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  • News
    • News & Views
    • Reviews
    • Highlights
  • Blogs
    • Manuscript Studies
      • Manuscript Studies: Contents List
    • International Congress on Medieval Studies
      • Abstracts of Congress Papers
        • Abstracts of Papers Listed by Author
        • Abstracts of Papers Listed by Year
  • About
    • Mission
    • People
      • Mildred Budny — Her Page
      • Adelaide Bennett Hagens
    • Activities
      • Events
      • Congress Activities
        • Sponsored Conference Sessions (1993‒)
          • Panels at the M-MLA Convention
        • Co-sponsored Conference Sessions (2006‒)
    • History
      • Seals, Matrices & Documents
      • Genealogies & Archives
  • Bembino
    • Multi-Lingual Bembino
  • Congress
    • Sponsored Conference Sessions (1993‒)
    • Co-sponsored Conference Sessions (2006‒)
    • Abstracts of Congress Papers
      • Abstracts Listed by Author
      • Abstracts Listed by Year
    • Kalamazoo Archive
    • Panels at the M-MLA Convention
      • Abstracts of Papers for the M-MLA Convention
  • Events
    • The Research Group Speaks: The Series
    • Seminars, Workshops, Colloquia & Symposia (1989–)
      • Seminars on ‘The Evidence of Manuscripts’
      • Symposia on ‘The Transmission of the Bible’
      • The New Series
        • 2019 Anniversary Symposium Program: The Roads Taken
        • 2019 Anniversary Symposium Registration
        • 2019 Anniversary Symposium Registration Open
    • Abstracts of Papers for Events
      • Abstracts of Papers for Seminars on ‘The Evidence of Manuscripts’
      • Abstracts of Papers for Symposia, Workshops & Colloquia
    • Receptions & Parties
    • Business Meetings
    • Photographic Exhibitions & Master Classes
    • Events Archive
  • ShelfLife
    • Journal Description
    • ShelfMarks: The RGME-Newsletter
    • Publications
      • “Insular, Anglo-Saxon, and Early Anglo-Norman Manuscript Art at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge” (1997)
        • Mildred Budny, ‘Catalogue’
        • The Illustrated Catalogue (1997)
      • The Illustrated Handlist
      • Semi-Official Counterfeiting in France 1380-1422
      • No Snap Decisions: Challenges of Manuscript Photography
    • History and Design of Our Website
  • Galleries
    • Watermarks & the History of Paper
    • Galleries: Contents List
    • Scripts on Parade
    • Texts on Parade
      • Latin Documents & Cartularies
      • New Testament Leaves in Old Armenian
    • Posters on Display
    • Layout Designs
  • Donations and Contributions
    • 2019 Anniversary Appeal
    • Orders
  • Contact Us
  • Links
    • Catalogs, Metadata, and Databases: A Handlist of Links
    • Manuscripts & Rare Books
    • Maps, Plans & Drawings
    • Seals, Seal-Matrices & Documents

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2019 Congress Behind the Scenes Report

May 6, 2020 in Anniversary, Conference, Events, International Congress on Medieval Studies, Kalamazoo, Reception, Societas Magica, Uncategorized

Light at the End of the Corridor

Behind the Scenes

RGME Activities
at the 2019 International Congress on Medieval Studies

[Posted on 6 May 2020]

At the End of the 2019 Congress. A view down the dorm corridor, with Light at the End of the Tunnel.

At the End of the 2019 Congress: “Light at the End of the Corridor”.

Following the successful completion of our activities at the 2019 Congress, we offer an informal glimpse Behind the Scenes.  Customarily, the completion of the Congress is followed by its Report.  Occasionally, there also follows a Behind-the-Scenes Report.  For the 2019 Congress, we planned already then to offer such an additional, informal Report, but events and tasks arising along the way back from the Congress pushed back its timetable for completion.  Then, in steady succession, other tasks and activities occupied attention.

