05 October 2012
Digitising Royal: New Perspectives on the Royal Manuscript Collection: A Workshop at the British Library
Following on the success of our recent Royal workshop in Durham, Illuminated Manuscripts and Their Users, we are pleased to announce that we will offer another, this time in London. This workshop will take place at the British Library on 9 November, from 10:30 - 13:00, and will focus on the issues and opportunities surrounding our recent digitisation efforts. The workshop will allow the participants to interact with a selection of manuscripts from the Royal collection, as well as their newly-created digital surrogates.
The session will open with a brief overview of our recent digitisation efforts by project supervisor Dr Kathleen Doyle, called 'Digitised Manuscripts at the British Library.' Dr Joanna Fronska and Sarah J Biggs will then speak about the variety of challenges (and opportunities) that have arisen in the course of the complicated Royal digitisation programme.
This will be followed by three presentations on the various aspects of research made possible (or significantly easier!) by the existence of digital surrogates; these surrogates will be examined in detail alongside the manuscripts themselves.
Joanna Fronska: 'The Making of the Coronation Book of Charles V (Cotton MS Tiberius B. viii, ff. 35-80)'
Sarah J Biggs: 'A Closer Look at the Iconography of the Bohun Psalter and Hours (Egerton MS 3277)'
Nicole Eddy: 'Interoffice Memos: Instructions to Illustrators and Rubricators'
This workshop is designed primarily for MA and PhD students of manuscript studies, but it is also open to any member of the public with a particular interest in the subject. If you would like to attend, please email Royal-Manuscripts-Digitization [at] bl.uk by 5 November at the latest. Spaces are limited to a maximum of 15 participants, so an early response is encouraged. There is, however, a possibility of holding additional sessions in future, so please do get in touch if you would like to attend.
17 September 2012
The Gospels of Tsar Ivan Alexander
Detail of a headpiece of the Gospel of Matthew: roundel portrait of the Evangelist, with five smaller roundels arranged around him, depicting ‘the ancient of days’ (top), two six-winged cherubim, Abraham (lower left), and Isaac (lower right), from the Gospels of Ivan Alexander, Bulgaria, 1355-1356, Add MS 39627, f. 6r
On Wednesday, 5 September, the Bulgarian Embassy and His Excellency Mr Konstantin Dimitrov, the Ambassador of the Republic of Bulgaria to the United Kingdom, hosted a private view of the display of two Bulgarian manuscripts that are now on display in the Library’s Sir John Ritblat Treasures gallery.
At the reception Caroline Brazier, Head of the British Library’s Scholarship and Collections directorate, announced that the whole of the Gospels of Ivan Alexander may now be viewed on the Library’s Digitised Manuscripts website (click here for the fully-digitised Gospels). На тази електронна страница можете да разгледате Четириевангелието на цар Иван Александър, най-богато украсеният средновековен български ръкопис.
The Gospels of Tsar Ivan Alexander (Additional MS 39627) is the most celebrated surviving example of Bulgarian medieval art. Written over 650 years ago, in the middle of the fourteenth century, the manuscript contains the Four Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. It was copied by a monk named Simeon, whose identity we know from a long inscription that he appended to the biblical text. Accompanying and fully integrated into the text are no fewer than 366 illustrations – one for each day of the year – that illustrate an extensive range of events from the narrative of the four Evangelists. Every opening of the book thus sparkles with colour and visual interest. However, as Simeon himself makes clear in his account of the making of the volume, the Gospel book was created 'not simply for the outward beauty of its decoration, of colours, gold, precious stones and diamonds, but primarily to express the inner Divine Word, the revelation and the sacred vision'.
Royal portraits: f. 2v: Constantine, the son-in-law of Ivan Alexander, flanked by three daughters of the tsar: Kerathamar (Constantine's wife), Keratsa and Desislava; f. 3r: Ivan Alexander in imperial garb, accompanied by his wife Theodora, his son Ivan Shishnan in imperial garb, and another son Ivan Asen. Above, two hands emerge from a cloud, making gestures of blessing over the Tsar and his wife, from the Gospels of Ivan Alexander, Bulgaria, 1355-1356, Add MS 39627, ff. 2v-3r
At the front of the volume is the most famous image painted in the Gospels (above). Here we meet face-to-face the ruler of the Bulgarian empire and the person who ordered the book to be made, Tsar Ivan Alexander. Also shown is the Tsar’s then wife, as well as his two sons by her, his three daughters by his first wife, and lastly his son-in-law.
On display in the Treasures gallery is one of the five other portraits of the Tsar included in the manuscript. In this miniature Ivan Alexander is depicted, not with his earthly family, but in Paradise between Abraham and the Virgin Mary, and within the overall context of a magnificent depiction of the Last Judgement. The starting point for this large illumination is Mark's account of Jesus's prophecy of the end of time. The end result is perhaps the finest of what the volume’s scribe, Simeon, called its 'life-giving images'.
