IMC 2015: Sessions

Session 1741: Book Histories: New Approaches to Understanding Manuscripts

Thursday 9 July 2015, 14.15-15.45

Moderator/Chair:	Rhiannon M. Lawrence-Francis, Special Collections, Leeds University Library
Paper 1741-a	The Beowulf Manuscript as a Unit: Codicological Appointments of the Nowell Codex (London, British Library, MS Cotton Vitellius A.xv) (Language: English) Gesner Las Casas Brito Filho, School of Fine Art, History of Art & Cultural Studies, University of Leeds / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES), Brazil Index terms: Archives and Sources, Language and Literature - Old English, Manuscripts and Palaeography, Medievalism and Antiquarianism
Paper 1741-b	The Computistical Ideas of Marianus Scotus in Anglo-Norman World (Language: English) Gleb Schmidt, Collège Universitaire Français, St Petersburg State University Index terms: Language and Literature - Latin, Manuscripts and Palaeography, Science
Paper 1741-c	Fragments and Fragmentology in North America: 200 Years of Breaking and Buying in the New World (Language: English) Lisa Fagin Davis, Medieval Academy of America, Massachusetts Index terms: Manuscripts and Palaeography, Medievalism and Antiquarianism
Abstract	Paper -a: Nowadays, the development of new technologies as the digitalization of manuscripts which before were only accessible in loco brings a necessary update to the studies of medieval texts. Besides, digital images of high resolution can show some new details never seen before in these manuscripts. The connection between textual, materiality, and imagery in the medieval manuscripts can't stay parted in new studies anymore. Just very recently researches about Beowulf poem have emerged in which these fundamental instances are studied together. The aim of this paper is presenting the materiality of this Anglo Saxon manuscript while pointing out some problems and suggests some ways for the study of Nowell Codex as a unit. Paper -b: The paper considers the diffusion of Excerptum Roberti Herefordensis de Chronica Mariani Scotti in Anglo-Norman world. The excerpt of Robert of Hereford (1079-1075) is a well-organized exposition of the Marianus' chronological theory, according to which the 'real' Christian era is 22 years longer than one proposed by Dionysius Exiguus. The Robert's work is preserved in nine manuscripts, eight are stored in the UK, one is kept in Russia. The aim of present paper is the reconstruction of connections between different manuscripts containing Excerptum Roberti. Having history of each codex studied, I propose the stemma representing the relationship between all copies of Excerptum Roberti. Paper -c: This lecture traces the development and significance of the trade in medieval manuscript leaves in North America, examines the current distribution of leaves in US and Canadian collections, and discusses incipient projects aiming to digitally reconstruct dismembered manuscripts.