Some are reported in our blog about our Congress Activities, as we prepared for the 2020 Congress, while others have their say in our blog about Manuscript Studies, and in our reports about other Events, including the 2020 Spring Symposium. The required cancellation in March and April 2020 of that Symposium and the 2020 Congress as a whole led to further re-arrangements. Among other things, we attended to publishing the 2020 Symposium Booklet and the Abstracts for all our 2020 Congress Sessions as “souvenirs” of what had been planned.  Research Group plans and adaptations, including possible rescheduling of parts of those events, are reported in the announcement about Keeping Up: Updates for Spring 2020. Now, as the appointed time would have come to travel to the 2020 Congress as formerly intended, we revisit the 2019 Congress with its Behind-the-Scenes Report, including some hindsight.

Earlier Reports from Behind-the-Scenes

Tardis2 via Wikipedia Commons

Tardis

For the 2016 Congress Report, its Follow-Up Report took shape under the title of Doctor Who-Done-It.  That term had its inspiration from a conversation on the way from one of the Research Group co-sponsored Sessions to our Reception, likewise co-sponsored with the Societas Magica.  Then it was revealed that our Director, Dr. Mildred Budny, drives an equivalent of the  Tardis (a conveyance for “Time and Relative Dimension in Space”).  

As described on the official website for Doctor Who (see also Doctor Who), the Tardis is the “Doctor’s method of travel through both time and space — all Gallifreyan Time Lords use TARDISes for getting from A to B — and from then to now.”  Who knew that this conveyance would also figure among the activities behind the scenes at the 2019 Congress?

The conversation at the 2016 Congress had to do with transporting some copies of the Illustrated Catalogue to the Reception for collection by their new owners.  2016 was the first year that our Director elected to drive, rather than to fly, to Kalamazoo for the Congress — because of the new arrangements by which the Research Group, as its co-publisher, took over the distribution of that Publication, and through which our Director had identified prospective owners, who wished to collect their copies at the Congress (rather than, say, to have to cover the international shipping costs).  At that Congress, our Director could be seen with some of these copies in tow, on a wheeled luggage cart, on the way from one Session or Meeting to another.  On the way to the Reception, there came the question if the ones that time were the only ones that had been brought.  “Oh, no!  These are not the same ones that you have seen on earlier days of the Congress.  These are new, and there are more where they came from, for tomorrow.””

“Ah”, said Collin.  “Where do they [meaning the new ones] come from?”
“Ah”, said our Director, “They come from the back of my car.  There are the refills.”
“Oh!  So your car is the Tardis”.

And so came the title Doctor Who-Done-It.

At the next Congress, the 2017 Congress Report included an image of that conveyance, again in the company of the Illustrated Catalogue and one of its new owners.

Book Signing for Mildred Budny's Illustrated Catalogue, on a Sunny Afternoon outside Fetzer at the 2017 International Congress on Medieval Studies, Tardis Included.

Book Signing Scene outside Fetzer at the 2017 Congress. Photograph by Mildred Budny.

Gathering

Arriving at the Congress base to register on the Eve of the Congress, some of us gathered, as customary, at Bilbos Pizza.  Then it was time to place the Research Group Posters on billboards, where permitted and where space allowed.

RGME and Other Posters at the 2019 Congress.

RGME and Other Posters at the 2019 Congress.

The landscapes also await Arrivals.  Here, outside one of the Dorms — inside which, on occasions, we visit the Board Room (see below).

Plant Life to Greet the Congress Attendees. Row of Hostas alongside the Walkway. Photograph Mildred Budny.

Plant Life to Greet the Congress Attendees. Photograph Mildred Budny.

Setting the Stage

Preparing to start the Sessions and to engage in their Question-and-Answer discussions, our participants engaged in arranging the projection and other aims. The official Report for this Congress includes some Group Portraits of contributors to the different Sessions.  Here, two Speakers set up the projection for their joint paper at our first Session of the Congress, the Organizer of one of our co-sponsored Sessions participates in its discussion, and the Respondent for that Session strokes his beard as he delivers his paper.

Ian Cornelius and James Eric Ensley prepare to tell us about “The Lost Medieval Exemplar of Beinecke Library, Takamiya MS 23”

Eric and Ian Check the Projection for their Joint Paper at the 2019 Congress.

