“Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, MS 41:  A Workshop”
Parker Library, 11 December 1993

Invitation Letter Page 1 for 11 December 1993

Invitation Letter Page 2 for 11 December 1993

In the Series of Seminars and Workshops on “The Evidence of Manuscripts”
The Parker Library, Corpus Christi College, Cambridge

2-page Invitation in pdf with 1-page RSVP Form

The previous Workshop in the Series considered

“Professionals’ Views of Manuscript Writing”
1 November 1993

[First published in 15 September 2016, as Mildred Budny reviews the event and its setting among the many events and activities of the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence]

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The Plan

Dated 12 November 1993, the 2-page Invitation Letter (shown here and downloadable here with the 1-page RSVP Form) provides the Menu for the Food for Thought.

We plan to hold a workshop on Saturday, 11 December, devoted to Corpus Christi College, MS 41:  the Corpus Old English Bede.  This large-format eleventh-century manuscript principally contains a copy of the Old English version of Bede‘s Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum, with a large cycle of decorated initials, including historiated initials depicting secular and religious subjects.  It also has numerous texts added in the margins and other available areas.  In Latin and Old English, the additions include liturgical, homiletic, poetic and other texts:  portions of a sacramentary, part of a martyrology, metrical and prose charms, a recipe, prayers, the beginning of Solomon and Saturn I, six anonymous homilies, two runic inscriptions and the bilingual donorship inscription recording Bishop Leofric‘s gift of the book to Exeter Cathedral.  There are many trials, sketches and drawings, including some supplied, retouched or retraced initials.  The multiple additions endow the book with the remarkable character of a combined “commonplace book” and sketchbook, forming a richly layered artifact.

Much goes on between the covers.  Not all of it seemly.  For example, this manuscript sees fit to include an image of a hanged man.  Creepy.

The Years’ Long Focus of Research

As the Letter explains,

MS 41 has been a focus of our research at the Parker Library over a number of years,  It was closely examined for a new catalogue of Anglo-Saxon and related manuscripts at Corpus.  As part of our ongoing exploration of the book, the workshop will discuss its nature, its problems and its context.  We hope you might attend to give your advice and help.

The Speakers

As usual,

We aim to run the workshop on informal lines, as a round table.  This will give plenty of opportunity to respond to the speakers and ask questions.

The subjects and possible subjects:

Mildred Budny will survey the character of the manuscript and summarise our work on it.

Raymond Grant will assess the manuscript and its problems.

Ray Page will consider some of its linguistic features.

Don Scragg will examine the language of some of the marginal texts.

Sarah Keefer will examine the liturgical material and its context, both within the manuscript and among surviving sources.

Richard Gameson will discussion the decoration and illustration.

There might be a report of Richard Johnson’s work in progress on the homily on St Michael.

Tim Graham will survey the signs of early modern use in the book.

As usual, “we hope that others will contribute to the discussion from their areas of specialisation and interest”.

The Manuscript(s)

MS 41 will be available for examination during the workshop, along with other books in the collection.  They will include manuscripts containing Old English translations of major Latin texts in large format, manuscripts containing texts similar to those added in the margins, manuscripts which Leofric gave to Exeter and manuscripts used as “commonplace books” through acquiring miscellaneous added texts in available blank areas (MSS 12, 162, 190, 191, 201, 326, 357, 419 + 421 and 422).

As usual, “Other volumes may emerge for inspection in the course of the session”.

Northwest View of Exeter Cathedral in 1830. Engraving by W. Deeble based on a drawing by R. Browne. Via Wikipedia Commons.

The Logistics

As usual,

The workshop will meet in the Parker Library.  We will begin at 11 a.m., break for lunch and continue until about 4:30 p.m.  Because the College no longer provides lunches on Saturdays we have to adjourn for lunch in town.  Alas, we must ask our participants to contribute to the cost of lunch, as our Research Group funds cannot cover it.  To let us know whom we may expect, please fill out the enclosed form and return it to me as soon as possible.

The Participants

Invitations were sent to:

R.I. Page, Mildred Budny, Tim Graham, Catherine Hall, Nicholas Hadgraft, Nigel Wilkins, Leslie French, Toshiyuki Takamiya, James Carley, Hildegard Tristram, Raymond Grant, Sarah Keefer, Don Scragg, Richard Gameson, Malcolm Godden, Christine Fell, Joyce Hill, Janet Bately, Andrew Prescott, Nigel Ramsay, Tessa Webber, Alexander Rumble, Michael Gullick, Gareth Colgan, Katherine Lowe, Graham Woan, Paul Remley, Richard Johnson, Kurimi Saito.

