Seminars, Workshops, Colloquia & Symposia (1989–)

Events of the
Research Group on Manuscript Evidence

[First published in sections on our first website on *19 April 2006, with updates there and here]

Logo of the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence in Monochrome VersionSince 1990, from its very beginnings, the Research Group has held Seminars, Workshops, Colloquia, and Symposia (organized or co-organized by Mildred Budny) variously at The Parker Library of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, and at other centers in England, Japan, and the United States.  In England, many of these sessions belonged to the series of Research Group Seminars on “The Evidence of Manuscripts”.  At libraries, the sessions have taken place over relevant manuscripts in the collection, supplemented by photographs.  Elsewhere the sessions have usually been accompanied by displays or exhibitions of photographs, mostly by Mildred Budny.

Logo of the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence (colour version)Since 2001, the Research Group has jointly sponsored scholarly meetings, co-organized by Mildred Budny and held at various centers. Some of these events augment and expand the subjects explored in our Sessions, both Sponsored Sessions and Co-Sponsored Sessions, at the annual International Congress on Medieval Studies (Congress Sessions), which appear in our Congress Archive. Our ‘Events’, comprising scholarly meetings elsewhere, as well as Photographic Exhibitions, Receptions, and More (sometimes at the International Congress itself), appear in our Events Archive.

I.  The “Prequel” in 1989

“Illustrations in Manuscripts as Evidence for Daily Life”.
Parker Library, 20 May 1989

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

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

An initial seminar, held in May 1989 at the Parker Library, prepared the way for the formation of the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence and its series of Seminars officially devoted to “The Evidence of Manuscripts”, from the December 1989 Seminar onward.

This inaugural seminar considered “Illustrations in Manuscripts as Evidence for Daily Life” or “Anglo-Saxon Life” (the descriptions differed).

Remember, this was before the discovery of the New Digital World of imaging for manuscripts and their study.  We had to make do, if possible, with the materials which could come into view.  And sometimes they could include, or center upon, the manuscripts themselves.  Or some of them.

The manuscripts on the table for discussion included these examples in the Corpus Christi College collection:

  • MS 23, Part I (“The Corpus Prudentius”)
  • MS 41 (“The Corpus Old English Bede”)
  • MS 183 (“King Athelstan’s Presentation Copy of Bede’s ‘Life of Saint Cuthbert’ and Other Texts”), and
  • MS 389 (“The Corpus Eremetical Saints’ Lives by Jerome and Felix”).

We believed it useful to bring together manuscript scholars as well as others, including linguists and archaeologists, to consider the evidence which manuscript illustrations provided, whether direct or indirect, for customs, costumes, weaponry, armor, drinking vessels, and other activities during the Anglo-Saxon period, or any period, particularly when considered in the context of the transmission patterns of the given manuscripts, texts, and cycles of illustrations.

The participants included R.I. Page, Mildred Budny, David M. Wilson, Christine E. Fell, James A. Graham-Campbell, Leslie E. Webster, Patrick Wormald, and Richard Gem. (The records surviving a move may be incomplete, while the RSVPs which remain in our Research Group Archives testify to the first steps of a pioneering activity.)

It was agreed that the opportunity to examine manuscripts together, in the company of specialists in various fields, deserved further meetings.

And so the series commenced.

[Notable, in retrospect, which manuscripts were placed on the table, in company with each other.  Not too shabby, don’t you think?]

Front cover of the assembled booklet with the Profile of the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence and the full set of 5 Annual Reports to the Leverhulme Trust, which funded the 5-year major Research ProjectWhile we review the full series of Seminars which followed this Prequel, it may be worth observing how many of the manuscripts selected for collective consideration found a detailed report in the principal publication which was allowed to emerge from the long-term collaborative Research Project at the Parker Library, dedicated to integrating scholarly research with conservation work.  This specifically integrated research began with the arrival of the new Senior Research Associate at the Parker Library, in an outside-funded position, for 2 years (1987–9), and then grew into a 5-year Research Project funded by the Leverhulme Trust, with the addition of a Research Assistant and provisions for photographic work by the same Senior Research Associate.

The Annual Reports to the Leverhulme Trust spell out the course of the research, its scholarly meetings (including the relevant period within this Series of Seminars), its contacts with other centers and scholars, its plans, and its array of discoveries.  Details about those Annual Reports appear among our Publications.

