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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 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

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

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 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).

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
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2020 International Congress on Medieval Studies Program Announced

January 18, 2020 in Abstracts of Conference Papers, Announcements, Bembino, Conference, Conference Announcement, Index of Christian Art, Index of Medieval Art, International Congress on Medieval Studies, Kalamazoo, Societas Magica

Research Group on Manuscript Evidence
at the 55th International Congress on Medieval Studies
7–10 May 2020

Program Announced
[NOW CANCELLED OR POSTPONED]

[Published on 18 January 2020, with updates.

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

Update on 17 March. The 55th Congress has been Cancelled.

According to the website for the International Congress on Medieval Studies:

The health and safety of our attendees and our community are our first priority. Due to the COVID-19 outbreak and the most recent recommendations of the CDC and the WHO regarding social distancing and public gatherings, we have made the difficult decision to cancel the 55th International Congress on Medieval Studies (May 7-10, 2020).

As for the future, according to the Congress organizers:

We invite the organizers of sponsored and special sessions approved for the 2020 Congress to re-propose them for the 2021 congress. If proposed, they will be approved automatically.

Meanwhile, with the preparations for the Congress set aside, the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence continues to advance with posting the Abstracts of the intended Papers for our 2020 ICMS Sessions, to stand alongside their Statements of Purpose as designed for the Call for Papers and announced in this post.

Our tradition regularly has been to post on our website the Abstracts before our Sessions in a given Congress, as a foretaste of the Menu. Years ago, as a sign of appreciation, we adopted the custom of posting the Abstract of one or other contributor who became unable to attend to present in person (as with the 2016 Congress and the 2014 Congress ). Thus we honor the intentions of our participants to present the results (or interim results) of their research and reflections, even when they could not do so at the event.

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 March, in stark contrast, 2 of our major events for 2020 have had to be cancelled as a whole. This change pertains both at the Congress and elsewhere. First, our 2020 Spring Symposium, From Cover to Cover, intended for 13–14 March at Princeton University, has been Cancelled or Postponed. Now, the 55th ICMS intended for May at Kalamazoo.

For the former, we aim to complete the Symposium Booklet, with the Program, Abstracts, and Illustrations, as planned,and distribute it to contributors, registrants, and others, as a souvenir of the collective aims for the gathering. Here we similarly honor our participants’ intentions by recording their Abstracts.]

*****

What We Planned

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

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

With the achievement of our Activities at the 2019 International Congress on Medieval Studies (ICMS), described in our 2019 Congress Report, we prepare for the 2020 Congress. With the conclusion of the Call for Papers on 15 September 2019 for our sponsored and co-sponsored Sessions, we have assigned their Programs and reported them to the Congress Committee.

Now, as the new year begins, we announce the programs as well as our other activities at the 2020 Congress. As the Congress announces its Sneak Preview of the 2020 Congress Program, we report the times and room assignments. Soon, as is our custom, we will publish the Abstracts for their Papers and Responses.

*****

Our events at the Congress, as always, are designed 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.

This year, the response to the Call for Papers for our Session on Seals received so strong a response that we have been granted 2 sessions in the place of the one as accepted. Again this year we co-sponsor Sessions with the Societas Magica (2 Sessions this year). It will be the 16th year of this co-sponsorship.

Also, like the 2015–2019 Congresses, we plan for

an Open Business Meeting and
a co-sponsored Reception.

Again, like the 2016–2018 Congresses, we co-sponsor a Reception with the Index of Medieval Art at Princeton University (formerly the Index of Christian Art).

Abstracts for previous Congresses appear in our Congress Abstracts, Indexed both by Year and by Author. The Abstracts for this year’s Congress will join their company.

Read the rest of this entry →

Tags: 'Toulouse deformity', Bibliomancy, Divination, History of Documents, History of Magic, Manuscript studies, Medieval Seals, Scrying, Seals and Signatures, Sortilège
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A Leaf from Prime in a Large-Format Latin Breviary

January 1, 2020 in Manuscript Studies, Uncategorized

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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“Gutenberg and After” at Princeton University Library

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

Guided Tours 2019

Gutenberg & Friends

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

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

The Group Listens. Photograph by Mildred Budny.

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

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

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

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

Armchair Exhibition

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

Close Up & Personal

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

1. Authenticity

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

2. Indulgences

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

3. Illumination

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

4. Uniqueness

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

5. Johann Neumeister

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

6. Fragments

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

7. Survivals

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

Round-Up

These articles are stored here:

Inside Milberg Gallery “Gutenberg and After” .

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

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

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

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

Previews

2019 Symposium Booklet, Cover Page

2016 Symposium Program Booklet, Cover Page.

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

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

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

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

*****

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

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

Eric Answers Questions. Photograph by Mildred Budny.

*****

Anniversary Celebrations

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

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

Watch This Space

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

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

Join Us

Please Contact Us with your questions and suggestions.

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

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

Join us!

