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Preston Charters: The Chierographs

April 12, 2020 in Manuscript Studies, Uncategorized

Meet the Preston Chierographic Charters:
Charters 12 and 13
from the Reigns of Edward IV and Elizabeth I

Preston Charter 7 Face with Tag and Seal. Photograph Mildred Budny.

Preston Charter 7 Face. Photograph Mildred Budny.

Following our 4 previous blogposts on the group of charters from Preston in Suffolk, England, now in a private collection, we advance with further reports about them. Those blogposts focused upon 6 of the group of 8 charters. Employing the owner’s numbering system, they considered

Charters 5 and 7: Full Court Preston and Preston Take 2

Charters 6 and 9: Preston Charters Continued

Charters 10 and 11: Charter the Course

(Remember, Charter 8 is missing.)

Now we turn to the last pair: Charters 12 and 13.

These are the chirographs, with wavy upper contours made to match. Both documents are dated, like Charters 9–11, but those earlier charters belong to the reign of King Edward II (reigned 1307–1327), during which reign they were spaced at 4-year intervals. Charters 12 and 13 stand more than a century apart from those and from each other. Both retain their wax seals, in full or in part.

A wavy contour:

Preston Charter 12 Face with Seal. Photograph Mildred Budny.

The Group of Preston Charters

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7d/Church_at_Preston_St_Mary_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1598436.jpg

Church at Preston St Mary. Photograph by Andrew Hill via Wikimedia Creative Commons

The present owner purchased the Preston group as a group, amounting to 9 documents, in the 1980s in London, probably in the Portobello Road, a renowned location of markets and shops of many kinds, including used goods, curiousities, and antiquities.

[Update: Now we know that his first 2 purchases of English documents were of single documents: “one Ric. II” and “the other Edw. IV”. Then came the rest. On those first 2, now see More Light on English Charters.]

The group has a consecutive series of modern Arabic numbers, running from 5 to 13. The individual number is entered in black ink at the top left corner of the dorse (or back) of each document.

Of that original group, only 8 survive in the collection, because Charter 8 went missing after a class some years ago, considerably before the group came into our view. Consequently, we know now only of Charters 5–7 and 9–13.

In our series of blogposts on the Preston Charters, Charters 5 and 7 figured in our first 2 blogposts, with an introduction, photographs and descriptions, transcriptions and translations of their texts, and some observations about their characteristics and contexts (Full Court Preston and Preston Take 2). Next, Charters 6 and 9 took the stage (Preston Charters Continued). Then Charters 10 and 11 came forward to Charter the Course.

Now we complete the course with Charters 12 and 13. Each carries the regnal year of the sovereign, but a different sovereign in each case: Edward IV and Elizabeth I.

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Tags: Chirograph, Edward II, Edward IV, Elizabeth I, History of Documents, Portobello Road, Preston, Preston Charters, Seal, Seal Tag
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Preston Charters, Continued

April 7, 2020 in Anniversary, Manuscript Studies, Uncategorized

Preston Charters, Continued

Charters 6 & 9

Preston Charter 7 Seal.

Following our 2 previous blogposts on a group of single-sheet charters in Latin on vellum from Preston in Suffolk, England, now in a private collection, we advance with further reports about them.

Those first 2 blogposts, Full Court Preston and Preston Take 2, focused upon 2 of the group. They considered Charters ‘1’ and ‘2’ (as we first called them), or Charters 7 and 5 in the present owner’s numbering system entered upon the dorse of each document. Those blogposts provided detailed photographs and descriptions of the documents, transcriptions and translations of their texts, and observations about their characteristics and contexts.

Here we focus upon Charters 6 and 9. (Remember, Charter 8 is lost or mislaid.)

First we survey the Preston group, which comprises a series with modern numbering from 5 to 13. Then we consider these two documents, one by one.

The Group

Church at Preston St Mary. Photograph by Andrew Hill via Wikimedia Creative Commons

The owner purchased the group in a bag, in the 1980s in London, probably — according to his recollection — in the Portobello Road, a renowned location of markets and shops of many kinds, including used goods, curiousities, and antiquities. The group has his consecutive series of modern Arabic numbers, running from 5 to 13. The individual number stands in black ink at the top left corner of the dorse (or back) of each document.

