Exploring the world of books at Oxford
Posts about ongoing student work in the History of the Book course.
My internship at Oxford in Medieval German Studies by Anja Peters Travelling to Oxford to work as an intern with Professor Henrike Lähnemann for Trinity Term of 2023, I didn’t fully know what to expect. Of course I knew why I was going: To gain insights into the work and research at one of the …
Exploring Taylor Institution Library ARCH.8°.G.1523(8) by Katarina Ristic As part of my MSt. during the 2022/23 academic year, I was offered the opportunity to do my History of the Book project on the Taylorian’s copy of Martin Luther’s 1523 pamphlet Deuttung der grewlichen figur des Munchkalbs tzu Freyberg in Meyssen gfunden. This project allowed me …
by Christopher Summers In 1908, a children’s book version of the Nibelungenlied in a retelling by Franz Keim was published with illustrations by Carl Otto Czeschka. While the book has been largely forgotten, the striking visual language of Czeschka has proven to be of lasting influence. In the blog post, I am going to highlight …
By Thomas Godfrey Understanding materiality can teach us a lot about a manuscript. Seeing as we will be looking at many manuscripts over the course of the year, we were granted the opportunity to get to grips with the fundamentals of how they are made. Through attending a workshop led by Andrew Honey, Robert Minte, …
A short report about my first time meeting Bodleian Library MS. Germ. e. 5 by Marlene Schilling To be honest, I had nearly forgotten about Bodleian Library Ms. Germ. e. 5 in the 18 month since handing in, in March 2021, my MSt. in Modern Languages Method Option essay that focused on this particular 14th century manuscript. I had spent …
In the first week of the History of the Book methods option, students and researchers gathered in the Taylor Institute Library to explore items from the special collections that challenge the very notion of the ‘book’. From the curious collection of printed and handwritten manuscript pages rebound in Arch.Fol.It.1478(1) where Petrarch’s ‘sonetti et cançone’ are …
Download entry form (Word) The Bodleian Centre for the Study of the Book offers a prize to an undergraduate or postgraduate student of the University of Oxford for a collection of books or other printed materials. Age, size and monetary value of the collection will not be relevant criteria; the aim is to champion collecting …
My time as an Erasmus+ intern at the University of Oxford Isabel Sophie Reichenbach How does a history student from Mannheim end up behind a camera in the churchyard of an Oxford College? Filming the Medieval Mystery Cycle was just one of the weird and wonderful experiences as an Erasmus+ intern with Prof. Henrike Lähnemann …
Versuche zur mittelalterlichen Herstellungstechnik und Oberflächenbehandlung von Pergament Guest blog post by Anna Vogel, Master Student at the University of Freiburg in the MARS degree. Anna Vogel studiert Mittelalter- und Renaissancestudien an der Universität Freiburg. Ihr Hauptinteressensgebiet sind die handwerklichen Techniken der historischen Buchherstellung. Im August und September 2021 bekam sie die Möglichkeit, gemeinsam mit …
Jane Eagan and Matthew Shaw Librarians and conservators see a lot of books. As such, they are often only passing acquaintances at best with many of them, and large numbers in their collection or care are positively strangers. It’s also unusual to know much at all about what researchers do with the books that they …