Tags: Early Printed Fragments reused in Bindings, Early Printing, Eric White, Fragments, Gutenberg Bible, Gutenberg Press, Indulgences, Johannes Gutenberg, Milberg Gallery
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The Penitent King David from a Book of Hours

November 27, 2019 in Manuscript Studies

Detached Manuscript Leaf on Vellum
with Framed Illustration and Text

King David with Crown and Lyre
at the Opening of Psalm 6 or 37 (38) in Latin from a Book of Hours

At least circa 125 × 160 mm (as framed and matted)

Rouen, circa 1480–90
or Western France circa 1470

J. S. Wagner Collection

[Posted on 27 November 2019, with updates, for which we thank our Honorary Trustee, James H. Marrow, and our Honorary Invited Associate, Gregory T. Clark.]

J. S. Wagner Collection, Detached Leaf. Opening of Psalm 6 or 37 (38) in 4 lines.

Continuing our exploration of manuscript fragments in our Blog on Manuscript Studies, we welcome a new addition to the quest. See the Contents List for this blog, mostly written by Mildred Budny, for the series of revelations.

From the collection of J. S. Wagner, we offer images from a detached leaf on Vellum in Latin apparently from a Book of Hours. Some of our earlier posts have addressed Books of Hours. See our Contents List.

At present, the Wagner leaf is contained within a frame, so that only one side is visible. It might be the recto or verso of the leaf. If the former, the reader and beholder would have to turn the page in order to advance to the sequential text. If the latter, the facing page would have manifested it at a glance.

As it stands, the page presents the illustrated opening of one of the Penitential Psalms in Latin in the Vulgate Version from a luxurious Book of Hours. The ambition of its production is manifested by the script, illustration, and decoration, as well as the use of gold and other pigments. The quality of the execution, however, exhibits some haste in places.

The set of Penitential Psalms comprise Psalms 6, 31, 37, 50, 101, 129, and 142 (that is, 6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130, and 143 in the Hebrew numbering).
The opening of text upon the page corresponds to Verse 1 of both Psalm 6 and Psalm 37 (38). See below for those options. That is, at present, given the state of the leaf, we don’t know which.

Now contained within a frame behind glass, this page might represent the recto or the verso of the leaf. For example, if the other side (if the verso) continues the text, it would establish which Psalm is represented. If the other side (if the recto) is the formerly previous text, then it might designate some Psalm or otherwise in the liturgical sequence.

Needless to say, problems aplenty can arise when a leaf is excised and dispersed without accompanying information. (Examples and their challenges appear in many of our blogposts. See our Contents List.)

Call it detective work, and you would be right on track. The good thing is that sharing of images and information might yield increased knowledge. We thank the owner for sharing his images with us, and we thank our friends, colleagues, Associates, and Trustees for helping to discover more information about the center from which this leaf came.

Read the rest of this entry →

Tags: "Beyond Use" website, Book of Hours, Books of Hours, Crown, Flemish Psalter Illustration, J.S. Wagner Collection, King David, Lyre, Museu Gulbenkian LA 135, Penitent Psalms, Playfair Hours, Poitiers, Psalm 37 (38), Psalm 6, Rouen
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2020 International Congress on Medieval Studies Program

September 18, 2019 in Abstracts of Conference Papers, Announcements, Business Meeting, Conference, Conference Announcement, International Congress on Medieval Studies, Kalamazoo, Manuscript Studies, Reception, Societas Magica

Research Group on Manuscript Evidence
at the 55th International Congress on Medieval Studies
7–10 May 2020

[Published on 18 September 2019, with updates.]

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

With the achievement of our Activities at the 2019 International Congress on Medieval Studies (ICMS), described in our 2019 Congress Report, we prepare for the 2020 Congress. With the conclusion of the Call for Papers on 15 September 2019 for our sponsored and co-sponsored Sessions, we assign the Programs for our 5 sponsored and co-sponsored Sessions. Meanwhile, we describe their aims.

Soon, when appropriate, we will announce the Programs for the Sessions and publish the Abstracts for their Papers and Responses.

*****

Also, like the 2015–2019 Congresses, we plan for

an Open Business Meeting and
a co-sponsored Reception.

Again, like the 2016–2018 Congresses, we co-sponsor a Reception with the Index of Medieval Art at Princeton University (formerly the Index of Christian Art).

As usual, we 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, Indexed both by Year and by Author.

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Tags: Bibliomancy, Divination, History of Documents, History of Magic, Manuscript studies, Medieval Seals, Prologues in Medieval Texts, Scrying, Seals & Signatures, Sortilège
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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.

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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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“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

Research Group on Manuscript Evidence at the 55th International Congress on Medieval Studies 7–10 May 2020

What We Planned

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

Guided Tours 2019

Gutenberg & Friends

Armchair Exhibition

Close Up & Personal

Round-Up

Previews

Anniversary Celebrations

Watch This Space

Join Us

Research Group on Manuscript Evidence at the 55th International Congress on Medieval Studies 7–10 May 2020

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

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

Research Group on Manuscript Evidence
at the 55th International Congress on Medieval Studies
7–10 May 2020

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

Research Group on Manuscript Evidence
at the 55th International Congress on Medieval Studies
7–10 May 2020

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)