28 March 2012
Science Manuscripts Online Soon
Here's a quick taster of some of the outstanding scientific manuscripts we've recently digitised, and which will soon be available on Digitised Manuscripts. The British Library's Harley Science Project, generously funded by William and Judith Bollinger, has supported the digitisation of 150 manuscripts, spanning the period from the 9th to the 17th centuries, and embracing many branches of early scientific knowledge.
Harley MS 3719 is a collection of astronomical, medical and philosophical texts, put together between the 13th and 16th centuries. On ff. 158v-159r is this famous illustration, combining the features of a bloodletting man with those of a zodiac man. Look closely at the Middle English captions and you'll see such gems of wisdom as "The veyne under the armehole opened makith a man dye laughting".
From a significantly earlier period we have this manuscript of Cicero's Aratea (Harley MS 647), illustrated with 22 constellation figures containing extracts from the Astronomica of Hyginus (on this page, f. 4r, is Persius). The book in question was made in northern France in the 1st half of the 9th century, and later came to England (by the 15th century it belonged to the monks of St Augustine's Abbey, Canterbury). On f. 21v is an inscription recording that the manuscript was corrected and repaired by the scribe Geruvigus, offering us an intriguing window into the book's early history.
Another manuscript digitised in full as part of the Harley Science Project is this copy of Thomas Osborne's treatise on arithmetic (Harley MS 4924), which, as the title-page states (f. 1r), was "fullie finished before the 28 day of March Anno Domini 1602". The manuscript was probably intended for presentation to Queen Elizabeth I (1558-1603) -- the title-page contains the royal arms of England.
Thomas Osborne probably deserves an entry in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, where he's not currently featured. It's our hope that this digitisation project will bring similar hidden treasures to light, improving in the process our understanding of early scientific learning.
28 January 2012
Cat and Mouse, and Hairy Elephants
The British Library is a treasure trove of stunning manuscripts, not all of which are in our Royal exhibition. One of these books is an Italian herbal, made around the year 1440 (Sloane MS 4016), which contains this delightful image of a cat chasing a mouse. The manuscript is a luxurious production, and you may like to know that a full-colour facsimile of it is available.
Apart from numerous detailed botanical drawings, this herbal supplies many images of animals and of aspects of medieval life, a small selection of which can be seen below: (1) a man and a woman sitting on a bench (labelled 'De homine sive de muliere experimenta', illustrating the effects of an aphrodisiac); (2) an impressively hairy elephant; and (3) a man urinating into a pot (this is a medical manuscript, after all).
It's reassuring to know that little has changed in the past 500 years ...
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20 December 2011
Help Us Date and Localise This Manuscript
London, British Library, MS Harley 2332, f. 20v
Medieval manuscripts frequently contain no indication of when they were written. In order to assign them an approximate dating, we invariably have to make judgments based on their script and decoration, both of which change over the centuries.
Harley 2332, a physician's almanac in the British Library's collections, is an exception to this rule. On one of its pages is found a full-page illustration, featuring twelve pictograms, each of them annotated with the number of years to have passed until the time when the almanac was made. Based on this information, we can conclude that Harley 2332 was made in or around the year AD 1412.
Certain of these pictograms defy interpretation, however, so we'd like to solicit your help to identify and date them. Please feel free to send us your ideas in the comment box at the foot of this post. Here is a list of the twelve images (reproduced above), reading from top to bottom and starting with the left-hand column. As you will see, not all of our identifications match precisely.
(a) the world represented by a medieval T-O map/6804 = 6804 years since the Creation (5392 BC)
(b) a monster's mouth/4604 = 4604 years since Sodom and Gomorrah? (3192 BC)
(c) an archbishop/804 = 804 years since St Augustine of Canterbury (AD 608: Augustine arrived in England in 597 and died in 604)
(d) a shroud/63 = 63 years since the Black Death (AD 1349)
(e) a saint/932 = 932 years since St Patrick? (AD 480: Patrick lived in the 5th century, but his exact dates are open to question)
(f) a ship/4308 = 4308 years since Noah's Ark (2896 BC)
(g) an archibishop's mitre stabbed by 3 swords/233 = 233 years since the murder of Thomas Becket (AD 1179: Becket was actually murdered in 1170)
(h) a king/13 = 13 years since the death of King Richard II (AD 1399)
(i) a laywoman/705 = 705 years since ? (AD 707: someone associated with the place where this manuscript was made?)
(j) the Nativity/1412 = 1412 since the Nativity (AD 0)
(k) a man with a sword through his neck/84 = 84 years since the murder of King Edward II (AD 1328: Edward was murdered in 1327)
(l) 2 swords crossed/10 = 10 years since a battle (AD 1402: the battle of Shrewsbury was fought in 1403)
We know that this almanac was made in England. Perhaps someone can identify all the historical figures whose images are found on f. 20v.
Harley 2332 has recently been digitised in its entirety as part of our Harley Science Project. These images, together with an enhanced description, will be made available on Digitised Manuscripts in 2012.
23 November 2011
Harley Science Project
What is the best cure for toothache? How do we calculate the date of Easter? What does a phoenix look like?
To answer these and similar questions, the British Library has embarked on a project to digitise some of its most prestigious medieval and early modern scientific manuscripts. Generously funded by William and Judith Bollinger, the project will supply complete coverage of selected items from the Harley collection, augmented by revised catalogue records for the books in question.
Medieval and early modern manuscripts are vital for transmitting ancient scientific thought to the modern world. The texts they contain document the roots of modern scientific enquiry, based on observation, experimentation and the testing of hypotheses.
Drawings of a cucumber and a cannabis plant from an 11th- or 12th-century German herbal (Harley MS. 4986, f. 39r).
