Networks of Transmission: Histories and Practices of Collecting Medieval Manuscripts and Documents
Sponsoring Organization(s)
Schoenberg Database of Manuscripts Project, Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies
Organizer Name
Alexander Devine
Organizer Affiliation
Univ. of Pennsylvania
Presider Name
Lynn Ransom
Presider Affiliation
Univ. of Pennsylvania
Paper Title 1
The Provenance and History of the Manuscripts Formerly in the Phillipps Collection: New Approaches to Reconstruction and Analysis
Presenter 1 Name
Toby Burrows
Presenter 1 Affiliation
King's College London
Paper Title 2
"I would prefer that my bankers do not know just how much I am spending on books . . .": The Collections of R. E. Hart
Presenter 2 Name
Cynthia Johnston
Presenter 2 Affiliation
Institute of English Studies, Univ. of London
Paper Title 3
The First Medieval Books in Maritime Canada
Presenter 3 Name
Scott Gwara
Presenter 3 Affiliation
Univ. of South Carolina-Columbia
Paper Title 4
The Neo-Gothic in the Medieval Manuscript Collection of John Frederick Lewis (1860-1932)
Presenter 4 Name
Katharine C. Chandler
Presenter 4 Affiliation
Free Library of Philadelphia
Start Date
16-5-2015 1:30 PM
Session Location
Fetzer 1055
Description
This session will focus on the mapping of those networks of sale and purchase through which medieval manuscripts have been pursued and on the collectors and collecting that have catalyzed this transmission across the centuries. This session – like The Schoenberg Database of Manuscripts itself – is rooted in the belief that studying manuscripts’ provenance can have dynamic and profound effects not only on our understanding of these medieval materials as objects to be bought and sold but also on their texts through mapping their circulation and reception. We particularly welcome proposals that explore diverse topics from the role of digital technologies such as the SDBM in conducting provenance research, the relationship between institutional and private ownership of manuscripts, specific case studies of collecting practices, the transatlantic travels of medieval materials, collectors’ roles in the dispersal of libraries and the fragmentation of manuscripts, collectors and manuscript preservation, and how a manuscript’s provenance history can affect its value and collectability on the rare books market, to how collectors and the act of collecting can shape and influence interpretations of manuscript evidence.
Alexander L. Devine and Lynn Ransom
Networks of Transmission: Histories and Practices of Collecting Medieval Manuscripts and Documents
Fetzer 1055
This session will focus on the mapping of those networks of sale and purchase through which medieval manuscripts have been pursued and on the collectors and collecting that have catalyzed this transmission across the centuries. This session – like The Schoenberg Database of Manuscripts itself – is rooted in the belief that studying manuscripts’ provenance can have dynamic and profound effects not only on our understanding of these medieval materials as objects to be bought and sold but also on their texts through mapping their circulation and reception. We particularly welcome proposals that explore diverse topics from the role of digital technologies such as the SDBM in conducting provenance research, the relationship between institutional and private ownership of manuscripts, specific case studies of collecting practices, the transatlantic travels of medieval materials, collectors’ roles in the dispersal of libraries and the fragmentation of manuscripts, collectors and manuscript preservation, and how a manuscript’s provenance history can affect its value and collectability on the rare books market, to how collectors and the act of collecting can shape and influence interpretations of manuscript evidence.
Alexander L. Devine and Lynn Ransom