Date/Time
Date(s) - 2 Nov 2011
2:40 PM - 3:55 PM
Location
Hamilton Hall, Columbia University
Category(ies) No Categories
The Anglo Saxon Studies Colloquium presents Nicholas Sparks (Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic, University of Cambridge) on
“The Theft and Dismemberment of Ancient Codices: Two Case Studies” at Columbia University, Hamilton Hall 503.
This is the story of the theft and mutilation of two medieval English manuscripts. The first a copy of Ælfric’s Grammar and Glossary from Exeter, now MS Hh.1.10 in Cambridge University Library. The second, the Codex Amiatinus, the best, oldest, and only complete surviving Latin Bible from before the time of Charlemagne. How did these books come into being? What clues might dismemberment provide? Neither manuscript bears any obvious indications of its provenance nor of circumstances of their dismemberment; however, these companion pieces allow us to think about books and their production as historical processes conditioned by time, space, and materials. They are not lifeless objects, but artifacts with stories to tell, often with cultural, political, social, and economic significance.