Front Covers for Volumes I & II of 'Insular, Anglo-Saxon, and Anglo-Norman Manuscript Art at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge: An Illustrated Catalogue' by Mildred Budny, with the title of the publication and the gold-stamped logo of the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence, co-publisher of the volumesThe Illustrated Catalogue of Insular, Anglo-Saxon, and Early Anglo-Norman Manuscript Art at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge (2 volumes, 1997) report some of the fruits of the work of clearing the ground, ploughing the fields, sowing seeds, tending the crops, and preparing the harvest.  The manuscripts inspected at the First Seminar found a welcome place — illustrations included — in that publication, thus:

Join us for a closer look at this Seminar, aided by the souvenirs in the Research Group Archives, on its very own Page.

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II.  Seminars on “The Evidence of Manuscripts” (1989–1995), with Some Workshops, Visits, and a Symposium

Logo of the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence in Monochrome Version[For the Record:  As the series of seminars began with its first meeting, the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence took clearer form. We designed the logo, chose the official font, formed the plan for regular meetings to gather collaborative feedback, sought collaborative projects, prepared our first Style Manifesto, and embarked on a concerted series of Seminars on the Evidence of Manuscripts.]

Its List tells the range.  Now we show and tell the details, as we can process and post them, for the individual Events.

[About this series, a couple of reflections, as the WebEditor observes the long sight with hindsight.

Legendary series, some participants continue to say. Who knew, who could know, where it might lead?  Perhaps you might like to know about the dedicated efforts which stood before your happy times with digital facsimiles, fuller collaboration, the works.  We have done what we could.  It is what it is.

Placing the record before you might allow you to thank your lucky stars that you didn’t have to go through such laborious steps.  It would be a kindness, perhaps, not to insult us too much for having not had the benefits — that means us — of those who went before you, and for doing what seemed both necessary and possible, in a visionary way, to prepare the way for a better future for manuscript studies.  Most people nowadays, even people we thought were friends, then, regard it as inconsequential. If we were famous, they would perhaps admire its huge efforts, and share some consolation for the huge personal cost. (The Memoirs are astounding. However, there are still some good friends.) Whether it worked or not, in whichever ways, it seems a worthy aim.  Just sayin’.  Been There!  And Still Here!]

The Sequence

'Legal Manuscripts' Seminar on 16 December 1989

16 Decemer 1989

1989

“Legal Manuscripts, Their Make-Up and Contents”
Parker Library, 16 December 1989

1990

Cover for "Selected Pages from Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Palaeographical and Textual Handbook" by Mildred Budny, Leslie French et al.“Facsimiles, Diplomatic Texts and Editions”
Parker Library, 17 March 1990
This Seminar gave an exclusive preview of the Palaeographical and Textual Handbook

“Sixteenth-Century Interventions in Anglo-Saxon and Related Manuscripts”
Parker Library, 13 April 1990

“Corpus Christi College MS 139”:
A Twelfth-Century Historical Miscellany
Parker Library, 28 September 1990

1991

“Technical Literature and its Form and Layout in Early Medieval Manuscripts”
Parker Library, 13 July 1991

Invitation to 'Technical Literature' Seminar on 13 July 1991

13 July 1991

Invitation to Seminar on '16th-Century Transcripts of Anglo-Saxon Texts' on 12 October 1991

12 October 1991

“The Production, Make-up and Handling of Medieval Manuscripts”: A Workshop
Parker Library, 5 October 1991

“Sixteenth-Century Transcripts of Anglo-Saxon Texts”
Parker Library, 12 October 1991

“Corpus Christi College MS 383:
An Anglo-Saxon Legal Codex of the Late Eleventh or Early Twelfth Century”

Parker Library, 16 November 1991

1992

“Anglo-Saxon Writing Materials and Practices:
The Archaeological Record, Linguistic and Literary Evidence, and the Manuscripts”
Parker Library, 11 January 1992

Invitation to 'Prudentius Manuscripts' Seminar 5 June 1992

5 June 1992

'Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts in Cambridge and Oxford' Seminar Invitation 20 June 1992 Page 1

20 June 1992

“Corpus Christi College MSS 23 and 223:
The Corpus Prudentius and the Saint-Bertin Prudentius”
Parker Library, 2 June 1992

“Research on Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts in Cambridge and Oxford”
(With a Travelling Exhibition of Photographs)
Pembroke College, Oxford, 20 June 1992

Research Group Seminar, Workshop, Lectures, and Symposium in Japan
(With a Travelling Exhibition of Photographs)
Japan, November and December 1992

I.  Seminar on “The Research Group on Manuscript Evidence and its Work”
College of Arts and Sciences, University of Tokyo at Komaba, November 1992

Sign for Photographic Exhibitions of the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence, laid out in Adobe Garamond, with the Research Group logo in monochrome, and crediting the 'Photography by Mildred Budny'

Aoyama Gakuin Univ Symp 5 Dec 1992 Photograph © Mildred Budny

Approaching Aoyama Gakuin University, Tokyo, on 5 December 1992. Photograph © Mildred Budny.