Miniature of the Last Judgement, with Tsar Ivan Alexander in conversation with the Virgin Mary, from the Gospels of Ivan Alexander, Bulgaria, 1355-1356, Add MS 39627, f. 124r
The manuscript is a remarkable survival. Within forty years of the completion of the Gospels of Ivan Alexander, its patron was dead and his empire destroyed. Unlike many other artistic treasures of this remarkable period in Bulgarian history, the Gospels escaped destruction, finding its way north across the Danube. Here it came into the possession of the ruler of Moldavia, also called Ivan Alexander. For several centuries the history of the Gospels is unclear. By the 17th century, however, it appears to have reached the monastery of St Paul on Mount Athos. There it remained until its presentation in 1837 by the abbot of St Paul's to the young English traveller the Honourable Robert Curzon. Brought by Curzon to England, it was later presented to the British Library by his daughter.
The other manuscript on display beside the Gospels of Ivan Alexander is a fitting companion: the Vidin Gospels (Additional 39625). This important copy of the Gospels was also made in Bulgaria during the reign of Tsar Ivan Alexander. It was produced at Vidin and for the Metropolitan of that city, Daniel. Later in its history it too was presented to Curzon on Mount Athos, this time at the monastery of Caracalla, and subsequently by his daughter to the Library.
15 August 2012
Royal Banner Used at the Purbeck Art Weeks Festival
The large banner from the British Library’s Royal Manuscripts: The Genius of Illumination exhibition has had a dramatic reuse as part of the Purbeck Art Weeks Festival 2012, held from 26 May to 10 June.
Photo by Mike Gale, courtesy of PURBECK! Journal
The second Dick Odgers Memorial Lecture on 8 June was delivered at the Purbeck School, Wareham, by the author and presenter, Melvyn Bragg. Bragg’s lecture discussed the impact of the King James Bible: The Book of Books: the radical impact of the King James Bible 1611-2011.
The stunning image of God the Creator from a French Bible historiale was therefore an appropriate backdrop for the event. One of the PAWs trustees commented that ‘Melvyn was of course great and his talk was thoroughly enjoyed by the many people who packed into the Purbeck School hall to hear and see him.’
And that’s not all—the banner may go on tour again as part of an exciting new exhibition to be curated by Turner Prize winning artist, Mark Leckey:
15 February – 14 April 2013, The Bluecoat, Liverpool
27 April – 30 June 2013, Nottingham Contemporary
12 July – 20 October 2013, De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill-on-Sea
01 August 2012
The Pleasure of Discovery: Call for Papers for Leeds IMC 2013
Miniature of a black sun (sol niger) setting on the outskirts of a city, from Salomon Trismosin's Splendor Solis, Germany, 1582, Harley 3469, f. 30v
It's Call-for-Papers week here at the British Library's Medieval and Earlier Manuscripts department! We are pleased to announce that we will be inviting contributions for several sponsored sessions at the International Medieval Congress in Leeds 2013. The Congress will take place from 1-4 July 2013, and will focus on the theme of 'Pleasure' (for more information on the 2013 Congress, please click here).
In keeping with this ‘Pleasure’ theme, we would like to invite papers in the following two categories:
1. Books of Pleasure / The Pleasure of Books:
The book was a source of pleasure throughout the Middle Ages, from Augustine’s ‘book of the heart’ to Richard de Bury’s Philobiblon. The very nature of pleasure—what it entailed and whence it derived—was not uniform, and artists, authors and readers all expressed their pleasure in a variety of forms. This session seeks papers that address the pleasure given (and taken) from books. Topics to be addressed might include (but are not limited to) any of the following:
- visual or narrative depictions of leisure and pleasure / the iconography of pleasure
- the complexities and contradictions of writing about or illustrating pleasure
- explorations of the pleasure of books: creating, illuminating, owning, or reading
2. The Pleasure of Discovery: Recent Research and New Perspectives on British Library Manuscripts:
The Manuscripts Reading Room in the British Library is often privileged to witness new discoveries and the birth of fresh perspectives on objects in our collections. The pleasure in the moment of discovery and the urge to shout ‘Eureka!’ is, however, often muted out of respect for fellow researchers and the necessity of keeping quiet in a place of work. In the spirit of this conference theme, we invite papers that give full expression to the pleasures of discovery.
We are particularly interested in any recent research, new assessments, or (as yet) unpublished discoveries within the medieval manuscripts in the British Library’s collections and encourage participants to re-live their initial jubilation in the moment of discovery.
Papers accepted for inclusion in the British Library’s sponsored sessions may be submitted for peer-review for special publication in the Electronic British Library Journal (the eBLJ). The British Library will also make available any extant manuscript photography for participants for use in their presentations.
