Medieval MSS Online: News

Greetings! Welcome to the first summary of the news coverage of medieval manuscripts. I hope that I can make this format more my own and not simply a copy of Dr. Nokes', but for now my imitation must be a shining compliment to the practical format adopted at UW. I've taken the liberty of adding an embedded video at the end of this entry; I've been wanting to find a way to include the interviews and interesting multimedia I find dealing with medieval MSS and this seems to fit in rather well.

Just a heads-up: So far, I haven't spoken of Evellum's products on this blog because I couldn't seem to find anything but advertisements online. Recently, I was at the the British Library and bought two of their interactive dvds. I hope to review them here soon.

• Got Medieval posts his monthly entry on medieval dates with a reference to some unfortunate swine in Welcome to December.
• At The Langar Hall, there is an article, Preserving What History We Have Left, on Sikh historical documents.
• Europeana.eu has been shut down due to traffic problems but is expected to be available again in the middle of this month.
• YLE Radio 1's weekly podcast has been uploaded, titled IMF: Pessima imminent.
• Here's a CFP for a conference on Digitizing Medieval and Early Modern Culture.
  
• Easily Distracted posts an entry he wrote to first-year students about Finding Primary Resources.
• There has been a slasher at the British Library! I'm just dumbfounded at this . . .
  
• On a lighter note, here is a recipe from several medieval manuscripts for pegions stewed.

Medieval Manuscripts of the Fitzwilliam Museum -- Part 1
"Dr Stella Panayotova, keeper of manuscripts and printed books Fitzwilliam Museum Cambridge, introduces the museum and shows a rare example of a Dutch medieval manuscript. http://www.slv.vic.gov.au/goto/medieval"

Museum Holdings

It is typical of online presentations that a library would place a more complete, annotated or transcribed edition of a manuscript online for the public perusal while a museum is concerned with a more holistic representation of manuscript, along with timelines or contextual notes. These museums, though sometimes working hand in hand with libraries to produce digitised versions of their holdings, are no exception.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY: The Cloisters
The Met houses an unique department called The Cloisters, which preserves medieval sculpture, stained glass windows, artefacts, and a plethora of other items. Within this department there are several exhibits on manuscripts; they hold the Book of Hours of Jean D’Evreux, the Belle Heures de Jean de Berry, and a leaf from a Beatus manuscript.

The Fitzwilliam Museum
This museum in Cambridge places selections from the Macclesfield psalter online in high resolution, accompanied by several articles about it that describe the history of the book, its value, and what makes it unique.

The Pierpont Morgan Museum & Library
This museum has put up a great many manuscripts for public viewing online with a feature that allows you to zoom in on the manuscript in question, but these manuscripts are only selections and not whole works. That in mind, enjoy the high resolution and incredible detail of these manuscripts.