Sara Charles
Sara Charles is a book historian at the University of London, specialising in 'historical remaking'. Her recent book The Medieval Scriptorium uses historical and practice-based evidence to investigate medieval book production.
Sara Charles’s PhD examines the use of Usuard’s martyrologies in England between 900–1300. Looking at the similarities and differences between the surviving martyrologies can give insights into the networks of textual transmission both pre- and post-conquest and build up a corpus of texts that reflect the changing landscape of the worship of saints. Her supervisors are Dr Cynthia Johnston (IES) and Dr Alan Thacker (IHR).
Research
Sara Charles has an MA from UCL in Library and Information Studies and an MRes in History of the Book. She is particularly interested in textual transmission and monastic networks, as well as the literacy of medieval women religious. Alongside her PhD, she uses practice-based research to examine the processes of manuscript making, exploring the practicalities of creating a manuscript through human labour. The experience of working with the materials feeds into a greater understanding of parchment makers, scribes, illuminators and bookbinders – creating insights into the particular assembly of individual manuscripts. This research is intrinsic to her current research, but also lends itself to the larger narrative of the book as a physical object.
Sara Charles is also Co-Editor of Historical Research and Journals Manager for University of London Press. For the IHR, Sara is responsible for the Institute's academic journal Historical Research and part of the editorial team at University of London Press.