Of that original group of 9, only 8 documents survive in the group, preserved within a notebook for the English charter materials in the collection. Charter 8 went missing or mislaid after a class some years ago — considerably before the group came into our view. Consequently, we know only of Charters 5–7 and 9–13, until Charter 8 might return to view.

Our survey of the group progresses in pairs, more-or-less chronologically. The first 3 documents (Charters 5, 6, and 7) are undated, so that an assessment of their probable dating depends upon stylistic features of the script, orthographic features, and other evidence both internal and contextual. The others (Charters 9–13) carry their dates, to the regnal year and sometimes to the very day.

The pair under consideration here has one of each, respectively undated and dated.

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Tags: Anglicana Formata, Gwyndon de Mortuomar, History of Documents, King Edward II, Medieval Seals, Norwich, Portobello Road, Preston, Preston Saint Mary, Richard of Otelye, Seal Tags, Symon Purte of Preston
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Preston Take 2

April 3, 2020 in Manuscript Studies, Uncategorized

Revisiting a Set of 13th-Documents
in Latin from Preston in Suffolk

With a Winning Competition

In our earlier blogpost on this subject, Full Court Preston, we showcased 2 single-sheet documents which came from a shared location, from dates there separated across generations, and with or without their original seals. We called them Preston Charters 1 and 2, now preserved in a private collection. Charter 2 lies at the top of the pile in the image here at the left.

Now, having had the opportunity to examine the full set of medieval charters from Preston which came as a group into that collection, we can call these two by their present owner’s numbering system (in these cases, Preston Charters 5 and 7), as we also announce the winner of our competition to transcribe and translate one or other, or both, of this selected pair.

Other reports on our website examine single-sheet medieval and later documents with, or without, their original seals. These reports appear

Document in 5 lines on paper, dated 22 February 1345 (Old Style), with red wax seal. Image reproduced by permisison.

Document from Grenoble dated 22 February 1345 (Old Style), with wax seal.

1) In our blog on Manuscript Studies (see its Contents List ):

2) In The Illustrated Handlist, Part II. “Documents on Vellum”

3) In Starter Kit, giving a brief introduction to a group of 14 medieval Seal Matrices (mostly, it appears, from England)

The Preston set came up for sale in London some years ago, apparently as a single batch, preserved together and sent forth together, after centuries and generations with a common heritage. Their origin relates to Preston (now known as Preston St Mary), near Ipswich, in Suffolk in England.

Now we revisit them, with a view of the set in full — insofar as it survives as a group of documents, plus some of their wax seals and a now-empty pouch for a seal. We announce the winner of our competition to transcribe and translate the first 2 documents, as first introduced in our blog, with observations about their specific characteristics. Other posts will report on other documents in the set, taking them pair by pair.

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Tags: Amicia Daughter of Alured, Anselm Cutler of Saint Edmund, Bury Saint Edmund, Horscroft, Ipswich, Medieval Documents, Medieval English Charters, Medieval Seals, Preston, Preston Saint Mary, The Gilbert Seal
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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 "From Cover to Cover" Poster 2

2020 Symposium Poster 2

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

New York, Grolier Club, *434.14Aug1470Folio. 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.

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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, *434.14Aug1470Folio.

“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).

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.

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).

Poster 1 for the 2022 Spring Symposium.

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. Bachman (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.

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

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.

Floral Motif as Lower Border in a Book of Hours. Photography Mildred Budny.

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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A Leaf from Prime in a Large-Format Latin Breviary

January 1, 2020 in Manuscript Studies, Uncategorized

J. S. Wagner Collection. Leaf from from Prime in a Latin manuscript Breviary. Folio 4 Recto, with the opening of Psalm 117 (118) in the Vulgate Version.

Leaf “4” from Prime in a Large-Format Latin Breviary

Spain, 16th or 17th century

Single columns in 14 lines
circa 395 x 515 mm
with Foliate and Floral Decorated Initials

J. S. Wagner Collection

J. S. Wagner Collection. King David as Penitent from a Book of Hours.

[Published on 1 January 2020, with updates]

We continue our series of reports revealing unknown witnesses to the creativity of written materials, manuscript and in print, across the centuries. See the Contents List for this blog for discoveries so far and unfolding.

