The Bridge of Signs
Bridging the Gap
between Original Source
and its Interpretation
Signposts
by the RGME Research Consultant,
Leslie J. French
with a Foreword by the RGME Director and WebEditor,
Mildred Budny
[Posted on 5 November 2024, with updates]
Foreword
by Mildred Budny
As the RGME plans a new series of Workshops to examine manuscripts and other original sources, we reflect on the plan. In our early years based at the University of Cambridge as an outside-funded research project on selected Anglo-Saxon and Related Manuscripts at the Parker Library of Corpus Christi College (1989–1994), we held a series of RGME Seminars on the Evidence of Manuscripts.
From the start, as manifested in our choice of name, Research Group on Manuscript Evidence, and the integrated scope and functions of our very first project, we have taken care to distinguish between the evidence and interpretations made from it, as well as to attend to the stages or steps between them. Such steps extend from examination of the object, through photography, decipherment (if need be), transcription (diplomatic or normalized), edition (semi-diplomatic or normalized), translation, and placement in context, to reach increased, informed, and it may be collaborative, understanding — in steps which involve interpretation of various kinds.
Collection of Jennah Farrell, Manuscript Leaf in Frame. Photograph by Jennah Farrrell.
Now, in our 2024 Anniversary Year with its theme of Bridges, we prepare to launch a series of RGME Workshops on Manuscripts and Other Sources. They start with a new Loan of a detached leaf on vellum from a medieval Latin Vulgate Bible in the Collection of Jennah Farrell.
With permission, our Director Mildred Budny removed the leaf from its modern frame, to reveal its full extent and its back or verso which the frame had hidden, in time for our 2024 Autumn Symposium: Spotlight on Special Collections as Teaching Events (25–26 October). The Symposium Booklet illustrates both sides of the leaf. You may find the booklet for download as:
Next, we will hold a pair of online Workshops to study the leaf collectively. For example, can we identify what this leaf contains, which manuscript originally contained this detached leaf, where and when it was made, how did it find its way from the manuscript in steps to the Farrell Collection, and what can it tell us about itself and its history?
These Workshops can show and share the detective work. Beginners and advanced scholars alike are welcome, as we compare notes and ‘adopt’ the leaf as a subject of discovery and wonder, while it visits the RGME on generous loan for research, study, and teaching, before it returns to its collection.
Collection of Jennah Farrell, Single Leaf from the Book of Numbers in a Medieval Latin Vulgate Bible manuscript: Recto, top. Photography by Mildred Budny.
Plan
First, we offer observations about the process, and its strategy, as we prepare this series of collective approaches to teach and learn the methods of examining and studying the sources — in such forms as they and their evidence become accessible, directly and/or through surrogates such as photographs, digital facsimiles, reports, and other means.
As a lead-in to our Workshops, we turn to our Research Consultant, Leslie J. French, for a description of the principles and practices which underpin their approaches and methodology, based on the experiences which the RGME has gathered in its years of work, photography, research, teaching, and publication on original materials. His approach provides both foundation and signposts for the work of the Workshops and the preparation of resources for them. Among such resources are photography, bibliographical references, and our growing
Stepping Stones
Observations by our Research Consultant
Leslie J. French, our Research Consultant and Font & Layout Designer, has contributed to many RGME activities and publications from our very beginnings in 1989 as part of a major, outside-funded, research project on Anglo-Saxon and Related Manuscripts at the Parker Library of Corpus Christi College in the University of Cambridge. His contributions include
- the design of our logo,
- the design and layout of most of our publications,
- the creation of our multi-lingual digital font Bembino (displayed on our website and elsewhere), and
- the research and preparations for numerous RGME Research Reports and presentations at our scholarly events.
See also:
In his own words:
Bridge of Signs
by Leslie J. French
View of the Pont Neuf, Paris. Photograph by Claudio Mota via https://www.pexels.com/photo/pont-neuf-bridge-in-paris-9999874/.
Increased digitization of manuscript and printed resources has dramatically improved scholars’ ability to view content. However, increased accessibility does not imply increased comprehension. There still remains a gap between what might be observed on a page, and its interpretation.
We seek to bridge that gap between the artefact on one bank and the reader on the other. This may be a very large gap, particularly for newcomers to the field who are unfamiliar with the script, abbreviations, text and structure of the documents they are viewing.
Our aim is to create a series of pillars, or supports, across the gap, and to build the bridge, section by section, between.
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