II. Workshop on”Aspects of the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence”
Chuo University, Tokyo, December 1992

III.  Symposium on “The Integrated Approach to Manuscript Studies:  A New Horizon”
Aoyama Gakuin University, 5 December 1992,
as part of the Eighth Annual General Congress of the Japan Society for Medieval English Studies

1993

“Corpus Christi College MS 44: The Corpus Canterbury Pontifical”
Parker Library, 27 February 1993

“Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts from Worcester”
(With a Travelling Exhibition of Photographs)
Pembroke College, Oxford, 13 March 1993

“Corpus Christi College MS 201:
An Eleventh-Century Collection of Homiletic, Legal, and Other Texts in Latin and Old English”

Parker Library, 19 June 1993

“British Library, Cotton MS Tiberius A. iii:
An Eleventh-Century Miscellany of Latin and Old English Texts Owned by Christ Church, Canterbury”

British Library, 9 August 1993

“Professionals’ Views of Manuscript Writing:
Calligraphic Techniques in Medieval Manuscripts and their Modern Descendants”

Parker Library, 15 November 1993

“Corpus Christi College MS 41: The Corpus Old English Bede”
Parker Library, 11 December 1993

“Imaging Aids in the British Library”
British Library, 15 December 1993
reported in the Appendix to the Report for the next event, held in January 1994

Invitation to 'Imaging Aids for Manuscript Studies' Workshop Invitation, Page 1

15 January 1994

Cover for Preliminary Report of the January 1994 Workshop on 'Image Processing and Manuscript Studies'1994

“Image-Processing and Manuscript Studies
Parker Library, 15 January 1994
with downloadable “Preliminary Report”

“Pigment-Analysis of Corpus Manuscripts”
Parker Library, 4 March 1994

“King Alfred and His Legacy”
English Faculty, University of Oxford, 29 April 1994

“Marginalia in Manuscripts”
Parker Library, 24 June 1994

“Medieval Manuscript Fragments:
Their Problems and Challenges”

Parker Library, 19 August 1994

Invitation Letter for Seminar on 'King Alfred and His Legacy' at the Faculty of English at the University of Oxford 20 April 1994

20 April 1994

Invitation to 'Canterbury Manuscripts' Seminar on 19 September 1994

19 September 1994

“Canterbury Manuscripts”
Parker Library, 19 September 1994

1995

“Color in Medieval Manuscripts”
Parker Library, June 1995

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III.  Symposia on “The Transmission of the Bible” (1995–2000)

Starting in 1995, the Research Group jointly sponsored a series of Annual Symposia on “The Transmission of the Bible,” organized by Mildred Budny and held at various centers in turn.  Starting in 2006, the Symposium Program also included brief Abstracts of the Papers.  Starting in 2014, we publish those programs on our redesigned website:  Bible Symposia.

  • Carolingian Bible Symposium Announcement (1996)

    4 April 1996

    “The Bible and the Visual Arts” (Barnard College, Columbia University, April 1995)

  • “The Carolingian Bible and Its Impact” (Princeton University, April 1996)
  • “The Late-Antique Bible and Its Impact” (Douglass College, Rutgers University, March 1997)
  • “The Bible and The Liturgy” (Fordham University, April 1998)
  • “The Apocalypse in Word and Image” (Princeton University, April 1999)
  • “Canterbury and the Bible” (Douglass College, Rutgers University, March 2000)

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IV.  Workshops, Colloquia & Symposia (2001–)

2001 Poster for the Inaugural and Celebratory Workshop on 'The Dating Service or the Dating Game? Problems and Potential of Dating Materials from the Early Medieval Period', laid out in Adobe Garamond

3 November 2001

2001
” ‘The Dating Service or The Dating Game?’
Problems and Potential of Dating Materials from the Early Medieval Period”

An Inaugural and Celebratory Workshop at The College of New Jersey, November 2001

This Workshop, inaugurating a series of workshops and celebrating both the formation of the Early Medieval Forum and the recognition for the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence of tax-exempt status as a Section 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, marked the resumption of scholarly meetings following our Annual Symposia on the Transmission of the Bible.