Please email your abstract of about 100 words (per 20 minute paper) to Sarah J Biggs (sarah-j.biggs [at] bl [dot] uk) no later than 17 September 2012. Please feel free to contact us with any questions.
Bursaries are available from the IMC to help defray the cost of accommodation and registration; please click here for the online form.
30 July 2012
Once More Beneath the Surface - Call for Papers for Kalamazoo 2013
Detail of an historiated initial 'C'(olor), of an artist mixing colours, from James le Palmer's Omne Bonum, England (London), c. 1360 - c. 1375, Royal 6 E. vi, f. 396
It has been very interesting - and extremely gratifying - to hear about the new discoveries and exciting research recently undertaken on items from the British Library's collection of medieval and earlier manuscripts (see here, for example, for Adam Cohen's guest post on Arundel 155, and here for my own work on Parc Abbey Bible, Additional 14788 - 14790).
In this light, we'd like to encourage any researchers interested in manuscript production to have a look at the call for papers for the 2013 Kalamazoo International Congress on Medieval Studies recently announced by the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence. The always-excellent RGME is sponsoring and co-sponsoring a total of seven sessions, with three focusing specifically on material culture, methods of production, and technological investigations of illuminated manuscripts.
Within this group will be sessions on medieval writing materials, current issues in Middle English palaeography, and one on the making of medieval manuscripts. This latter session, which I will be organising, looks to highlight new and ongoing technological research on medieval manuscripts, particularly focusing on new discoveries or interpretations of pigment use. We are interested in studies from all stages of the research process, including works in progress or experimental techniques; please email me at sejbiggs [at] gmail [dot] com for more details, or see the Call for Papers here.
The RGME will also be offering a session on medieval manuscript collections in North America, in conjunction with King Alfred's Notebook LLC. Three more, organised with the Societas Magica, have the following focuses: Astrology and Magic; Magic, Material Culture, and Technology; and Water as Symbol, Sign, and Trial: Aquatic Semantics in the Middle Ages.
Please have a look at the CFP, and get in touch with the RGME or myself with any questions. And also let us know if you are interested in publicising your work on any British Library manuscripts here on the blog; we have a number of guest posts lined up for the future and are always happy to showcase new research.
- Sarah J Biggs
27 July 2012
An Ancient List of Olympic Victors
Over the last few days London has welcomed more than 10,000 athletes from around the world to participate in the 2012 Summer Olympics. At the time of writing, the opening ceremony is just hours away; and during the next weeks many of the spectators will head to the Olympic Park on trains leaving St Pancras station, adjacent to the British Library. But how many of those spectators will realise that among the British Library's collections is a papyrus fragment containing a list of victors at the ancient Olympic Games?
The list is found on the verso of Papyrus 1185, written in the early 3rd century AD, and it includes the names of athletes and the events they won from the 75th to the 78th Olympiads (480 BC-468 BC), and again from the 81st to 83rd Olympiads (456 BC–448 BC). Some of the thirteen events listed will be familiar to modern spectators (boxing, wrestling, sprinting), while others are quite different from the ones we are looking forward to this summer. Wouldn't it be great if chariot racing was reinstated in the programme?! Let's start a petition to introduce the pancration (combined wrestling and boxing) to the modern Games. We guess that Usain Bolt would have been one of the favourites for the stadion had he competed at the ancient Olympiads!
|
στάδιον |
stadion (192.27 metre sprint) |
|
δίαυλος |
2 stadia |
|
δόλιχος |
dolichos (2000 metre) |
|
πένταθλον |
pentathlon |
|
πάλη |
wrestling |
|
πύξ |
boxing |
|
παγκράτιον |
pancration (combined wrestling & boxing) |
|
παίδων στάδιον |
boys’ stadio |
|
παίδων πάλη |
boys’ wrestling |
|
παίδων πύξ |
boys’ boxing |
|
ὁπλίτης |
hoplite (race in armour) |
|
τέθριππον |
four horse chariot race |
|
κέλης |
courser, horse-riding |
On the recto of the papyrus are some money accounts, dating from the 2nd or 3rd century AD. The list of Olympian victors on the verso is a fortuitous survival.
09 July 2012
Sport on the Sea (and River)
Detail of a miniature of Louis IX sailing off on his second crusade, from the Chroniques de France ou de St Denis, France (Paris), after 1332 and before 1350, Royal 16 G. vi, f. 437v
Sailing and rowing are among the oldest of Olympic events; both have been part of the Games from the beginning of the modern summer Olympics. The origins of these sports, of course, are much older, and like archery, reach back to a time when they were vital aspects of warfare, as well as necessities for transportation, trade, and exploration.
The images in the British Library's illuminated manuscript collection reflect these ancient uses. Many miniatures of ships show them full of soldiers, heading for war or conquest (as above, depicting Louis IX and his army heading off on his second crusade), or ferrying pilgrims, saints, or explorers (see below, for an historiated initial of Dante setting sail for Purgatory).
