Carrie Heusinkveld The narratives lurking just beneath the surface of a book – the intertwining threads of its inspiration, creation, and original owner – are frequently overshadowed by the story told by the visible words on the page. However, investigating this hidden history often uncovers a surprisingly complex web of movements and connections traversing physical, …
Teams Teaching Codicology. The Joy of Opening Manuscripts during Lockdown
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 …
Reawakening Merton’s Beasts
Sebastian Dows Miller on his History of the Book project, increasing awareness of the Bestiary in Merton College Library, MS 249.
500 Years in the Making: Editing Luther’s De Libertate Christiana
Madeleine Ahern The Taylor Institution Library’s Latin copy of Martin Luther’s 1520 work On Christian Freedom (De Libertate Christiana) sits in the Special Collections storeroom on a rolling stack among an impressive selection of early modern printed texts from the Reformation. The text is identifiable by its shelfmark ARCH. 8o.G.1521.10 and its brown leather re-bound exterior with …
Come Live Edit a Blog Post! ‘In Search of an Apostle: Uncovering the Roots of the Taylorian Janua with Digital Methods’
In this session, we are going to transform an academic paper into an academic blog post, closely examining the opportunities and challenges afforded by this medium of communication. (1) Methodological: Digital methods can aid us in our book historical research by (a) expanding the community of scholars with whom we engage and (b) expanding and reshaping the archival …
Unfinished Business? – Modern Revisions and The Intriguing Case of an Annotated Spanish Incunabulum.
Was there an attempt at a revised edition Alfonso de Palencia’s 15th century translation of Plutarch’s Parallel Lives? Were there even multiple attempts? Think back to your school days. You’re sitting in English class, feeling somewhat shell-shocked by Shakespeare, daunted by Dickens, or simply befuddled by the language of [insert name of difficult-to-read and long-since-departed …
Dante Manuscript Project: Plans and Goals for a Digital Edition
It is currently Week 0 of Hilary term 2021, so it’s time to get to work on our project for the History of the Book module. Holly and I have decided to work together to produce an online edition of a manuscript. We both love Dante’s Divina Commedia so we have decided to work on MS.Canon.Ital.108, which is a gorgeous late 14th Century copy of this work.
“Among Sisters” – The Making of a Feminist Reformation Drama
This article was originally posted on the Taylor Reformation blog which has now become part of the Taylor Editions website with a dedicated Reformation Pamphlets series. Anke von Claer-Schaar Image above: Title page of the play “Schwestern unter sich” by Anke von Claer-Schaar In June 2017, I was asked to write a theatre piece on the …
Hidden in Plain Sight: Secret Messages in Manuscript Marginalia
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 …
Study Guide: Hitchhiker’s Guide to Digital Methods for Book History
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 …