Exploring the world of books at Oxford
A special issue on parchment will appear this September 2021 in Art in Translation Caroline Danforth One’s interests can ebb and flow unpredictably…and I have observed how some of my own passions have quickly bloomed…and then swiftly subsided. One such “flare-up” (which I feared would prove temporary) developed twenty-two years ago after being blind-sided by …
Yesterday, in preparation for a Gregorian chant workshop and as part of the History of the Book show-and-tell sessions, Dr Andrew Dunning, R.W. Hunt Curator of Medieval Manuscripts at the Bodleian Library, University of Oxford, opened the Handbook of the Medingen Provost, Bodleian Library MS. Lat. liturg. e. 18. A full digitised copy is available, thanks to …
by Charlotte Ross Manuscript decoration enhanced the appearance of a text, increasing the value of the book and bringing a sense of status. The most illustriously decorated manuscripts ooze wealth and sophistication, acting as a statement of the owner’s importance. Even within the manuscript itself, these decorations establish a hierarchy amongst the text, identifying the …
Book history is a rich area for experimenting with digital methods. From digitisation to digital editions, there is inspiration aplenty for your own research projects. In this video, I discuss three examples of digital methods in action: the Voltaire Library Project; a digital edition of the Janua linguarum reserata from the Taylorian Library; and the …
by Charlotte Ross Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS. Fr. e. 32 is a beautiful Old French manuscript that dates to the 12th century. Contained in this volume are the Chevalerie Vivien and an incomplete rendition of Aliscans, two poems from the Chanson de Geste tradition, which deals with French crusading narratives against the Moors and Saracens …
Summary of a Show and Tell session for Henrike Lähnemann’s History of the Book students from the Faculty of Medieval and Modern Languages with Dr Andrew Dunning, R.W. Hunt Curator of Medieval Manuscripts at the Bodleian Library.
One History of the Book student recounts the benefits of a hands-on approach to learning about printed material.
The combined workshops and seminars for the Palaeography, History of the Book and Digital Humanities provide training in dealing with manuscripts and books across different historical periods and European languages. The aim is to combine philological training with project work which takes seriously the material turn in Modern Languages and will enable students to do …
By Luise Morawetz It started with a talk about paper flaws. In one of the first weeks I stayed at home during the Corona pandemic, I saw an online talk by Andrew Honey, conservator of the Bodleian Libraries. He was explaining how to find paper faults in seventeenth-century books and what they can tell us …
Henrike Lähnemann took part in a webinar series organised by the ICON (The Institute of Conservation) Paper Conservation group – a fascinating series which started with two papers by Bodleian Library conservators; you can watch most of the previous talks on the “Conservation Together At Home” website and follow the hashtag #ConservationTogetherAtHome on twitter About …