Eric and Ian Check the Projection for their Joint Paper at the 2019 Congress.

Vajra Regan listens to the progress of his Session on “Embedded in the Mainstream: Ritual Magic Incorporated in ‘Legitimate’ Texts”, one of the 2 Sessions co-sponsored by the Research Group and the Societas Magica .

Vajra at his Session at the 2019 Congress.

Vajra at his Session at the 2019 Congress.

Michael A. Conrad offers an erudite Response to Vajra’s Session by his observations “In Plain Sight:  The Promotion of Astrology and Magic at Royal Courts in the Thirteenth Century in Transcultural Perspective”.

Michael Presents His Paper at the the 2019 Congress.

Michael Presents His Paper at the the 2019 Congress.

It was then that we learned that often, giving Papers, Michael ponders while he holds his beard — an observation which he readily confirmed.

Michael Presents His Paper at the the 2019 Congress.

Michael Presents His Paper and Beard at the the 2019 Congress.

2019 Reception and Business Meeting Invitations.

2019 Reception and Business Meeting Invitations.

Our Business Meeting

This year’s Open Business Meeting was an outstanding success.  So many attendees — newcomers gladly included — that we had to bring in more chairs.  Our Associate, William H. Campbell, volunteered to find those arrangements.  As customary, Derek Shank recorded the Minutes.  Constructive suggestions abounded.

Scheduled for lunchtime (lunch provided) on the first full day of the Congress, and right after our first Session (only 1 building away), the Meeting offered an excellent way to launch our activities at the Congress and beyond.  Apparently there are no photographs of the occasion, but the 1-page Agenda not only sets the stage, but also provides a concise record of our achievements and aims for 2017–2018 and beyond, with requests for suggestions and contributions in funds and in kind.

The 2019 Agenda is now downloadable.  Please join us!

Our Reception

As in some previous years, our Reception was co-sponsored with the Societas Magica .  Conversation flowed, and some manuscript materials were examined.

Our Reception at the 2019 Congress.

Our Reception at the 2019 Congress.

Dan Attrell heads the table.

Our Reception at the 2019 Congress.

Our Reception at the 2019 Congress.

Groups hold conversations.

Our Reception at the 2019 Congress.

Our Reception at the 2019 Congress.

Greeting the gatherers.

Our Reception at the 2019 Congress.

Our Reception at the 2019 Congress.

Showing some specimens.

Our Reception at the 2019 Congress.

Our Reception at the 2019 Congress.

Pondering.

Our Reception at the 2019 Congress.

Our Reception at the 2019 Congress.

*****

The Board Room

At the end of the day, as in previous years, it was possible to retreat to one of the Student Lounges, where we gathered to talk, relax, and, on occasion, play board games.  Hence my customary term for that Room.  (Never “Bored”.)

In the Board Room at the 2019 Congress.

In the Board Room at the 2019 Congress.

Making a Move.

In the Board Room at the 2019 Congress.

In the Board Room at the 2019 Congress.

Engaging in the Game.

In the Board Room at the 2019 Congress.

Options.

In the Board Room at the 2019 Congress.

In the Board Room at the 2019 Congress.

The customary Shedding of Shoes.

Bare Feet in the Board Room at the 2019 Congress.

Bare Feet in the Board Room at the 2019 Congress.

Conversing in the Board Room.

In the Board Room 2019 Congress.

In the Board Room 2019 Congress.

Telling Stories.

In the Board Room at the 2019 Congress.

In the Board Room at the 2019 Congress.

Not forgetting Refreshments.

In the Board Room at the 2019 Congress.

In the Board Room at the 2019 Congress.

Happy Traditions in Good Company among Colleagues and Friends.

*****

Book Signing

At last, the edition and translation has appeared.  The Picatrix: A Medieval Treatise on Astral Magic, translated with an introduction by Dan Attrell and David Porreca (2019). The authors sign copies.   Hurray!

