SJLahey

SJLahey, 6 months ago to bookhistodons

Today I’m in the Parker Library (Corpus Christi Cambridge) working on, among other #MedievalManuscripts, this wee #LawBook. Like many tiny common #law #manuscripts it’s small but fancy (making it ‘a Rolex’ vs ‘a Ferrari’ 😉).
“Wait. What? …” 🤔
1/2
@bookhistodons @medievodons

Detail of a leaf in a medieval manuscript: folio 102 recto in Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, manuscript 482. The photo is taken from the bottom of the leaf, angling slightly up the page. Visible are roughly 24 lines of Latin copied in brown ink in a clear, even hand. The 7th line up from the bottom is copied in a conspicuously larger hand. Following it are 6-lines of text with the first 5 lines indented to accommodate an enlarged decorative initial ‘A’. Rendered in gleaming gold leaf, the initial sits atop a ground painted in cobalt blue and rose, elegantly ornamented with a geometric pattern of delicate white strokes.

SJLahey, 6 months ago to bookhistodons

Today I’m back ‘home’ in Cambridge University Library—where mythical hazards lurk in the #MedievalManuscripts! 😱🐉 #HicSuntDracones #Dragons #BookHistory #RareBooks
@bookhistodons @medievodons

SJLahey, 6 months ago to bookhistodons

As Cambridge University Library’s 2nd ever Oschinsky Research Associate, I was thrilled to spend today working with one of the same #MedievalManuscripts that Dorothea Oschinsky researched! #FanGirling 😃 Thank you, Gonville & Caius College Library! #LegalHistory
@bookhistodons @medievodons

Detail of a page in a modern, printed book: page 460 in Dorothea Oschinsky’s Walter of Henley and Other Treatises on Estate Management and Accounting, published by Oxford’s Clarendon Press in 1971. The image shows two paragraphs of Latin text transcribed from a medieval manuscript: page 379 in Cambridge, Gonville and Caius College, manuscript 205.111.

SJLahey, 6 months ago to bookhistodons

Spent today looking at #MedievalManuscripts in St John’s College (Cambridge) Library’s Rare Books Reading Room—a wonderful space (📷 1: St John’s Chapel). This manuscript (📷 2) belongs to a group I discussed in my uOttawa MA thesis (sup.: Andrew Taylor); how amazing to see it in person. #LegalHistory #HistoryOfLaw #Law #RareBooks #Manuscripts
@bookhistodons @medievodons

Photo of a detail of a leaf in a medieval manuscript: folio 53 recto in Cambridge, St John’s College, manuscript A.7. 21 lines of French copied in black ink, in a precise, spiky hand, with the first 14 lines indented to accommodate an enormous decorative initial ‘E’ for ‘Edward’ (for this is England’s King Edward II). The letter is rendered in blue and white atop a black-painted square densely packed with fine, scrolling filigree vines in gold. At centre, superimposed atop the letter, is a painting of a king, his long brown hair and beard just beginning to grey beneath his golden crown. Clad in a pink, ermine-trimmed cloak over a vermilion robe, he sits enthroned—golden sceptre in one hand, golden orb in the other—gazing at the adjacent text with an expression of deep suspicion. Can the scribes be trusted? Only time will tell.

litteracarolina, 7 months ago to medievodons

Teaching #palaeography means I keep discovering new manuscripts week to week - like this gorgeous eleventh-century one from Italy, written in Beneventan script.

@medievodons @histodons

https://digi.vatlib.it/view/MSS_Vat.lat.1202, IIIv

SJLahey, 7 months ago to bookhistodons

At Cambridge Uni’s first Sandars Lecture of 2023, at Robinson College: https://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/whats/sandars-2023-lecture-1
After creating and then maintaining the Wikipedia page for years, I’m excited to finally attend in person! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandars_Lectures
#BookHistory #BookBinding #Codicology
@bookhistodons @medievodons

SJLahey, 7 months ago to digitalhumanities

“New #AI translates 5000-year-old #cuneiform tablets instantly”
https://bigthink.com/the-future/ai-translates-cuneiform/

