Exploring the world of books at Oxford
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, …
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 …
Why this manuscript? Although I myself grew up in the Lower Rhine region, my path to Arnold von Harff led me via the manuscript reading room in Oxford. Years ago, when I attended the course ‘Palaeography & History of the Book’ as part of my studies abroad, I looked at the travelogue of the knight …
I am sat in the Weston Library, currently the only student in the rare books room, looking for the first time at MS. Canon. Ital. 108 in person. I have stared at, analysed, and laboured over scans of its pages from afar for the last few months. This term I am back in Oxford having …
During their time as interns in Oxford, Eva Neufeind and Agnes Hilger started working on a digital edition of MS. Bodley 972, a manuscript of the travelogue of the knight Arnold von Harff from the 16th century. In this blogposts, they report on the developments of the project ahead of the official launch of the edition. …
Arnold von Harff’s travelogue travels to Oxford by Aysha Strachan The year is 1813. The Bodleian library acquires what is later to be known as MS Bodley 972 as part of a collection of late medieval travelogues which tell of the encounters of knights on their pilgrimage to the Holy Land. One of the most …
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, …
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, …