'Archaeology of Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts' Archives -

“Medieval Binding Structures” Trial Project (1989-1990)

October 3, 2016 in Reports, Uncategorized

Trial Project at the Parker Library
(1989–1990)

for the Census of

Medieval Binding Structures to A.D. 1550
Preserved in the British Isles

Plus Continuing Links
1989–1994

At early stages, members of the Research Team both at the Parker Library (from 1989–1994) and in its 5-year Leverhulme Trust Research Project (1 October 1989 – 30 September 1994) participated in the discussions and some in-house research which, among other contributions, explored the ground for a survey of medieval binding structures in the British Isles.

That aim, directed by Jennifer M. Sheppard of Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge, became a large-scale project for identifying and recording the corpus of Medieval Binding Structures to A.D. 1550 Preserved in the British Isles. Among the results of that aim was the publication of her detailed study of The Buildwas books: Book production, acquisition and use at an English Cistercian monastery, 1165-c.1400. (Oxford: Oxford Bibliographical Society, Bodleian Library, 1997). A list of her published works, including reports about this project, can be found here: Sheppard, Jennifer Mary.

Some milestones along the journey, recorded in publications by Jennifer M. Sheppard:

“Some Twelfth-Century Monastic Bindings and the Question of Localization”, in Making the Medieval Book: Techniques of Production. Proceedings of the Fourth Conference of the Seminar in the History of the Book to 1500, Oxford, July 1992, edited by Linda L. Brownrigg (1995), pages 181–98
‘Describing Medieval Binding Structures: Experiences of a Census-Taker’, Rare Books Newsletter, 57 (Winter 1997), 57–70.
‘Census of Western Medieval Bookbinding Structures to 1500 in British and Irish Libraries’, Journal of the Society of Archivists, 13:1 (2009), pages 29–30

A worthy project, and we are glad to have witnessed stages in its creation.

As part of the work now of recording the early history of the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence for our website, we enter the Archives, survey their range, and report some of their materials. Thus we may assess the Group’s activities both for its own research projects and in support of others’. Always glad to celebrate the work of manuscript studies, from wherever the dedication may emerge.

[Published on 3 October 2016 by Mildred Budny]

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Tags: 'Archaeology of Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts', Corpus Christi College Archiveds XXVII.5, Corpus Christi College Archives XVII.1, Corpus Christi College MS 212, Corpus Christi College MS 86, Corpus Christi College MS 87, Corpus Christi College MS 89, Jennifer M Sheppard, Leverhulme Trust, Medieval Binding Structures Project, Parker Library, Research Group Archives, Trial Project
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Seminar on the Evidence of Manuscripts (January 1992)

September 20, 2016 in Manuscript Studies, Seminars on Manuscript Evidence

“Anglo-Saxon Writing Materials and Practices”
The Parker Library
11 January 1992

Invitation Letter for Seminar on 'Anglo-Saxon Writing Materials & Practices' on 11 January 1992

Invitation Letter for 11 January 1992

RSVP Form for Seminar on 'Anglo-Saxon Writing Materials & Practices' on 11 January 1992

RSVP Form for 11 January 1992

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

Invitation in pdf, with 1-Page Invitation Letter and 1-page RSVP Form

The previous meeting of the seminar considered

“Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, MS 383”
The Parker Library, 16 November 1991

[Published on 20 September 2016 by Mildred Budny]

The Plan

From the moment of the First Seminar in the Series, devoted to “Manuscript Illustrations as Evidence for Anglo-Saxon Life”, and taking inspiration from it, the subject for this Seminar emerged naturally, early in the Series, as part of a Research Project at the Parker Library designed to examine “The Archaeology of Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts” and to integrate expertise in a variety of disciplines.

The Brandon Plaque. 9th-century Anglo-Saxon gold and niello. The British Museum, via Creative Commons.

The Brandon Plaque. © Trustees of the British Museum.

The design of the Project flowed, in no small part, from the work for a Ph.D. dissertation (University of London, 1985) which focused on an integrated study of Anglo-Saxon manuscripts and was supervised by an archaeologist, David M. Wilson, the Director of the British Museum and author of the catalogue of Ornamental Anglo-Saxon Metalwork, 700–1100, in the British Museum (1964). That authoritative catalogue contains some of the materials considered at the Seminar.

For the Seminar, the 1-page Invitation Letter (shown here and downloadable here, with the RSVP Form), dated 15 December 1991, lays down the cloth for the repast.

We will hold the next meeting of this seminar on Saturday, 11 January.

The subject will be: Anglo-Saxon writing materials and practices. We wish to look at the evidence for manuscript production in the Anglo-Saxon period, especially

1) the archaeological record of writing materials, tools, processes and book bindings;

2) the linguistic and literary evidence for writing and making manuscripts from both Old English and Latin sources; and

3) the evidence of the manuscripts themselves.