Now, with thanks to the collector, who brought this and other manuscript and early-printed materials to our attention, we offer images of a detached leaf from a large-format manuscript for liturgical use.

Already we showcased another leaf in that collection. It has an illustrated opening for one or another of the Penitential Psalms — we can’t know which one, given that its few visible opening lines pertain to 2 Psalms — depicting the Old Testament King David in his penitence, with crown and lyre set to one side. The publication of that illustration, and the gathering advice of experts whom we could ask, led to improved knowledge about the probable orgin of the leaf and its original manuscript. A similar process commences with this next leaf, also from a religious manuscript.

Read the rest of this entry →

Tags: Antiphonary, Antiphons, Dispersed Manuscript Leaves, Dotted Letter I, Floral Decoration, Gloria Patri, Hour of Prime, Latin Breviary, Manuscripts from Spain, Missal, Psalm 117 (118), Psalm 53, Roman Breviary, Sarum Breviary
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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 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
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2019 M-MLA Panel Program

August 18, 2019 in Announcements, M-MLA, Manuscript Studies, Midwest Modern Language Association, Uncategorized

Bust of the God Janus. Vatican City, Vatican Museums. Photo by Fubar Obfusco via Wikimedia Commons.

“Duality and Manuscript Evidence”

2019 Panel 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 17 August 2019, with updates]

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, sponsors a panel on duality in manuscripts, broadly conceived.

Following the conclusion of our Call for Papers for the Panel, we announce its Program.

Poster 2 for 2019 Symposium

And now, on 14 November, we announce its successful accomplishment. Hurray!

This event in Chicago formed part of our activities during 2019, a landmark Anniversary Year for the Research Group on Manuscript [and Other] Evidence. Others include:

Specially Guided Tours for the RGME at the the Princeton University Exhibition on Gutenberg and After (November and December)
2010 International Medieval Studies (May)
2019 Anniversary Symposium on “The Roads Taken” (April)

“Duality and Manuscript Evidence” at the M-MLA

Thursday, 14 November 2019, 4:00–5:15 pm

Chair: Justin Hastings (Loyola University Chicago)

1. Morgan Aronson (US Naval Observatory Library)
“A Text Twice Born: Exploring the Origin of a Scientific Manuscript”

Namely the treatise on hydrodynamics by Abbé Edme Mariotte (1620–1684), posthumously published in French in 1686, with a second edition in French in 1700, and with an English translation in 1718 by John Theophilus Desaguliers. Morgan’s paper introduces a manuscript of another English translation, dated apparently to 1690, also with illustrations.

Abstract of Paper

By Edme Mariotte - [1], Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2565164

Title Page of Oeuvres de Mr. Mariotte (Leiden, 3 volumes: 1717). Via Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain.

Title-page for the First Printed English Translation

Title-page of first printed English translation of Mariotte’s treatise (1718). Collection of Ronald K. Smeltzer.

Some of the Illustrations

Plate I in the first printed English translation of Mariotte's treatise. Collection of Ronald K. Smeltzer.

Plate I in the first printed English translation of Mariotte’s treatise (1718). Collection of Ronald K. Smeltzer.

Plate IIII [IV] in the first printed English translation of Mariotte’s treatise (1718). Collection of Ronald K. Smeltzer.

2. Emily Sharrett (Loyola University Chicago)

[Former Title]

“Generating London out of Roman Remains:
(1598, 1603)”

Namely the Survey of London (1598) by John Stow (1524/25 – 5 April 1605).

Church of St Andrew Undershaft, City of London,. Monument with effigy of John Stow, with arms of the Worshipful Company of Merchant Taylors, and with Latin inscription: “Either act by writing or write by reading”. Image via Wikipedia Commons.

[Update: Final Title]

“Moral Guidebook from Medieval Bohemia: A Study of Newberry Library MS 31.1”

3. Justin Hastings
“Emily Dickinson’s Choosing:
Biblical Intertext and Fascicle 33”

Namely the poems assembled in Fascicle 33 (of 40 Fascicles assembled between 1858–1865) by the American poet Emily Dickinson (1830–1886).