The Harley collection is particularly rich in such material. One of the foundation collections of the British Library, it contains more than 7,000 manuscripts and 14,000 charters, collected by Robert Harley, 1st Earl of Oxford and Mortimer (d. 1724), and his son Edward Harley (d. 1741). Edward Harley bequeathed the library to his widow, Henrietta, née Cavendish Holles (d. 1755), during her lifetime, and thereafter to their daughter, Margaret Cavendish Bentinck, Duchess of Portland (d. 1785). In 1753, the manuscripts were sold by the Countess and the Duchess to the British nation for £10,000 under the Act of Parliament that also established the British Museum.
The conservation, digitisation and cataloguing phases of this project are already underway. The manuscripts selected range in date from the 9th century to the 17th century, and are written in a variety of western European languages (including Latin, Old and Middle English, Dutch, French, German, Irish, Italian and Spanish). They embrace many aspects of early scientific knowledge, such as astronomy, the computus, mathematics, medicine and veterinary science.
Title-page of Elevation des eaux by Sir Samuel Morland (d. 1695), 1683 (Harley MS. 5771, f. 1*r). Morland conducted several experiments into hydrostatics and hydraulics, for which he was created "Master of Mechanicks" by King Charles II of England (1660-1685). In 1682, Morland built a machine designed to transport water from the River Seine to the royal palace at Versailles. His treatise on the subject was published at Paris in 1685. Morland's other accomplishments include the production of an early calculating machine, and a "speaking trumpet" to improve communication between ships at sea.
It is anticipated that the Harley Science Project will provide full digital coverage and descriptions of some 150 manuscripts in the Harley collection. Not only do we aim to improve access to one of the British Library’s world-class collections, but we also hope to facilitate research and teaching devoted to those manuscripts.
The images and descriptions will be made available in due course via our Digitised Manuscripts site. Regular updates will be provided here as the project progresses.
Julian Harrison (Curator of Early Modern Manuscripts)
Conserving the Harley manuscripts
Earlier this year we announced the Harley Science Project, which will make available images and descriptions of 150 medieval and early modern manuscripts in the British Library's Harley collection. The digitisation of the Harley science manuscripts has been generously funded by William and Judith Bollinger.
The digitisation phase of this project is approaching completion, the cataloguing is underway, and we hope to publish the first group of scientific manuscripts on Digitised Manuscripts in the near-future. But a huge amount of preparation and highly-skilled work underpins projects such as these. This report by our conservator describes part of that process.
Iron-gall ink corrosion has caused paper losses. Old repairs are visible and new areas of damage required support before imaging. Thomas Osborne's Treatise on Arithmetic, England, 17th century. London, British Library, MS Harley 4924, f. 56r.
Conservators play a vital role in the digitisation process. Each manuscript is assessed before imaging to ensure that this can be done without damage. The binding is checked to be certain the book opens widely enough, especially if text is close into the gutter. The condition of the paper or parchment is noted, and the ink, gold and pigments are inspected for signs of damage or deterioration. The photographer receives a copy of the assessment with the conservator’s comments and recommendations, and after imaging the manuscript is checked again to be sure it is unharmed.
The majority of our manuscripts have been fit for imaging immediately, but occasionally they have required remedial treatment: a loose endband might need securing, a tear repairing, or pigment consolidating, while historic bindings are boxed for added protection. Damage that is unlikely to get worse, such as a detached board, can safely be left until after digitisation.
A physician's folded almanack was opened and flattened in the conservation studio before imaging. England, c. 1406. London, British Library, MS Harley 5311, f. 2v.
Our photographers are extremely experienced and careful, but they can call on the conservator for advice on handling oversized or unusual items. The conservator also monitors temperature and humidity in the photographic studio, to maintain optimum conditions. Old and damaged parchment, in particular, responds badly to swift changes and needs to acclimatise slowly.
Thousand-year-old parchment. The dark areas are evidence of an earlier binding, now lost. Anglo-Saxon miscellany including medical remedies, 11th century. London, British Library, MS Harley 55, f. 13v.
No digitisation project is without its complications, but it is the conservator’s job to anticipate likely difficulties, mitigate the risks and ensure a steady flow of books to the photographic studio, assessed and ready for imaging.
Ann Tomalak
20 September 2011
John Lydgate's Lives of Saints
John Lydgate, The Lives of Saints Edmund and Fremund
Bury St Edmunds, c. 1434 - 1439
British Library, Harley 2278
Miniature of Henry VI kneeling before the shrine of St Edmund, Harley 2278, f. 4v
In 1433 the young King Henry VI (just eleven years old) spent Christmas through Easter at the abbey of Bury St Edmunds. In honour of the visit the abbot William Curteys commissioned an English version of the Life of the abbey’s patron saint from one of the abbey’s monks, the author and poet John Lydgate (b. c.1370, d. 1449/50?). Lydgate combined the story of Edmund’s life with that of a more obscure saint, Fremund, supposedly Edmund’s nephew. This lavish and heavily illustrated copy of the text — it has 118 painted illustrations — was probably written under Lydgate’s direct supervision at the abbey as a presentation copy for the King. It is one of only a few surviving copies of the Life, and the most copiously illustrated. The image pictured here is that of the kneeling King before the shrine of St Edmund at the abbey. Although the shrine has since disappeared, in design it appears very similar to that of Edward the Confessor, still beyond the high altar in Westminster abbey today.
Henry VI developed a reputation for piety and poverty — qualities not necessarily viewed as appropriate for a king. He was criticised in his own time for failing to dress with suitable magnificence, and for excessive generosity. This impressive manuscript may have been one of his gifts: a later inscription shows that it came into the possession of John Touchet (d. 1559), 8th Baron Audley, who apparently returned it to the Old Royal Library as a gift to Henry VIII, perhaps in thanks for the restoration of his titles in 1512.
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