@digitalhumanities @bookhistodons @dh

SJLahey, 7 months ago to bookhistodons

Attention Bibliographers & book historians affected by the BL cyber-attack: Nikolai Vogler has built a stopgap ESTC—fully searchable, 150,000 pre-1700 records, many with links to EEBO > estc.printprobability.org
#BookHistory #Bibliography #Cataloguing #GLAM #Libraries #Librarians
via https://x.com/print_and_prob/status/1724971683650351470

@bookhistodons

SJLahey, 7 months ago to bookhistodons

I have found my True Love, and it is this miniature, Mohawked, axe-wielding maniac and their, uh… [hound? horse? rabid hedgehog? (whatever it is, I’m here for it)] scribbled by some medieval or early modern kid in a Cambridge University Library legal manuscript. #MedievalManuscripts #Manuscripts #doodles #DoodleArt #CHARGE! 🪓🤺

@bookhistodons @medievodons

SJLahey, 7 months ago to bookhistodons

#TIH #OTD in #MedievalManuscripts & #BookHistory
Happy birthday to…
• Leonard Eugene Boyle, OP, OC (13 Nov 1923–1999), 🇮🇪 & 🇨🇦 medievalist & palaeographer, & 1st Irish & North American Prefect of the Vatican Library in Rome (1984–1997).
• Martin Bodmer (13 Nov 1899–1971), Swiss bibliophile, scholar, book collector.

And happy belated birthday to Wilfrid Voynich (12 Nov [O.S. 31 Oct] 1865–1930), Polish revolutionary, antiquarian, bibliophile of Voynich manuscript fame.
@bookhistodons

SJLahey, 7 months ago to medievodons

Pay attention! This is the important bit—right here.
#MedievalManuscripts #Manuscripts #Monks #TinyMonk
@bookhistodons @medievodons

SJLahey, 7 months ago to medievodons

‘S’ is for ‘shiny’ in this Cambridge University Library Statuta Angliæ manuscript. #MedievalManuscripts #Manuscripts #HistLaw #LegalHistory #Law
@bookhistodons @medievodons

SJLahey, 7 months ago to medievodons

A #Medieval #MyLittlePony! Painted in Bruges in the late 14th century, this one now lives in Cambridge University Library’s ‘Roberts Hours’. #MedievalManuscripts #Manuscripts #pink #horses #Critters #MedievalAnimals #RareBooks

@bookhistodons @medievodons

SJLahey, 7 months ago to medievodons

A nifty treat from Cambridge University Library’s Special Collections: A #medieval bookmark that won’t go missing! #MedievalManuscripts #Manuscripts

@bookhistodons @medievodons

Detail of the lefthand fore-edge of a leaf in a medieval manuscript: folio 34 verso in Cambridge, University Library, manuscript Additional 3097. At right, the image shows the first few words of 16 lines of Latin text, copied in dark brown ink. 2 of the lines are slightly indented to accommodate an enlarged, decorative initial ‘S’ painted in faded red pigment, now crackled with age, and ornamented by fine scrolling patterns rendered in dark blue. The parchment sheet is pale and smooth. At its lefthand edge, an additional slender strip of parchment has been threaded through 2 short slits made in the sheet. The thin strip folds back around the other side, forming a parchment knot which acts as a bookmark.

SJLahey, 7 months ago to bookhistodons

#OTD #TIH 01 Nov 1903: Death of Theodor Mommsen (b. 1817), German scholar & jurist. On 12 Jul 1880 at 2a.m., fire broke out in his house at Marchstrasse 6, Berlin. Several #MedievalManuscripts were burnt to ashes: MS O.4.36, a loan from Trinity College Cambridge; an important Jordanes manuscript from Heidelberg Uni; & other #manuscripts. After being burned whilst attempting to rescue the #books, he had to be restrained to prevent him from re-entering the blazing house. @bookhistodons

SJLahey, 7 months ago to medievodons

Itty-bitty book from Cambridge University Library’s Special Collections 🥺. #Manuscripts #MedievalManuscripts #HistLaw #LegalHistory #Law #Cute (Yes, really.)