Detail of an historiated initial 'P' of Dante setting sail for Purgatory, by Priamo della Quercia, from Dante Alighieri’s Divina Commedia, Italy (Tuscany or Siena?), between 1444 and c. 1450, Yates Thompson 36, f. 65
Competitors in the London 2012 sailing events - which was called yachting until 1996 - will take to the open waters at Weymouth Bay and Portland Harbour in Dorset, in a carefully designed venue. These events will run from 29 July to 11 August, and one would imagine that today's Olympic sailors won't need to be concerned about encountering any of the medieval nautical hazards detailed in our manuscripts (two of which can be seen below).
Miniature of a whale and a sailing boat, from a Bestiary, with extracts from Giraldus Cambrensis on Irish birds, England (Salisbury?), 2nd quarter of the 13th century, Harley 4751, f. 69
The first miniature comes from a bestiary (or book of beasts) in an entry about whales. According to the text, whales were so large that ships occasionally would mistake one for an island, and land on its back. As soon as the crew built a fire, however, the whale would awaken and dive to the depths; this miniature shows the moment when the whale descends, and the unready (and, strangely, partly unclothed) crew are scrambling with their sails and rigging. Below is an image of another 'common' maritime danger - a siren. In this scene, she has seized hold of a ship and collapsed its mast; one crewman tries to close his ears to her song while another grabs hold of an oar to effect an escape.
Detail of a miniature of a siren, from a Bestiary, with extracts from Giraldus Cambrensis on Irish birds, England (Salisbury?), 2nd quarter of the 13th century, Harley 4751, f. 47v
Medieval manuscripts often show rowers in the context of river crossings and trade (when their skills were not necessary to escape a destructive siren). One of the most famous rivers in the Middle Ages was a mythical one - the river Acheron which was said to form the borders of Hell. According to myth, Charon was the ferryman designated to carry souls across to perdition and depictions of him doing so were common (see below).
Detail of a miniature of Dante and Virgil being rowed by Charon across the river Acheron, by Priamo della Quercia, from Dante Alighieri’s Divina Commedia, Italy (Tuscany or Siena?), between 1444 and c. 1450, Yates Thompson 36, f. 6
2012 Olympic rowing events will take place in Eton Dorney, Buckinghamshire, near the River Thames, so we were particularly pleased to come across two images of medieval rowers on England's most famous river. Both of these are from a 15th century version of John Lydgate's Lives of Saints Edmund and Fremund, and show helpful rivermen returning a fallen infant to its mother, and rescuing a boy who has fallen from London Bridge.
Detail of a miniature of a riverman returning a fallen infant to its mother, from John Lydgate’s Lives of Saints Edmund and Fremund, England (Bury St Edmunds?), between 1461 and c. 1475, Yates Thompson 47, f. 97
Detail of a miniature of a boy, fallen from London Bridge after being pushed by cattle, being rescued by rivermen on the Thames, from John Lydgate’s Lives of Saints Edmund and Fremund, England (Bury St Edmunds?), between 1461 and c. 1475, Yates Thompson 47, f. 94v
15 June 2012
Magna Carta's 797th Birthday!
How many people will wake up on the morning of 15th June and say to themselves, "Gosh, it's only 797 years since Magna Carta was first issued"? If you're one of those few, congratulate yourself on having studied too much medieval history! If not, then you didn't already know that on 15 June 1215, in the meadow at Runnymede, King John of England (1199-1215), before a gathering of barons and clerics, issued the charter of customs and liberties which is now called conventionally "Magna Carta".
Coloured drawing of King John in Sir Thomas Holme's Book of Arms: England, c. 1445-1450 (London, British Library, MS. Harley 4205, f. 4r).
Magna Carta has attained worldwide status, on account of some of its clauses protecting the rights of the individual, most notably "No free man shall be seized or imprisoned, or stripped of his rights or possessions, or outlawed or exiled, or deprived of his standing in any other way, nor will we proceed with force against him, or send others to do so, except by the lawful judgment of his equals or by the law of the land." Few people realise that the original charter was annulled by Pope Innocent III on 24 August 1215, barely 10 weeks after it had been issued; but a revised version was published in 1216 in the name of King Henry III (1216-1272), and following further revisions Magna Carta was entered onto the Statute Roll in 1297.
At the British Library we are already gearing up to celebrate the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta in 2015. Magna Carta will form the centrepiece of our major exhibition in that year, for which we already have funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council to work with Professor Nicholas Vincent (University of East Anglia) and others. In the coming months and years we'll be telling you more about this exciting work, and our plans for the future. And it's all down to those events in an English meadow beside the River Thames, 797 years ago.
Don't forget that you can view Magna Carta on our dedicated webpages.
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