Medieval MSS Online: Update

Hello again! I've just completed a transatlantic move from southern Italy to the D.C. area and now have access to the internet with a computer battery that works . . . what a long few months it has been! I actually read through Bischoff's palaeography text (usually used as a reference) while holed up in a hotel waiting for phone calls about jobs/internships.

Still waiting on news from the job front, so if anyone in the D.C. area needs a master's level assistant in medieval studies with a certificate in library science, do please let me know. Will work for Latin tutelage!

Also, thanks to those who left comments in my absence! I'll be working on incorporating your information here in the coming weeks.

Viewing Medieval Manuscripts Online

When people first see a medieval manuscript, often the first things they notice are how difficult (or impossible) they are to read, how different the figures and illustrations are from modern art, and how distant they seem from our world of iPods, magazines, and airplanes. They are, after all, written in ancient languages, illustrated with a heavy emphasis on symbolism that seems obscure to us, and even written with different materials than we use today.

Reading small, sometimes cryptic descriptions on display cards at museums and libraries is a difficult way to be introduced to manuscripts. To those without a ready interest in history or literature it can seem useless and impossible to even try to understand the past by peering through glass panes at illegible scribbling.

Whatever it seemed like before, the world of museums and manuscripts is changing: the internet has created thousands of new opportunities for students and professionals alike to study the past through art, literature, and science. Now, you can take advantage of these opportunities simply by surfing around the internet and being interested in what you see. Today, you do not have to pay a lot of money to learn how to understand ancient cultures: you simply have to know where to find the information you want to know.

To help you start reading medieval manuscripts, I’ve put together two sets of links: one on picking up some basic Latin and the other on the study of ancient handwriting (palaeography). For a general overview, here are some links to other tutorials or digital projects introducing you to the study of medieval manuscripts. Not all manuscripts are written in Latin, but many of them are: feel free to skip that if you don’t need it. I wouldn’t try memorizing everything about palaeography either; just get a taste of it and come back when you have questions!

Introductions to Palaeography

“Palaeography means, in the strict sense, the study of ancient handwriting, and its basic objects are these: first, to read ancient texts with accuracy; secondly, to date and localize their handwriting.”
--Julian Brown

Palaeography can be an immensely challenging and rewarding study. With the advent of the internet, it has become a field more easily accessible to the general public. Below are some articles, online texts, and interactive tutorials to introduce you to palaeography.

I. Medieval Writing: History, Heritage and Data Source
This website contains tutorials (you’ll need at least Flash 5 for some of them) that involve real manuscripts from the 4th-15th centuries. There are also many introductory level articles, glossaries, and an excellent set of links to other resources.

II. Palaeography: reading old handwriting 1500-1800
The UK National Archives also has a Palaeography tutorial, but it should be noted that the examples are not medieval but renaissance and early modern texts. However, using this tutorial provides an good introductory basis for studying palaeography.

III. Medieval Manuscripts in Dutch Collections
These pages contain a variety of images, organized by script and accompanied by a glossary and an extensive bibliography .

IV. A. Cappelli’s "Dictionary of Latin and Italian Abbreviations"
Cappelli’s Dizionario is a standard work on palaeographical abbreviations. If you intend to work on medieval manuscripts, Latin abbreviations are very common and this text is very useful.

V. M. P. Brown’s “Understanding Illuminated Manuscripts: A Guide to Technical Terms”
M. P. Brown is one of the Curator’s of Western Manuscripts at the British Library, and has written widely and well about palaeography. This is her glossary on palaeographical terms and it is a popular reference book at universities.

There are also various other explorations of codicology (the study of the codex, or book) and palaeography attached to specific projects, like the Aberdeen Bestiary, the Ormulum Project, the Nero A.X. Project, Labyrinth, and the Online Reference Book for Medieval Studies. And this is just to name a few!