Exploring the world of books at Oxford
by Viviane Arnold, MSt. Modern Languages As the term slowly is coming to the end we had another highlight in our History of the Book course. The class was taught by Andrew Honey, a Book Conservator from the Bodleian Libraries who gave us exciting insights in the method of bookbinding and showed us how the …
By Edie Young (MSt in Modern Languages) Last week, History of the Book students had the rare opportunity to examine Merton College’s collection of mediaeval astronomical instruments, which were exceptionally out of their cases. Dr Laure Miolo gave a dazzling presentation on mediaeval astrolabes, equatoria, quadrants, and astronomical manuscripts. Laure brought her very own replica …
Of making many books there may be no end, but studying the boundless treasure of manuscripts held in the Weston Library is anything but a weariness of the flesh. That was, at least, the experience of the MML History of the Book students on Wednesday of 2nd week as they ventured up to the Horton …
by Imogen Lewis (MSt. Modern Languages) Palaeography. Now halfway through Michaelmas term, History of the Book students may just about be able to spell the term – but do we really know what it means? Having stroked many a book, discovered the secrets contained within their binding, and even learned to painstakingly typeset our own, …
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 …
Exhibition held in the Voltaire Room, Taylor Institution Library, Oxford University, June 2023. The exhibition has grown out of the collaboration of students from the MSt in Modern Languages who edited the German and French pamphlets as part of the ‘History of the Book’ Method Option, one intern, Elena Trowsdale, from the MSc in Digital Scholarship with Emma Huber at the Taylorian who edited the English pamphlet, and an Art History intern from Hamburg University, Anja Peters, with Henrike Lähnemann. The two interns co-curated the edition which launches also the edition of the three early modern pamphlets in the Taylor Institution Library’s Reformation Pamphlets series. Thanks go to the librarians of New College which holds the French pamphlet, to the Bodleian Library which holds the English pamphlet, to Clare Hills-Nova for the Artists Book, to James Howarth for the loan of the beakhead, to Wes Williams for his advice on early modern monsters, to Jim Harris for opening the Ashmolean print room treasures, and to the whole team at the Taylor Institution Library for their help and support.
In honour of the symposium Literary, religious and manuscript cultures of the German-speaking lands: a symposium in memory of Nigel F. Palmer (1946-2022) on 19/20 May 2023, St Edmund Hall librarian James Howarth set up an exhibition in the Old Library of books related to the late Professor Nigel F. Palmer’s research, his activities and …
Manuscripts of Character: Codex, Ethos, and Authority in Byzantium and Beyond Professor Niels Gaul will deliver the E A Lowe Lectures at 5pm on the following days in the MBI Al Jaber Auditorium, Corpus Christi College. Niels Gaul is A G Leventis Professor of Byzantine Studies and Director of the Centre for Late Antique, Islamic and …
By Ksenia Dugaeva In our ‘Structures of the manuscript book’ seminar last week, we continued our foray into understanding how manuscripts come together – focusing in this session on the journey from sheet to codex to bound book. All of us browse, read, and generally handle books in our daily and academic lives, and a …
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 …