@bookhistodons @medievodons

SJLahey, 8 months ago to bookhistodons

Being in Cambridge, today I’m fortunate to be able to attend ‘The Care of #Books Is a Difficult Business’, a symposium honouring the legacy of Francis Jenkinson (1853 Aug 20–1923 Sep 21), librarian of Cambridge University Library from 1899 until 1923. A full day of excellent papers, display of Jenkinsoniana, and a reception are planned.
#GLAM #Libraries
@bookhistodons

SJLahey, 9 months ago to bookhistodons

#TIH #OTD 14 Sep 1868: Birth of Alexander Horsburgh Turnbull (d. 1918 Jun 28), New Zealand merchant, dandy, & book collector. On his death, his collection became the nucleus of the Alexander Turnbull Collection, now held by the National Library of New Zealand. #BookHistory
@bookhistodons

SJLahey, 9 months ago to bookhistodons

#TIH #OTD 13 Sep 1607: Baptism of Frances Wolfreston (née Middlemore) (d. 1677), a rare example of a 17th century, non-aristocratic Englishwoman who formed a substantial book collection. She typically inscribed the title pages with ‘frances wolfreston hor bouk’. #BookHistory
@bookhistodons

SJLahey, 9 months ago to bookhistodons

#TIH #OTD 12 Sep 1605: Happy birthday to Sir William Dugdale (d. 10 Feb 1686), English antiquary and herald, influential in the development of #medieval #history as an academic subject. #heraldry #antiquarianism
Also #TIH #OTD 12 Sep 1940: Cave paintings are discovered in Grotte de Lascaux, France. #prehistory
@bookhistodons @medievodons @histodons

SJLahey, 9 months ago to bookhistodons

#TIH #OTD 11 Sep 1942: Death of Adriano Cappelli (b. 1859), Italian archivist & palaeographer at Parma State Archives, best known for his Lexicon Abbreviaturarum—a dictionary of c.14,000 abbreviations from #MedievalManuscripts.
#palaeography #manuscripts #BookHistory

@bookhistodons @medievodons

SJLahey, 9 months ago to bookhistodons

#TIH #OTD 10 Sep 1482: Death of Federico da Montefeltro (b. 1422 Jun 07), lord of Urbino. He commissioned the construction of a great library, then perhaps the largest in Italy after the Vatican, with his own team of #scribes producing #manuscripts in his personal scriptorium. #BookHistory #MedievalManuscripts
@bookhistodons @medievodons

SJLahey, 9 months ago to bookhistodons

Macro shot #FtW: detail of University of Victoria’s 1201 de Burgh charter. More: https://mastodon.social/@SJLahey/111017679718353578

#Win #Winning #MedievalManuscripts #Manuscripts #MedievalManuscriptsInCanada #Charterrific

@bookhistodons @medievodons

SJLahey, 9 months ago to bookhistodons

Beautiful damage in a copy of Theodosian Code (Lyon, 6th century). #MedievalManuscripts #Manuscripts #Parchment #LegalHistory #HistoryOfLaw #Conservation #oops
@bookhistodons @medievodons

Photo of part of a leaf from a medieval manuscript: folio 6 recto in Bibliothèque nationale de France, Manuscrit latin 9643. Visible are 27 lines of Latin text copied in a clear hand in dark brown ink; the scribe has written around a large hole in the parchment. The fore-edge of the leaf is torn or eaten away and bears translucent blue stains, perhaps caused by deterioration of some compound applied to protect or treat the damaged leaves. Where the stains cover the writing, the ink has turned dark blueish-black, and the offending chemical could have been applied to enhance legibility in these regions of the leaf.
Photo of part of a leaf from a medieval manuscript: folio 17 recto in Bibliothèque nationale de France, Manuscrit latin 9643. Visible is an enlarged heading copied in brown and red ink, followed by 7 lines of Latin text written in a clear hand using brown ink. This is followed by a sizeable blank space, then another enlarged heading in brown ink. Below it run 5 lines of text written out in red and brown. The fore-edge of the leaf is partially torn or eaten away and bears translucent brown and blue stains, perhaps from chemicals applied to protect the parchment or treat some issue with it.

