Category Archives: Uncategorized

MS Ee.4.32 and the Case of the Disappearing ‘Pope’

Posted on by

MS Ee.4.32 is datable to s. s.xv2 and contains two texts: The Three Kings of Cologne and the English Prose Brut Chronicle. Renown Brut scholar Lister Matheson asserts that: ‘The Middle English prose Brut survives in more manuscripts than any other Middle English work except the two Wycliffite translations of the Bible’[1]. Matheson’s compiled catalogue of the Brut lists nineteen extant versions of the Latin Brut[2], forty-nine versions of the Anglo-Norman Brut[3], and over one-hundred-seventy versions of the Middle English Brut[4]. For a complete list and location of these manuscripts, please see Matheson’s monograph The Prose Brut: The Development of a Middle English Chronicle. 

Continue reading →

An Introduction to Biocodicology and the Beasts 2 Craft Project

Posted on by

The life of a book holds many stories, all leaving an invisible signature trapped in the pages, waiting to be read by those with the keenest eye. However, what if an eye is not enough? Invisible traces have seemed impossible to recover, but this is all changing with recent technological advances available to us. The emerging field of Biocodicology1 offers the tantalising prospect to read these long forgotten biographies, revealing complex stories of use, handling, storage and production.

But why is this relevant? What can we really learn that cannot already be ascertained from reading the text? The value of the materiality of manuscript production cannot be overstated. Understanding the craftsmanship involved in the production of materials, so intrinsically linked to the users themselves, are as much a part of the codex as the words inscribed on the page. Understanding book production in terms of the livestock economies that sustained them, the choice of animals (age, sex, breed), the idocincracies of each skin requiring specialist knowledge of treatment and production. But then there are additional stories imprinted on the completed text, how was it being used? Were these objects of reverence with barely a scratch as proof of their sacred status, or are they everyday books to be used and thumbed and splashed and cleaned? Much the same way as our favourite recipe books contain evidence of the ingredients we use, manuscripts may present similar signatures from their users, a drop of wine here, a stain of milk there, a veritable feast of biomolecules preserved for posterity, lying dormant waiting to be revealed.

Continue reading →

The London International Palaeography Summer school 2019

Posted on by

The London International Palaeography Summer School (LIPSS) at the Institute of English Studies, University of London is now accepting applications for its summer programme. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis until a course is full.

The London International Palaeography Summer School is a series of intensive courses in Palaeography and Manuscript Studies. Courses range from a half to two days duration and are given by experts in their respective fields from a wide range of institutions. 

Courses fees range from Half-Day fees of £50 (standard) and £45 (student), to Five-Day fees of £450 (standard) and £400 (student). The full breakdown of fees can be found here.

Available courses:

10 June 

Introduction to Arabic Scientific Manuscripts (Dr Bink Hallum)

The Development of Penflourishing in late Medieval Manuscripts (Drs Lynda Dennison and Cynthia Johnston) Half-day course AM

The Development of Border Decoration in English Late Medieval Manuscripts (Drs Lynda Dennison and Cynthia Johnston) – Half-day course, PM.

Introduction to English Palaeography, 1500-1900 (Mr Christopher Whittick)

Reading and Editing Renaissance English Manuscripts I (Dr Chris Stamatakis)

11 June 

Introduction to Anglo-Saxon Palaeography (Dr Debby Banham)

Introduction to Middle English Palaeography I (Professor Anthony Edwards)

English Palaeography: the records of criminal justice, 1650-1800 (Mr Christopher Whittick)

Reading and Editing Renaissance English Manuscripts II (Dr Chris Stamatakis)

12 June

Women Patrons, Scribes, and Makers of Medieval Manuscripts (Prof. Clare Lees)

Introduction to Middle English Palaeography II (Professor Anthony Edwards)

1000 Years of Manuscript Production (Patricia Lovett)

Probate records and the historian, 1500-1858 (Mr Christopher Whittick)

An Introduction to Greek Palaeography I (Dr Laura Franco) 

13 June 

The Insular System of Scripts to A.D. 900 (Prof. Julia Crick)

Liturgical and Devotional Manuscripts I (Dr Jenny Stratford and Dr Rowan Watson)

Introduction to Medieval and Renaissance Italian Palaeography (Dr Irene Ceccherini and Dr Laura Nuvoloni)

Quills and Calligraphy – a Practical Course (Ms Patricia Lovett)

An Introduction to Greek Palaeography II (Dr Laura Franco)

14 June

Bilingual Manuscripts in England, c.950-1200 (Dr Francisco J. Álvarez López)

Cognitive elements of medieval manuscript layouts: designing and using the folio space (Dr Anna Somfai)

Liturgical and Devotional Manuscripts II (Dr Jenny Stratford and Dr Rowan Watson)

Reading and Editing Medieval Latin Texts (Dr Emily Corran) 

German Palaeography (Dr Dorothea McEwan and Dr Claudia Wedepohl)

The Book of Durrow and the Lindisfarne Gospels in the Context of Early Medieval Europe (Dr Carol Farr)

Further information about the LIPSS can be found on the School’s homepage or through the linkhttps://www.ies.sas.ac.uk/lipss. The application form is available here.

Questions can be directed togeorgia.reeves@sas.ac.uk.

GEORGIA REEVES

POSTGRADUATE ACADEMIC SOCIETIES AND EVENTS ADMINISTRATOR

The Institute of English Studies
Senate House, Malet Street | LONDON WC1E 7HU

georgia.reeves@sas.ac.uk