"An English Codicological Vocabulary" (an English Language version of the Vocabulaire codicologique)
in association with the British Academy
A Colloquium
8 - 10 July 2004
Centre for Manuscript and Print Studies
Institute of English Studies
3rd Floor, Senate House, Malet Street, London WC1E
Since its foundation in 1953 one of the aims of the Comité international de paléographie latine (CIPL) has been the compilation of multilingual dictionaries of codicological and palaeographical terms used in the description of medieval manuscript books. In 1985 Denis Muzerelle, then Secretary General of CIPL, published a Vocabulaire codicologique: Répertoire méthodique des termes français relatifs aux manuscrits . This has been followed in 1996 and 1997 by Italian and Spanish versions based upon the Vocabulaire , but making a number of additions. At CIPL's XIII th Colloquium in 2000 Dr A.I. Doyle (Durham) offered to promote the production of an English version and thereafter sent copies of his own provisional and partial list of equivalents to the French, with a few additions, to a number of people interested in commenting with alternative and additional terms. Now he, David Ganz (Professor of Palaeography in the University of London) and Pamela Robinson (Secretary General, CIPL), have arranged with the Institute of English Studies, School of Advanced Study, University of London, to hold a colloquium there to further discussion of terms in what is the language not only of one nation but increasingly also of international electronic information exchange. M. Muzerelle's recent creation, freely available on the Internet (see http://vocabulaire.irht.cnrs.fr/vocab.htm ), of a multilingual combination of the French, Italian, Spanish and provisional English terms, along with illustrations, provides an opportune moment for such discussion. It is hoped that potential participants will use this aid, as well as published copies, to prepare their own submissions, together with any necessary illustrations, in advance of the colloquium, so that they can be circulated to other participants and the editors of a subsequently publishable English vocabulary.
A vocabulary is not the same as an encyclopaedia of codicology. The terms listed are those which may need translation or explanation, especially for someone better acquainted with another language or field of study, or which are used with a special application. It is not intended that the whole range of terms employed for such crafts as paper-making, binding, or conservation, should be included but only those with likely relevance to the study of manuscripts and their histories. It should also be noted that, as CIPL has not yet achieved its aim of producing a palaeographical vocabulary, discussion of types and features of script will be excluded from the present colloquium.
Each session, following the order of the Vocabulaire , will be lead by a panel of two or three experts to be followed by disciplined discussion, the results of which it is hoped to record. These are not expected to be prescriptive but may serve to reduce superfluous invention of terms in the future. Each day's sessions will begin at 11 a.m. in order to facilitate attendance by those travelling from outside central London, and will end by 6 p.m.
Admittance to the University Library's Palaeography Room will be arranged for participants so that they may verify terms and examples from its rich collections of facsimiles, catalogues, periodicals and monographs, before and after sessions.
Panellists will include Albert Derolez (President, CIPL), Consuelo Dutschke (Columbia University Library), Christopher de Hamel (Corpus Christi College Cambridge), Michael Gullick (Independent Scholar), J.P. Gumbert (Leiden), Bernard Meehan (Trinity College Dublin), Nigel Morgan (Oslo), Malcolm Parkes (Oxford), Kathleen Scott (Independent Scholar), Barbara Shailor (Yale), Richard Sharpe (Oxford), Patricia Stirnemann (Institut de Recherche et d'Histoire des Textes, Paris), and Jenny Sheppard (Independent Scholar).
10.30 a.m. Coffee and registration
11.00am Introduction to the objectives and procedure of the colloquium. Panel I and Discussion - Writing Materials (Vocab., pp. 35-56)
12.45 p.m. Lunch (own arrangements)
2.30 p.m. Panel II and Discussion ~ Copyists and Implements (Vocab. , pp. 65-76)
3.45 p.m. Tea
4.15 p.m. Panel III and Discussion ~ Making of the Codex (Vocab ., pp. 91-114)
6.00 p.m. Wine Reception
10.30 a.m. Coffee
11.00 a.m. Panel IV and Discussion ~ Copy and Tex t (Vocab ., pp. 117-44)
12.45 p.m. Lunch (own arrangements)
2.30 p.m. Panel V and Discussion ~ Decoration (Vocab. , pp. 147-74)
3.45 p.m. Tea
4.15 p.m. Panel VI and Discussion ~ Decoration (continued), with Pigments (Vocab ., pp. 77-83)
10.30 a.m. Coffee
11.00 a.m. Panel VII and Discussion ~ Binding ( Vocab ., pp. 11 7-204)
12.45 p.m. Lunch (own arrangements)
2.30 p.m. Panel VIII and Discussion ~ Binding (continued)
3.45 p.m. Tea
4.15 p.m. Panel IX and Discussion ~ Transcription and Conservation ( Vocab ., pp.207-31); concluding discussion and publication plans
Participants are advised to make their own arrangements for accommodation as soon as possible. A list of local hotels and hostels will be sent to all who register, or may be downloaded from the Institute's website, www.sas.ac.uk/ies . A list of local restaurants will also be provided.
The registration fee for three days is £75; reduced fee for AMARC members £60. Fee for single days £30 each; reduced fee for AMARC members £25. Cheques (in sterling only) should be made payable to ‘The University of London'. Alternatively, you may pay by credit card (Mastercard or Visa only). Please register by 18 June 2004; thereafter fees will rise by £10.