Digitizing 300 manuscripts at the Bodleian
Inside the wooden upper-board of one of the Bodleian Library’s 12th century manuscript hides what is perhaps a guilty secret. A mysterious pattern of lines, etched in to its surface.
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Singing together with Medingen Abbey, apart
Candlemas (2 February) arrives again: the end of the medieval winter festivals, when English Heritage advises that we should finally take down our Christmas decorations.
Massive manuscripts and weary scribe
How long does it take to write manuscripts? This depends on the text you want to copy, but it might take very long – especially when you were commissioned to copy the entire Bible!
Finding focus in the profane
What would you expect to see on the first page of a book of sermons – a hunting scene? Perhaps not.
Saint Marina: A hidden woman in the Lives of the Fathers
This fifteenth-century manuscript – now Bodleian Library, MS. Laud Misc. 346 – both reveals and hides stories from the Lives of the Desert Fathers.
Recycling for the senses in a psalter
A fifteenth-century prayer book, now Wolfenbüttel, Herzog August Bibliothek, Cod. Guelf. 1179 Helmst., features two drawings pasted on the flyleaf: a sombre portrait of Jesus and a charming representation of Mary Magdalene.
The joy of a chance discovery
Any manuscript historian can tell you that digging around in the archives is not all fun and games. You don’t always find what you’re looking for.
Craft and mindfulness from digitized manuscripts
An internet wag has observed that one will emerge from Covid-19 isolation as a monk, a hunk, a chunk, or a drunk.
Manuscript Journeys: From German Lands to Digital Libraries
Earlier this month, the Bodleian hosted a panel discussion to celebrate the (near!) completion of our Manuscripts from German-Speaking Lands digitization project.
Ready for the big show - How manuscripts are prepared for digitization
In the Herzog August Bibliothek Wolfenbüttel all books intended for digitization are first assessed in terms of their physical condition, opening characteristics, and the particularly intensive mechanical stress and its impact on being handled during the conversion process.
Copying De civitate Dei
At a first glance, I must admit, MS. Laud Misc. 120 and 135 do not stand out as the most intriguing medieval manuscripts.