Abstract of Paper

Handout for Paper

mons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=21206329. Amherst, Massachusetts, Amherst College Archives, Special Collections, Daguerreotype taken at Mount Holyoke, December 1846 or early 1847; the only authenticated portrait of Emily Dickinson after childhood. Image via Wikimedia Commons.

Amherst, Massachusetts, Amherst College Archives, Special Collections, Daguerreotype taken at Mount Holyoke, December 1846 or early 1847; the only authenticated portrait of Emily Dickinson after childhood. Image via Wikimedia Commons.

We thank Justin and Morgan for providing detailed handouts for the session and for the Research Group, as projection during the session proved unfeasible. Their resourcefulness and generosity are gratefully recognized.

Likewise, we thank our Associate, Ronald H. Smeltzer, dedicated collector of books on the history of science, for his generosity in providing photographs, displayed here with permission, of his copies of the first French edition and the first printed English translation of Mariotte’s treatise.

*****

Information about the 2020 M-MLA Convention appears on the MMLA website: MMLA Convention.

*****

We renew our thanks for 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.

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.

It is a special pleasure that our panel at this year’s Convention form part of our current 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.

*****

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. We prepare for further activities.

*****

Tags: Anniversary, Edme Mariotte, Emily Dickinson, History of Hydraulics, John Stow, John Theophilus Desaguliers, Midwest Modern Language Association, Survey of London
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2020 ICMS Call for Papers: Seal the Real

August 11, 2019 in Announcements, Conference, Kalamazoo, Manuscript Studies, Uncategorized

Call for Papers

Session Sponsored
by the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence
at the 55th International Congress on Medieval Studies
(7–10 May 2020)

Deadline for Proposals: 15 September 2019

With the achievement of our Activities at the 2019 International Congress on Medieval Studies (ICMS), as announced in our 2019 Congress Program, we prepare the program for the 2020 Congress.

The Call for Papers for our 4 sponsored and co-sponsored Sessions describes their range and aims. Here we announce a specialized Call for Papers for 1 of our 4 sponsored and co-sponsored Sessions: “Seal the Real”.

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Tags: History of Documents, medieval seal-matrices, Medieval Seals
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Heidere Diplomas & Investiture

July 24, 2019 in Design, Events, Manuscript Studies, 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.

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Tags: design layout, Interlace, Research Group designs
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Archives

Featured Posts

Meet the Preston Chierographic Charters: Charters 12 and 13 from the Reigns of Edward IV and Elizabeth I

The Group of Preston Charters

Preston Charters, Continued

Charters 6 & 9

The Group

Revisiting a Set of 13th-Documents in Latin from Preston in Suffolk

With a Winning Competition

“From Cover to Cover”

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

Princeton University * Friday & Saturday 13–14 March 2020

“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

Leaf “4” from Prime in a Large-Format Latin Breviary

Spain, 16th or 17th century

Single columns in 14 lines circa 395 x 515 mm with Foliate and Floral Decorated Initials

J. S. Wagner Collection

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

“Duality and Manuscript Evidence”

2019 Panel Sponsored by the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence at the Midwest Modern Language Association (M-MLA)

2019 Convention Chicago, Illinois November 14–17, 2019

“Duality and Manuscript Evidence” at the M-MLA

Call for Papers

Session Sponsored by the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence at the 55th International Congress on Medieval Studies (7–10 May 2020)

Deadline for Proposals: 15 September 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

Meet the Preston Chierographic Charters:
Charters 12 and 13
from the Reigns of Edward IV and Elizabeth I

Revisiting a Set of 13th-Documents
in Latin from Preston in Suffolk

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

Princeton University
* Friday & Saturday 13–14 March 2020

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

Single columns in 14 lines
circa 395 x 515 mm
with Foliate and Floral Decorated Initials

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

2019 Panel Sponsored by the
Research Group on Manuscript Evidence
at the
Midwest Modern Language Association (M-MLA)

2019 Convention
Chicago, Illinois
November 14–17, 2019

Session Sponsored
by the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence
at the 55th International Congress on Medieval Studies
(7–10 May 2020)