Congratulating the achievement, we join the company of admirers with the happy awareness that we have heard about the research for this publication over the years, including in some of our Sessions at the Congress.

Dan and David at Their Book-Signing at the 2019 Congress.

Dan and David at Their Book-Signing at the 2019 Congress.

For example, at the 2018 Congress, Abstract of Paper included.

Poster for our Session co-sponsored with the Societas Magica on "Occult Blockbusters of the Islamicate World", Part I: The Piccatrix (A Magical Bestseller)", organized by David Porreca and sponsored by both the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence amd the Societas Magica at the 2018 International Congress on Medieval Studies. Poster set in RGME Bembino.

2018 Poster for “Occult Blockbusters” Session.

Displays, Dragons Included.

Diane in the Display 2019 Congress.

Display at the 2019 Congress.

*****

Sunday Lunch, Plus Some Manuscript Materials

As customary in recent years, some of us gather at the cafeteria for Sunday lunch, as the Congress draws to its close and we prepare for return journeys.  As in recent years, the gathering gives the opportunity to look afresh at some manuscript materials.

Here.

Adelaide, Eleanor, and David at Sunday Lunch at the 2019 Congress.

Sunday Lunch at the 2019 Congress.

With some improvised, reclaimed materials, Michael wraps his newly won Manuscript Facsimile Page for safe transit.

Michael at Sunday Lunch at the 2019 Congress.

Michael at Sunday Lunch at the 2019 Congress.

Travelling T-Shirts as Selected and Modelled by Research Group Associates.

T-Shirts at Sunday Lunch at the 2019 Congress.

Derek and David with T-Shirts at Sunday Lunch at the 2019 Congress.

*****

Heading Home

As the Congress shuts down, participants, exhibitors, staff, and employees, hurry to pack and depart.  Then comes a quiet time, as some await their transport.  Among them is Ilona.

Ilona Awaits at the End of the 2019 Congress. Photograph by Mildred Budny.

Ilona Awaits at the End of the 2019 Congress.

As packing is completed, there is pause to look around the setting and reflect upon the completion of another Congress.

1) Looking out from a ground-floor dorm room toward the Parking Lot as its spaces have cleared.

View from the Dorm at the End of the Congress.

View from the Dorm at the End of the Congress.

2) A view of the Corridor leading to and from that room shows some “Light at the End of the Corridor”.

At the End of the 2019 Congress. A view down the dorm corridor, with Light at the End of the Tunnel.

At the End of the 2019 Congress: Light at the End of the Tunnel.

Now is the time to drive away.

The Empty Parking Lot after the 2019 Congress.

The Empty Parking Lot after the 2019 Congress.

The grey weather following the Congress made a contrast with the sunny days along part of its course. By some of that sunlight might we remember it.

Central Rock Garden at WMU International Congress on Medieval Studies at Kalamazoo May 2019. Photograph Mildred Budny.

Central Rock Garden at WMU Kzoo 2019

*****

“Le Chariot” Hitches a Ride and Comes to the End of the Line

Remember the  Tardis-like conveyance driven by our Director?  See Above and also the Reports for the  2016 Congress and the 2017 Congress .

Our lamented Associate, Michel Huglo, named this selfsame vehicle “Le Chariot de Milly” when he caught first sight of it.  That was when our Director came to collect him for brunch in Princeton following our 1998 Symposium on The Bible and the Liturgy, at which he had spoken.  That name has proved as trusty as, for years, did the car.  With the Director, it has ventured to conferences — including those in which the Research Group participated as organizer and sponsor or co-sponsor — in various states, including MA, CT, PA, OH, and MI.

This time, on the way back from the Kalamazoo Congress, the car gave up with a pop on the Ohio Turnpike.  In the middle lane, at that, but with no traffic, so that it was possible safely to move to the side of the road, where conveniently stood a layby.

Le Chariot at the Side of the Ohio Turnpike Returning from the 2019 Congress.

Le Chariot at the Side of the Road.

It took some time for help to arrive, but then Le Chariot was able to hitch a ride.

Le Chariot Hitches a Ride on the Way Back from the 2019 Congress.

Le Chariot Hitches a Ride on the Way Back from the 2019 Congress.

This car had come to the end of the line, so had to remain in Ohio.  Another means of conveyance could be found for the return to home base, but that car has now passed into history.  Legend, some might say?

*****

With hindsight, it seems somehow fitting that my thoughtful photographs in leaving the Congress rooms and spaces included choices to record them in the absence of people within the frame, but not without their presence, and their presence of mind.

*****

The grey weather following the Congress made a contrast with the sunny days along part of its course. By some of that sunlight might we remember it.

Central Rock Garden at WMU International Congress on Medieval Studies at Kalamazoo May 2019. Photograph Mildred Budny.

Central Rock Garden at WMU Kzoo 2019

Or, as I also wish to think about it, there might be some “Light at the End of the Corridor”.

*****

Now see the 2020 International Congress Program Announced.

Although some of our Sessions planned for the 2020 Congress considered aspects of Divination and other approaches to “Seeing the Unknown” (in Parts I & II), we did not guess that the Congress itself would have to be abandoned.  And so now, on the day which would have been devoted to travel to the 2020 Congress, I reflect on the forms of light which presence and hindsight — perhaps also forethought — might offer for our explorations across time and space, guided by experiences and reflections.

At the End of the 2019 Congress. A view down the dorm corridor, with Light at the End of the Tunnel.

At the End of the 2019 Congress: Light at the End of the Tunnel.

*****

Tags: Board Room, Business Meeting, Reception, Targis
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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

Logo of the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence (colour version)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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2018 International Congress on Medieval Studies Report

May 22, 2018 in Abstracts of Conference Papers, Announcements, Business Meeting, Conference, Conference Announcement, ICMS, Index of Christian Art, Index of Medieval Art, International Congress on Medieval Studies, Kalamazoo, Manuscript Studies, Princeton University, Reception, Societas Magica

Report:  Sessions & Events
Sponsored and Co-Sponsored
by the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence
at the 53rd International Congress on Medieval Studies
10–13 May 2018

[Published on 23 May 2018, with updates]

20180514_131049 The Scene of the Time the Morning After cropped more

“The Scene of the Time” Photography by Mildred Budny.

With the completion of our Call for Papers for the 2018 Congress, we prepared the Programs for our Sessions and other Events — Reception and Open Business Meeting included. With the turn of the New Year, as customary, we began to add the Abstracts of Papers and Response, as their Authors permit, to our webpost announcing our activities for the 2018 Congress Program.  Next, with the publication of the full Congress Program in a “sneak preview” at the beginning of February, the allocated times and locations become known.  Also, as time progressed, more Abstracts joined our gathering Report.

Now we report the Congress activities as they occurred.  You Are Here.

A Behind The Scenes Report gathers momentum as well.  Coming Soon to a Screen Near You.  Watch This Place.

Background and Foreground

The course of announcements and reports about the 2018 Congress may follow the sequence of previous years. For example, for the 2018 Congress, we announced the Plans and the Call for Papers (which has a deadline of 15 September), the Program (once the Sessions are designed from the responses to the Call for Papers), then an updated version or versions of the Program with the addition of the Abstracts and other news (same URL), and, once the Congress is accomplished, a Report as well as, it may be, a Report Behind the Scenes.

  • 2018 Congress Call for Papers
  • 2018 Congress Program
  • 2018 Congress Report
  • 2018 Congress Behind the Scenes Report (in preparation).

*****

Logo of the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence (colour version)As in recent years, we co-sponsored Sessions with the Societas Magica (3 Sessions), and we co-sponsor a Reception.

Also, like the 2017 Congress, we held

  • an Open Business Meeting and
  • a Reception, co-sponsored with The Index of Medieval Art at Princeton University.

It is the 13th year of our co-sponsorship with the Societas Magica, and our 3rd year of co-sponsorship with the Index of Christian Art at Princeton University, now (since 2017) known as the Index of Medieval Art at Princeton University.