Present (according to the returned RSVP Forms and the Fifth Annual Report):

There attended “members of the Research Group and others”:

Mr Graham, Mrs Hall, Prof Godden, Dr Rumble, Mr Gullick, Prof. J. Bately (London), Prof. J.P. Carley (York University, Toronto), Dr K.A. Lowe (Glasgow), Dr G. Woan (Cambridge), Dr K. Saito (Japan College of Social Work, Tokyo) and Dr J.R. Hagland (Trondheim).

The Research Group Archives

For the Record in the Fifth Annual Report to the Leverhulme Trust for the Research Project on “The Archaeology of Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts”, which came to a close on 30 September 1994, after several more Seminars or Workshops and more research.

The Report repeats most of the list of speakers and subjects, as well as all of the manuscripts as promised or planned in the Invitation Letter.  With a few adjustments, reflecting the day’s accomplishments, it forms a corrected record of the event as accomplished, complementing the report in the Invitation Letter of the event as planned.

The workshop discussed the character, problems, and context of the manuscript.

Dr Budny gave an introduction to the manuscript and summarised our research work on it.

Prof. R.J.S. Grant (Alberta) assessed the structure and contents of the manuscript, and considered the Bede text in detail.

© The British Library Board, Arundel MS 91, folio 26v. Historiated initial with Saint Michael and His Dragon, for a Latin Homily on the Dedication of His Church.

Prof. Page examined some of its linguistic features.

Dr. R. Gameson (University of Kent) discussed the decoration and illustration.

Prof. Keefer examined the liturgical material and its context, both within the manuscript and among surviving sources.

Dr. G.D. Scragg (Manchester) examined the language of homiletic texts.

Dr Budny reported the work in progress by Mr R. Johnson (Northwestern University) on the homily devoted to St Michael.

Mr Graham surveyed the signs of early modern use in the book.

Something for almost every taste.  Scribbles and Sketches Included.

Useful guides online, with examples in digital facsimile, include some varied selections of Commonplace Books.  Something for everyone, perhaps.

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

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The Manuscript and The Series

Invitation Letter, Plus Marginalia, for 24 June 1994.

Other Seminars and Workshops in the Series paid attention to MS 41, as it lay on occasion upon the Reading Table for consultation and examination, or appeared by proxy in photographs for travelling exhibitions to those held elsewhere than at the Parker Library.

The Seminars onsite include:

“Manuscript Illustrations as Evidence for Anglo-Saxon Life”
Parker Library, 20 May 1989

“Marginalia in Manuscripts”
Parker Library, 24 June 1994

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The Manuscript on the Net: A First

As the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence engaged in the application of both photographic work and the display of photographic images of manuscripts via computing, the invitation to perform such a transfer trans-Atlantically led to the publication of “The First Network Transfer of Images in Anglo-Saxon Studies” in the Old English Newsletter, 26:1 (Fall 1992), 32–33, now online. The choice for this demonstration, initiated at the Cambridge end by Leslie French, involved 2 images from Corpus MS 41, with photographs made by Mildred Budny, of the initials on pages 264 and 272.

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The Handbook and the Illustrated Catalogue

MS 41 also figures in

• The Palaeographical and Textual Handbook,

and

• the Illustrated Catalogue of Anglo-Saxon, and Early Anglo-Norman Manuscript Art at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge (1997).

The Handbook was presented at the Seminar on
“Facsimiles, Diplomatic Texts and Editions”
Parker Library, 17 March 1990

The scope and approach of the Handbook was reported in Mildred Budny, “Worcester Manuscripts at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge:  A Report on Recent Research”, Old English Newsletter, 26:3 (Spring 1993), 22–35, at pages 24–25.

The same report describes the plan of the Catalogue (pages 25–30).

In the Illustrated Catalogue (1997), MS 41 is Budny Number 32 (Volume I, pages 501–524, and Volume II, plates 396–444).

You may find it through the special Promotional Offer.

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The next Workshop in the Series on “The Evidence of Manuscripts” considered

“Image-Processing and Manuscript Studies”
15 January 1994

For the first time in the Series, the event received a “Preliminary Report” in the form of a Booklet, downloadable here. See the full “Series.

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