Celebration of Collegiality

Our tradition over the years in the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence, from our earliest days, is to thank people who have contributed to our mission and activities by inviting them to join our group of Honorary Invited Associates.  Our Associates belong to different walks of life, both educational and beyond in the wider world, as their accomplishments and interests amply demonstrate.

The Associates in Early Years, Listed on Our Letterhead

At first, we listed our Associates on our Letterhead —once we had chosen our name, selected our official Font, designed our Logo, laid out our official Letterhead, and accomplished related tasks — as shown, for example, in some Invitation Letters to the Seminars and Workshops during our years as a group emerging from our innovative Research Project at The Parker Library of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge . (The process of our design choices, letterhead included, are considered in the Interview with Our Font and Layout Designer .)

An example of our Letterhead in Action, Associates Included (12 November 1993):

Invitation Letter on RGME Letterhead for Workshop on 11 December 1993

Moving our principal base to the New World in October 1994, we continued to follow this practice.  The Invitations to Symposia and other Events, however, took the forms of Posters, Save the Date Announcements, and Booklets, beyond the Letterhead practices.

Associates Now, Listed on our Website, Once We Had One (2007–)

With the arrival of our website — thanks to the generous donation of our Associate and WebMaster, Jesse Hurlbut — in its first, Drupal, version (2007–2014) and then in its revised, expanded, and updated WordPress version (2014–), it became possible to list online (if they permitted) our  Officers, Associates, and Volunteers .

To start with, we listed names, with locations or affiliations, as before, tout court.  Then, encouraged by our Associate Ioana Georgescu, given the extra facilities of the WordPress site (2014–), we added links and pictures (as our Associates agreed), so as to enliven the list of Names with ‘attributes’ and with ‘appearances’.

A Special Case, Diplomas Included

Between those stages, there arose a new and special case when we invited James Heidere to become an Associate of the Research Group.  He accepted the invitation, and asked for a Diploma.

Responding to his convivial style, we made sure to provide a Diploma worthy of framing and displaying among his other Diplomas, while we also thought that a larger version might be worthy of the competition.   Also, with one large-size version, why not make two?  And so, and lo.

The Diplomas

Here, in response to his request, are the Versions of Jim’s RGME Diplomas.

Not only did we think that he deserved an enlarged Diploma, better to stand out on his wall of diplomas, we also believed that, given his and our spirit, he ought to have a comparable outlandish version, puns included.  The choice of a dramatic border with interlace patterns for a frame seemed obvious.

And so:

The Official Version

Diploma 1

The Unofficial Version

Diploma Version 2

The ‘Investiture’ Ceremony, with Roger Reynolds as Officiant

The ceremony took place on 1 April 2002, in Roger Reynold’s apartment at the Institute for Advanced Study, with Roger officiating and with gathered witnesses.

The Diploma Display

The framed diplomas took there place on the Dentist Office Wall and on the Kitchen Wall, by turns, as I can attest, having seen the in both places.  In fact, sometimes they changed places, with the Official and the Unoffocial Versions turning up otherwise.  Occasionally, my own copy might appear in a Research Group celebration, as at a party at the home of our Associates David Immerman and Pamela Jones, where Jim posed beside one of his Diplomas.  The Official one, as might be.

James Heidere with his RGME Associate’s ‘Diploma’

We thank Jim for his many generous contributions to our activities, and in good spirits.  We wish him the very best in future projects!

*****