Week 1
Introduction to manuscripts
Read and discuss: Raymond Clemens and Timothy Graham, Introduction to Manuscript Studies, Cornell University Press, 2007: preface
Week 2
Materials and processes: writing supports, text, decoration, correction
Read and discuss: Clements and Graham, Chs. 1-3
Week 3:
Materials and processes: assembling, binding; working with manuscripts
Read and discuss: Clements and Graham, Chs. 4-6
Week 4
Assessing a manuscript’s origin and provenance
Read and discuss: Clements and Graham, Chs. 7-8
Week 5
Decoration and calligraphy
Read and discuss: Clements and Graham, Chs. 8-9
Larry Nees, Early Medieval Art, Oxford University Press, 2002: Word and Image
Midterm quiz
Week 6
Friday field trip (equals two class meetings – no class on Tuesday or Thursday). Note that the date of this field trip is to be confirmed. The field trip will include a morning working with manuscripts at the Biblioteca Angelica and (pending confirmation) a visit to a book restoration laboratory.
Week 7
Books in Antiquity, to 600
Read and discuss:
Carl Nordenfalk, Book Illumination: Early Middle Ages, Skira, 1995, pp. 7-23
Michelle Brown, A Historical Guide to Western Medieval Scripts to 1600, University of Toronto Press, 1993: sections on Old and New Roman scripts
Bibliographies due
Week 8
Hiberno-Saxon Manuscripts: Ireland, England, and Scotland, 600-800
Christopher de Hamel, A History of Illuminated Manuscripts, Phaidon Press, 1994: Ch. 1.
Michelle Brown, A Historical Guide to Western Medieval Scripts to 1600, University of Toronto Press, 1993: sections on Hiberno-Saxon scripts
Week 9
Carolingian and Ottonian manuscripts: France, Germany, Italy, 750-1000
Christopher de Hamel, A History of Illuminated Manuscripts, Phaidon Press, 1994: Ch. 2.
Larry Nees, Early Medieval Art, Oxford University Press, 2002: Ch. 11
Michelle Brown, A Historical Guide to Western Medieval Scripts to 1600, University of Toronto Press, 1993: sections on pre-Caroline and Caroline minuscules
Week 10
Monastic books: England, Spain, Italy, 1000-1200; Islamic and Jewish Books
Christopher de Hamel, A History of Illuminated Manuscripts, Phaidon Press, 1994: Ch. 3.
Michelle Brown, A Historical Guide to Western Medieval Scripts to 1600, University of Toronto Press, 1993: sections on early Gothic scripts
Further readings TBA
Week 11
Books for Students: France, England Italy, Germany, 1200-1400
Christopher de Hamel, A History of Illuminated Manuscripts, Phaidon Press, 1994: Ch. 4
Michelle Brown, A Historical Guide to Western Medieval Scripts to 1600, University of Toronto Press, 1993: sections on early Gothic scripts
Week 12
Artistocratic and Private Prayer Books, 1300-1500
Christopher de Hamel, A History of Illuminated Manuscripts, Phaidon Press, 1994: Chs. 5-6.
Michelle Brown, A Historical Guide to Western Medieval Scripts to 1600, University of Toronto Press, 1993: sections on later Gothic scripts
Final papers due
Week 13
Liturgical Books and Collecting
Christopher de Hamel, A History of Illuminated Manuscripts, Phaidon Press, 1994: Chs. 7-8.
Clements and Graham, Chs. 7-8.
Final quiz
Week 14
New methods in manuscript studies: genetics and more
Readings will include: Bruce Holsinger, “Of Pigs and Parchment: Medieval Studies and the Coming of the Animal,” PMLA, 124/2 (2009), pp. 616-623.
Final exam period
Student presentations