As usual, we publish the Abstracts for the accepted Papers. Both they and the Abstracts for previous Congresses appear in our Congress Abstracts, listed by Year and by Author.

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Tags: Business Meeting, Index of Christian Art at Princeton University, Index of Medieval Art at Princeton University, International Congress on Medieval Studies, Reception, Societas Magica
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2017 Congress Report

May 17, 2017 in Abstracts of Conference Papers, Announcements, Conference, International Congress on Medieval Studies, Kalamazoo

The Research Group on Manuscript Evidence
at the
52nd International Congress on Medieval Studies
Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan
11–14 May 2017

We report our Activities Accomplished

The time has happily come to report the successful accomplishment of this year’s Activities of the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence at the 2017 Congress.

Alcove Beside Entrance to Garneau at AZO 2017. Photography © Mildred Budny.

Alcove Beside Entrance to Garneau at AZO 2017

Our Activities there mostly corresponded with their plans announced in the complete official Schedule for the 2017 International Congress on Medieval Studies, as well as in our posted (and updated) 2017 Congress Program for our 5 co-sponsored Sessions and other Activities — with some adjustments closer to the time.  Some changes were known in time to report to the published Corrigenda (up to 5 May) for the Congress, and on our website.  Others emerged at a last minute, and these changes are noted here.

How We Do It

Upon completion of last year’s International Congress on Medieval Studies, we gave both a 2016 Congress Report and a special Behind the Scenes Report (Also Known As “Doctor Who Done It”). Then we turned to preparing for this year’s Congress.

After our proposals for the 2017 sessions were accepted, our 2017 Call for Papers described the scope and aims of the sessions and invited proposals for their papers for consideration. Next, after the official closure of the Call for Papers on 15 September 2016, we selected the programs of the sessions, submitted them to the Congress Committee, and, in due course, announced these 2017 Congress Preparations.  Then, as the full Program for the Congress became announced, we posted the Program for our Presence At The Congress, with some updates as they emerged.

As the preparations for the Congress shifted into that next phase, we also, as customary, posted the Abstracts for the Papers, as their authors permit. (Note that our site conveniently lists the published Abstracts not only for the individual years of the Congress, but also in the Indexes both by Author and by Year.  Easy Peasy.)

Thus we invite you to discover, even at a distance across time and space, the subjects, aims, and accomplishments of the presenters at the Sessions.  That is, even if You Were Not There, You Could Still Be There.  Call it, if you wish, the Potential Power of the Word, as Time and Space Traveller.

Now for our 2017 Congress Report.  P.S.  Our camera disappeared partway through the Congress.  Last sighted on the Friday afternoon in Schneider 1030, during our pair of Sessions co-sponsored with the Center for Medieval and Early Modern Studies at the University of Florida.  If you happen to have found the camera, we would be glad for the gift of the pictures at the Congress on Days 1 and 2.  The rest are secured in copies.  Please let us know!

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Tags: Adelaide Bennett Hagems, Business Meeting, Center for Medieval and Early Modern Studies at the University of Florida, East Central Europe, History of Magic, Index of Christian Art at Princeton University, International Congress on Medieval Studies, last Rulership, Magical Materials, Manuscript studies, Medieval Central Europe, Medieval Hungary, Medieval Rulership, Medieval Tools, Military Orders and Crusades, Plast Rulership, Reception, Richard K. Emmerson, Societas Magica
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2017 Congress Program

March 8, 2017 in Announcements, Conference, ICMS, International Congress on Medieval Studies, Kalamazoo, Uncategorized

Duck Family at the 2007 Congress. Photography © Mildred Budny.

Photography © Mildred Budny

The Research Group on Manuscript Evidence
at the
52nd International Congress on Medieval Studies
Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan
11–14 May 2017

We announce the Programs for our Activities

Upon the publication of the complete Schedule for the 2017 International Congress on Medieval Studies, we now announce the Programs of our 5 co-sponsored Sessions and other Activities.

Upon completion of last year’s International Congress on Medieval Studies, we gave both a 2016 Congress Report and a special Behind the Scenes Report (Also Known As “Doctor Who Done It”).  Then we turned to preparing for this year’s Congress.

