Exploring the world of books at Oxford
A personal encounter with MS. Lat. liturg. f. 4 by Marlene Schilling For my generation it is perfectly normal to meet a partner first online, with dating apps on the rise during the pandemic – but the ultimate desire is to meet in person. This is the story of such a longed-for encounter in the flesh, …
(Part 2) Printing an anniversary card for Sebastian Brant at the Bodleian Bibliographical Press On March 4th, Agnes Hilger and I got a broad insight into the process of typesetting and printing in the Bibliographical Press of the Old Bodleian Library. In a previous blogpost, Agnes describes movable type, an invention that was revolutionary for …
Part 1 of: Printing an anniversary card for Sebastian Brant at the Bodleian Bibliographical Press Agnes Hilger A snippet from my school knowledge memorised some time ago: Johannes Gutenberg invented “letterpress printing with movable type”. As is so often the case with such facts, I didn’t really think about it much at the time and just put it …
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.