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Tags: 'Archaeology of Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts', 'The Making of England' Exhibition (1991), 2002 British Museum Colloquium, Apotropaic, Brandon Plaque, British Library Additional MS 89000, British Museum, Budny's Illustrated Catalogue, Chester-le-Street, Christine Fell, Corpus Christi College MS 183, Corpus Christi College MS 23A, Corpus Christi College MS 286, Corpus Christi College MS 389, Corpus Christi College MS 41, Ernst Kitzinger, Flixborough, Kevin Leahy, King Athelstan, Leslie Webster, Lindisfarne, Manuscript Illustrations, Medieval Writing Materials, Parker Library, Saint Cuthbert's Coffin, Saint Cuthbert's Gospel, Saint Cuthbert's Pectoral Cross, Saint Cuthbert's Relics, Scribal Portraits, Scribal Practices, Seminars on Manuscript Evidence, Stonyhurst Gospel, Thomas Julian Brown, Vivien Law
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1992 Congress: The “Prequel”

September 10, 2016 in Conference, International Congress on Medieval Studies, Kalamazoo

Prequel to the Research Group Activities

At the Annual International Congress on Medieval Studies

1985‒1992 Congresses leading to the 1993 Congress and Beyond

[First published on our website on 10 September 2016]

Mattei Athena at the Louvre, Paris. Classical Roman copy from a 4th-century BCE Greek original. Via Wikipedia Commons.

Often, from the 1993 Congress onward, the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence participates in the International Congress on Medieval Studies (ICMS) held annually at Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo. The Research Group activities at the Congress take myriad forms.

Usually, now, we sponsor and co-sponsor Sessions with Papers, Responses, or a Panel Discussion. Sometimes the Session includes a Display of original manuscript and related materials. Occasionally we have provided a Photographic Exhibition of manuscript images and commentary. Some years call for special celebrations, with a Party or Reception, as with our Special Anniversary Year of 2014. Our practice also includes Trustees’ Meetings or Business Meetings, as appropriate; since 2015, our Open Business Meetings are listed in the Congress Schedule, with an assigned room and provided refreshments. The concise Agendas for these Meetings, which report on one page our activities, accomplishments, prospects, requirements, and vision, continue to be downloaded regularly from this website (so far for 2015 and 2016).

Our Congress Archive reports our Congress Activities for each year. Among them are Sponsored Sessions and Co-Sponsored Sessions, highlighting the different organizations in their own right.

These concerted activities did not arise, unlike Athena, fully formed. They took years of preparations, both in the development of an integrated approach to manuscript studies, and in the cultivation of fields of expertise, experts, scholars, students, and others interested in the study and promotion of better understanding the transmission of written materials through the ages. Some of this spadework occurred at the International Congress on Medieval Studies. We review its highlights here.

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Tags: 'Archaeology of Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts', 'Matthew Parker and His Books', Anglo-Saxon Art, Anglo-Saxon Embroidery, Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts, Budny's Illustrated Catalogue, Co-Sponsored Sessions, Corpus Christi College MS 144, Corpus Christi College MS 197B, Corpus Christi College MS 23, Corpus Glossary, Goddess Athena, Image of the Ascension, Interlace Ornament, Manuscript studies, Medieval Institute Publications, Opus Anglicanum, Photographic Exhibitions, Reception, Royal Bible of Saint Augustine's Abbey, Seminars on Manuscript Evidence, Sponsored Sessions, Thomas Ohlgren's 'Iconographic Catalogue', Vivian Bible
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“Medieval Binding Structures” Trial Project (1989-1990)

Trial Project at the Parker Library
(1989–1990)

for the Census of

Medieval Binding Structures to A.D. 1550
Preserved in the British Isles

Plus Continuing Links
1989–1994

Seminar on the Evidence of Manuscripts (January 1992)

“Anglo-Saxon Writing Materials and Practices”
The Parker Library
11 January 1992

The Plan

1992 Congress: The “Prequel”

Prequel to the Research Group Activities

At the Annual International Congress on Medieval Studies

1985‒1992 Congresses leading to the 1993 Congress and Beyond

Featured Posts

Archives

“Medieval Binding Structures” Trial Project (1989-1990)

Trial Project at the Parker Library (1989–1990)

for the Census of

Medieval Binding Structures to A.D. 1550 Preserved in the British Isles

Plus Continuing Links 1989–1994

Seminar on the Evidence of Manuscripts (January 1992)

“Anglo-Saxon Writing Materials and Practices” The Parker Library 11 January 1992

The Plan

1992 Congress: The “Prequel”

Prequel to the Research Group Activities

At the Annual International Congress on Medieval Studies

1985‒1992 Congresses leading to the 1993 Congress and Beyond

Trial Project at the Parker Library
(1989–1990)

Medieval Binding Structures to A.D. 1550
Preserved in the British Isles

Plus Continuing Links
1989–1994

“Anglo-Saxon Writing Materials and Practices”
The Parker Library
11 January 1992