Introduction to the Insular System of Scripts to A.D. 600-900
One Day Course: Monday 3 June 2024
This course will introduce students to the earliest scripts of Britain and Ireland, from the first surviving manuscripts up to the end of the first Viking Age. Students will study the remarkable, uniquely flexible Insular script-system; they will learn to identify the different grades of script, as well as the range of features which tell us that a manuscript was produced in the Insular world.
There will be frequent opportunities to practice reading Insular script (abbreviations and specialist letter-forms will be explained as they occur) and we will look at some of the most important scribes and manuscripts of this period.
Additional Information
Course Requirements
No prior knowledge (of either scripts or medieval languages) is required.
Essential Reading
- Michelle P. Brown, A Guide to Western Historical Scripts from Antiquity to 1600 (London: British Library, 1990)
- Richard Gameson (ed.), The Cambridge History of the Book in Britain, Vol. I (c. 400-1100) (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012) (specifically chapters 3 and 4)
- Jane Roberts, A Guide to Scripts used in English Writings up to 1500 (London: British Library, 2005 / Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2015)
Location
This course will take place in Senate House.
Fees
Course fees for LIPS 2024 are below:
