studies, Manuscripts & Early Printed Books, Medieval Writing Materials, Pont Neuf, Societas Magica
No Comments »

Center Fold

May 21, 2016 in Conference, Events, Manuscript Studies, Photographic Exhibition

CopyCat Editor

Our Editor in Chief, also our Principal Blogger (see Her Page), gives credit to an expert adviser, who shows paws-on attention, even while lying down on the job.
P.S. That’s some of our text that she’s working on. You could view and download its completed version below.

Published on 21 May 2016 (with a couple of updates in April 2017).

We pause (paws) for an exclusive interview with our CopyCat Editor In Residence. She gives expert advice and encouragement for the preparations of our Events.

Recently, we have begun to gather interviews with experts who help — pro bono, of course — with our activities, events, publications, and other productions. (Starting here.) A series of interviews with our Graphic & Layout Designer is in the course of preparation. (He is shy, and works at many tasks, so it takes time to find the right time. Update: Now here.)

That our blog on Manuscript Studies may allow for some light-hearted views can be seen already, for example, in the installment on Manuscript Groupies.

Wonderful to learn about the people behind the scenes. Critters too.

Cats first. Cats as Cats Can. And Will.

Read the rest of this entry →

Tags: 2016 Symposium, 2016 Words & Deeds Symposium, Bembino Digital Font, Cat-a-Lan, CopyCat Editor, Interview, Mistie
1 Comment »

A Part-Leaf from the ‘Life of Saint Blaise’

March 8, 2016 in Events, Manuscript Studies, Photographic Exhibition

Part of a Leaf from the Saint’s ‘First’ Life
in a Lectionary
Reused as Binding Material

[First published on 8 March 2016, with updates.]

Here continues our blog by Mildred Budny on Manuscript Studies, for which the Contents List offers a guide to the series. Now we look at a fragment from a 12th-century manuscript containing, or partly containing, one or more saints’ lives intended for reading aloud.

A fragmentary vellum leaf in Latin now in a private collection represents a remnant of the Passio Sancti Blasii Episcopi et Martiris (‘The Suffering of Saint Blaise, Bishop and Martyr’) from a manuscript dismembered for recycled use. Laid out in double columns, the text is written in upright proto-Gothic script of circa 1170 CE from an as-yet unknown center.

Similarly, the medieval ownership of the leaf remains unknown, although the reuse as a limp vellum cover for an 18th-century paper notebook comprising a register of receipts in French presumably indicates the location of the leaf, if not the rest of its book, at least by the early modern period. Given the fragmentary nature of the surviving evidence, we’ll take all we can get.

Read the rest of this entry →

Tags: Manuscript Fragments Reused in Bindings, Medieval Manuscript Fragments, Passio Sancti Blasii
2 Comments »

Featured Posts

Archives

“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

What We Planned

Sponsors

On the Road

Cover Story

Speakers and Moderators (in alphabetical order)

The Aim

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)

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

5) Reception

Day 2

Saturday 14 March: Sessions, Refreshments, and Reception

106 McCormick Hall and its Lobby

6) 10:00 am – 5:30 pm

7) Reception (5:30–7:00 pm)

The Schedule

Registration

Maps and Directions

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

Celebration of Collegiality

The Associates in Early Years, Listed on Our Letterhead

Associates Now, Listed on our Website, Once We Had One (2007–)

A Special Case, Diplomas Included

The Diplomas

The Official Version

The Unofficial Version

The ‘Investiture’ Ceremony, with Roger Reynolds as Officiant

The Diploma Display

Call for Papers

“Duality and Manuscript Evidence”

2019 Theme for the

Permanent Panels sponsored by the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence at the Midwest Modern Language Association (M-MLA)

2019 Convention Chicago, Illinois November 14–17, 2019

Sessions Sponsored and Co-Sponsored by the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence at the 54th International Congress on Medieval Studies 9–12 May 2019

Call for Papers Deadline for Proposals = 15 September 2018

Sessions Sponsored and Co-Sponsored by the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence at the 53rd International Congress on Medieval Studies 10–13 May 2018

Call for Papers — Deadline for Proposals = 15 September 2017 —

Our Archives

Our Websites (2007‒)

Our First Website (2007‒2014)

Our Second Website (2014–)

Other Social Media

Seminars, Workshops, Colloquia & Symposia (1989‒)

Interviews

Behind the Scenes at the 2016 International Congress on Medieval Studies

Who Done It? We Did Good!

CopyCat Editor

Part of a Leaf from the Saint’s ‘First’ Life in a Lectionary Reused as Binding Material

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

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)

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

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

Permanent Panels sponsored by the
Research Group on Manuscript Evidence
at the
Midwest Modern Language Association (M-MLA)

2019 Convention
Chicago, Illinois
November 14–17, 2019

Sessions
Sponsored and Co-Sponsored
by the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence
at the 54th International Congress on Medieval Studies
9–12 May 2019

Call for Papers
Deadline for Proposals = 15 September 2018

Sessions
Sponsored and Co-Sponsored
by the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence
at the 53rd International Congress on Medieval Studies
10–13 May 2018

Call for Papers
— Deadline for Proposals = 15 September 2017 —

Behind the Scenes
at the 2016 International Congress on Medieval Studies

Part of a Leaf from the Saint’s ‘First’ Life
in a Lectionary
Reused as Binding Material