Logo of the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence (colour version)After our proposals for the 2017 sessions were accepted, our 2017 Call for Papers described the scope and aims of the sessions and invited proposals for their papers for consideration. Next, after the official closure of the Call for Papers on 15 September 2016, we selected the programs of the sessions, submitted them to the Congress Committee, and, in due course, announced these 2017 Congress Preparations.

As the preparations for the Congress shift into the next phase, we will also, as customary, post the Abstracts for the Papers, as their authors permit. Note that our site conveniently lists the published Abstracts not only for the individual years of the Congress, but also in the Indexes both by Author and by Year.  Thus we invite you to discover, even at a distance across time and space, the subjects, aims, and accomplishments of the presenters at the Sessions.

Read the rest of this entry →

Tags: Adelaide Bennett Hagens, Business Meeting, Center for Medieval and Early Modern Studies at the University of Florida, History of Magic, Index of Christian Art at Princeton University, International Congress on Medieval Studies, Magical Materials, Medieval Central Europe, Medieval Rulership, Medieval Tools, Military Orders and Crusades, Reception, Societas Magica
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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.

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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2016 Congress Report

May 19, 2016 in Abstracts of Conference Papers, Bembino, Business Meeting, Conference, ICMS, Kalamazoo, Reception, Reports

Jesse Meyer demonstrates the squirrel parchment prepared for the Research Group's Session, at the 51st International Congress on Medieval Studies. 13 May 2016. Photography © Mildred Budny

Show & Tell. Photography by Mildred Budny

51st International Congress on Medieval Studies

12–15 May 2016

Report

[Published on 18 May 2016, with updates]

The Research Group on Manuscript Evidence reports its activities accomplished at the 2016 International Congress on Medieval Studies, held at Kalamazoo, Michigan.

After the completion of

  • our Congress Planning, which reported the Sessions selected by the Congress Committee,
  • our 2016 Congress Call for Papers, which described the aims of the Sessions, and
  • our Congress Program, which set forth the schedule for our Sessions and other Activities
    (together with the Abstracts of some Papers),

we now Report its achievements.  They include the notice of a couple of late changes to the Program of individual Sessions, the unveiling — with the publication here — of both the Posters for our multiple activities at the Congress and an illustrated Program Booklet for a pair of co-sponsored Sessions, and other developments.  These publications, as is our practice, are set in our copyright multilingual font Bembino and laid out in accordance with our Style Manifesto. You may view them below.

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Tags: Balkan Studies, Bembino, Business Meeting, Center for Medieval and Early Modern Studies at the University of Florida, History of Paper, Index of Christian Art at Princeton University, magic in manuscript, Medieval Writing Materials, Parchment making, Reception, Societas Magica
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2014 Anniversary Reception

June 25, 2014 in Bembino, Events, ICMS, International Congress on Medieval Studies, Reception

Invitation to Reception celebrating the anniversaries of the Societas Magica and the Research Group (May 2014)Reception
of the Societas Magica
and the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence
at the 49th International Congress on Medieval Studies

[Published on 29 August 2014, with updates]

The Societas Magica and the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence held a celebratory Reception at the 49th International Congress on Medieval Studies, at Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, to celebrate the anniversaries of both organizations.  Since 2006, we two organizations co-sponsor Sessions at this annual Congress.

Information about these Sessions appears in our list of Co-Sponsored Sessions, with their programs and with the abstracts of papers in some sessions in our Congress Archive.  This year’s Sessions, both sponsored and co-sponsored, are celebrated here:  2014 Congress Accomplished, along with the Abstracts of the Papers and Responses. (The Abstracts are also accessible through our Lists By Author or By Year.)

This was the first official Reception to be hosted by either organization at the Congress.  We hope for more such events.  We thank the Societas Magica for its generosity in proposing the reception and preparing the arrangements, cupcakes included. Read the rest of this entry →

Tags: Anniversary, International Congress on Medieval Studies, Reception, Societas Magica
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