In the Absence of Manuscript Evidence: Considering Lacunae in Manuscript Studies

Sponsoring Organization(s)

Research Group on Manuscript Evidence

Organizer Name

Justin A. Hastings; Derek Shank

Organizer Affiliation

Loyola Univ. Chicago; Research Group on Manuscript Evidence

Presider Name

Derek Shank

Paper Title 1

The Lost Medieval Exemplar of Beinecke Library, Takamiya MS 23

Presenter 1 Name

Ian Cornelius; James Eric Ensley

Presenter 1 Affiliation

Loyola Univ. Chicago; Yale Univ.

Paper Title 2

"How Dangerous Shoud Any Thing Be Ommitted!!!!": Editing and Encoding the Almanacks of Mary Moody Emerson

Presenter 2 Name

Sarah Cornell

Presenter 2 Affiliation

Northeastern Univ.

Paper Title 3

Response: Text without Context, Context without Text: Examining Absence in the Case of Grettisfærsla

Presenter 3 Name

Jack Wiegand

Presenter 3 Affiliation

Center for Medieval Studies, Univ. of Toronto

Start Date

9-5-2019 10:00 AM

Session Location

Schneider 1155

Description

While our organization's abiding mission is to consider the material evidence of written records "as carriers of text, archaeological artefacts, works of art, layers of history, and monuments of culture" (in our Mission Statement), we must wonder what happens when lacunae -- whether from scribal intentions, accidental omissions, temporal vicissitudes, or other means -- alter or limit the topography opened by a manuscript. For example, how have previous receivers and transmitters negotiated these lacunae? How to editors amend, elide, or underscore them? How do scholars interpret the gaps and silences occasioned by them? This session explores some options and presents telling case-studies. Mildred Budny