Co-organized by Celia Chazelle and co-sponsored by the Early Medieval Forum, the Index of Christian Art of Princeton University, and the History Department and History Club of The College of New Jersey, the Workshop was held at The College of New Jersey, Ewing, New Jersey, in November 2001.

Information about the interests, activities, and listserv of the Early Medieval Forum appears on its website.

Poster for "Shaping Understanding" Colloquium (March 2002)

7-9 March 2002

2002
“Shaping Understanding: Form and Order in the Anglo-Saxon World, 400–1100”

A Colloquium at The British Museum, March 2002

Co-organized by Leslie E. Webster and co-sponsored by The British Museum, The British Academy, the Friends of the British Museum, the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, the American Friends of the British Museum, the Index of Christian Art of Princeton University, the Royal Historical Society, and the Centre for Palaeography in the School of Advanced Study of the University of London, the Colloquium was held at the Clore Centre of The British Museum in London in March 2002.

Abstracts of the thirty-three papers presented at the Colloquium have been published in print and are also available online in a couple of ways, as described among the Research Group Publications and for the event. You may also download it in the authentic form in which we designed it for the event, and distributed it there and afterwards in print.

2003

Poster for "Innovations for Editing" Colloquium 2003

24-26 October 2003

“Innovations for Editing Texts
from Antiquity to Enlightenment”

The Ohio State University, October 2003

Co-organized by Frank T. Coulson and co-sponsored by the Center for Epigraphical and Palaeographical Studies in the Department of Greek and Latin of The Ohio State University, the Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies at The Ohio State University, and the Index of Christian Art of Princeton University, the Colloquium was held at the Center for Epigraphical and Palaeographical Studies in October 2003.

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Our series of Sponsored and Co-Sponsored Symposia resumed with the Anniversary Symposium in 2009.

2009
“Gathering at the Threshold:  A Celebratory Symposium”

Princeton University, November 2009

2013
“Identity & Authenticity:  Creating, Preserving, & Transmitting Identities Across Time & Place”

Poster 1 for "Identity & Authenticity" Symposium (22-23 March 2013) with images courtesy of De Brailes Medieval Art LLS and David W. Sorenson and with layout in RGME Bembino

22-23 March 2013

Poster 2 for "Identity & Authenticity" Symposium (22-23 March 2013)

22-23 March 2013

Princeton University, March 2013

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2014 (1)

“Recollections of the Past:
Editorial & Artistic Workshops from Late Antiquity to Early Modernity”

Poster for "Recollections of the Past" Symposium (May 2014) with border

16-17 May 2014

Princeton University, May 2014
Co-sponsored by
the Program in Medieval Studies at Princeton University,
the Index of Christian Art at Princeton University, and
James Marrow and Emily Rose
and held in the Lewis Library in May 2014

2014 (2)
“When the Dust Has Settled, Or, When Good Scholars Go Back . . .

Princeton University, November 2014
Co-sponsored by the Index of Christian Art at Princeton University,

with sponsorship by the Department of Art & Archaeology,
John H. Rassweiler, and
Celia Chazelle,
and held in McCormick Hall in November 2014

2014 Colloquium Program

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2016

“Words & Deeds”

'Save the Date' Poster for the 2016 'Words & Deeds' Symposium at Princeton University, with 1 image from the Otto Ege Collection, The Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University. Photography by Lisa Fagin Davis. Reproduced by permission. Poster set in RGME BembinoPoster 2 for the 2016 'Words & Deeds' Symposium at Princeton University, with 2 images from the Otto Ege Collection, The Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University. Photography by Lisa Fagin Davis. Reproduced by permission. Poster set in RGME BembinoPoster 1 for the 2016 'Words & Deeds' Symposium at Princeton University, with 4 images from the Otto Ege Collection, The Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University. Photography by Lisa Fagin Davis. Reproduced by permission. Poster set in RGME Bembino

Princeton University, 25–26 March 2016
Co-sponsored by
The Department of Art & Archaeology
The Index of Christian Art
James Marrow & Emily Rose

Information here
Program
Program Booklet
Report

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We welcome suggestions for subjects, venues, sponsorship, participation. Please Contact Us.

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