SJLahey, 9 months ago to bookhistodons

#TIH #OTD 07 Sep 1559: Death of Robert Estienne (b. 1503), a.k.a. Robertus Stephanus, Parisian printer and Humanist scholar. Printer to the King in Latin, Hebrew, and Greek, he published, inter al., Roman and Greek classics—including 8 editiones principes—extolled for their typographical elegance, and is famous for his Thesaurus linguæ latinæ, often deemed the foundation of modern Latin #lexicography . #BookHistory #typography

@bookhistodons

SJLahey, 9 months ago to bookhistodons

A 1201 charter of Hubert de Burgh—then Chamberlain to King John, later Chief Justiciar—bearing “the only known complete seal [from] his early career” ( https://dspace.library.uvic.ca/handle/1828/11170 ). Now held by my alma mater, University of Victoria.
#MedievalManuscripts #Manuscripts #MedievalManuscriptsInCanada #LegalHistory #HistoryOfLaw #Charterrific
@bookhistodons @medievodons

SJLahey, 9 months ago to bookhistodons

#TIH #OTD 06 Sep 1903: Death of Charles Ammi Cutter (b. 1837), US #librarian best remembered for Cutter Expansive Classification: a system of shelving by standardized class numbers so #books on related topics sit together. He also helped produce the US’ 1st public #CardCatalogue and played a major role in making card cataloguing—versus the old practice of chronologically listing titles in ledgers—the international model. #GLAM #BookHistory #Libraries
@bookhistodons

SJLahey, 9 months ago to bookhistodons

#TIH #OTD 04 Sep 1827: The Great Fire of Turku began. By the next day it had destroyed 75% of the city, then Finland’s largest and the site of key governmental and administrative institutions. Most Finnish #archives, including practically all #medieval material, were destroyed. #BookHistory
@bookhistodons @medievodons

SJLahey, 9 months ago to bookhistodons

#TIH #OTD 03 Sep 1729: Death of Jean Hardouin, French priest & scholar now best remembered for his #ConspiracyTheory that all pre-14th century theology & nearly all ancient secular literature was spurious: counterfeited by ‘atheist’ monks in the 1300s. #BookHistory
@bookhistodons @medievodons

SJLahey, 9 months ago to bookhistodons

Un petit tête-à-tête. 📜 #MedievalManuscripts #Manuscripts #Manuscrits #Critters #MedievalAnimals
@bookhistodons @medievodons

SJLahey, 10 months ago to bookhistodons

#TIH #OTD 27 Aug 1327 [O.S.]: Death of Thomas Cobham, Bishop of Worcester. Oxford’s 1st known purpose-built library was founded in the 1300s by his will: a small collection of chained books over the north side of University Church of St Mary the Virgin, High Street. #BookHistory
@bookhistodons @medievodons

SJLahey, 10 months ago to medievodons

A little bit of medieval manuscript for a treat: a leaf from The Ridware Cartulary (England, 1308–1309). Spot the lurking #critters !
📜 #MedievalManuscripts #Manuscripts #LegalHistory #HistoryOfLaw #Law #RareBooks #MedievalAnimals

@bookhistodons @medievodons

Zoomed-in photo of part of a leaf from a medieval manuscript: folio 8 verso in British Library, Egerton manuscript 3041. It shows the first few letters of 19 lines of Latin text copied in dark brown ink, and opening with a large, finely detailed, pen and ink miniature (in this image, occupying almost the entire photo). The drawing depicts a young king, enthroned, crowned, and grasping an orb in 1 hand and a sceptre in the other. Clean-shaven, he is shown straight-on, gazing out at us with a steely expression from his perch atop an intricately embroidered decorative bolster. 2 animals, perhaps lions?, rest at his feet. Surrounding him on all sides is a carefully detailed, rectangular frame resembling Gothic stonework.

SJLahey, 11 months ago to histodons

Imaging technology reveals hidden passages of #WilliamCamden ’s Annals for the first time in 400 years. The pages had been either over-written or concealed beneath pieces of paper stuck down so tightly that attempting to lift them would have ripped the pages and destroyed evidence.
#BookScience #Manuscripts #Tudors #EarlyModern
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/jul/14/heart-stopping-censored-pages-of-history-of-elizabeth-i-reappear-after-400-years
@bookhistodons @histodons