Codicology and Cataloguing of Medieval Manuscripts: a hands-on workshop
Two Day Course: 5-6 June 2024
Day 2 may include an offsite visit (TBC)
This course provides the opportunity to begin the process of independent manuscript study, analysis and description in a supported environment. You will put into practice the theoretical skills that you have learned, in the process of compiling a detailed description of medieval manuscripts. You will work on both digital facsimiles and manuscripts from the collection at Senate House Library.
This course is aimed primarily at those who have attended one or both of the codicology courses, although it is also open to students who have had prior training in codicology but lack direct experience with manuscripts.
This course links up with the Introduction to the cataloguing of medieval manuscripts, Introduction to the codicology of medieval manuscripts, and TEI and the description of medieval manuscripts. Taken as a whole, the course addresses fundamental gaps in the teaching available at most universities, offers insights that cannot adequately be gained from printed or digital sources or facsimiles.
Additional Information
Course Requirements
- Knowledge of codicology and the processes of book production will be essential, as will be the conventions of cataloguing a manuscript - hence the link-up with the Introductions to codicology and cataloguing.
- Some familiarity with and ability to read medieval handwriting would be helpful (but is not essential) and students are encouraged to familiarise themselves with introductory guides to palaeography in advance of the course.
Essential Reading
The following is intended to help you to broaden your knowledge of medieval manuscript culture and of book ownership and to help you to recognise types of manuscript or understand the contexts in which they were used:
Raymond Clemens and Timothy Graham, Introduction to manuscript studies (Ithaca/London: Cornell University Press, 2007):
- Part 3: Some Manuscript Genres
- (A useful introduction to the main types of manuscript you will encounter: dip in and out, depending on your interests).
Richard Gameson, ‘The medieval library (to c. 1450)’, in The Cambridge History of Libraries in Britain and Ireland, 3 vols (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006), vol. 1: To 1640, pp. 13-50.
- Also: Part 1: The medieval library
- (Again, pick chapters from this section for reading depending on your interests).
Location
This course will take place in Senate House.
Day Two of the workshop may take place off-site - TBC.
Fees
Course fees for LIPS 2024 are below: