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SUMMARY:The Enigmatic Premodern Book - Professor Erik Kwakkel\, University
  of British Columbia
DTSTART:20200221T173000Z
DTEND:20200221T183000Z
UID:TALK121555@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Janet Gibson
DESCRIPTION:The defining feature of the medieval manuscript—the premoder
 n book at the heart of this lecture—is that its contents have been writt
 en rather than printed. A compelling feature of written text from the medi
 eval period is that it produces two kinds of meaning. The first is the mea
 ning of the words themselves: the most common reason for consulting a manu
 script and the reason why it was produced in the first place. The other ki
 nd is hidden within the shape of the letters. As they copied a text\, scri
 bes included information about themselves in their handwriting. How the in
 dividual letters were formed depended on a range of variables\, including 
 the location and approximate moment of the scribe’s training\, the insti
 tution in which the manuscript was produced\, and even with how much care 
 a text was copied. This is the enigma of the medieval manuscript: a wealth
  of information is enclosed in its material design\, if we can decipher th
 e code. What methods are available to untangle this enigma? What knowledge
  can be gleaned from how the medieval book was put together? Why is lookin
 g at this object as useful as reading it?\n\nErik Kwakkel is Professor in 
 the History of the Book at the School of Information\, The University of B
 ritish Columbia. He is a member of the Comité international de paléograp
 hie latine and among his recent monographs is Books Before Print (Arc Huma
 nities Press 2018).\n
LOCATION:LMH\, Lady Mitchell Hall
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