Manuscripts & Book Arts on the Web @ncfmss-blog - Tumblr Blog

I hope that this works, I've been trying to get this posted since last semester. In theory, attached to this post is a kick-ass article that Professor Goff assigned in Historical Methods that is all about manuscripts as vectors of information transfer. Specifically in the form of a dramatic pirate/sultan/inquisition/thing that would be a great movie. Check it out. Mason is excused from this one, -TF

Another really cool thing I found when working on my final, this time it's one of the oldest Universities/Madrasas in the world. Though it was originally a school of Qur'anic studies, it later on became used more and more for "non-vocational" sciences, like math, astronomy, etc. It's just another really good comparison/contrast to more "Western" institutions we studied in class, since they both Christian and Muslim Universities rose out of religious studies. It also has really nice architecture that blends Berber tastes with the "Arab standard" of the Caliphate. As a side note, it's also a UNESCO Heritage site. -TF

Found this beautiful Qur'an when I was doing research for my Historical Methods Final. It's just a very nice comparison to the illuminated manuscripts we're used to seeing. I've found that in Islam, the emphasis is less on the book as a holy symbol, but rather the text. The calligraphy is just stunning, don't you think? -TF

-CEP

This a link to the website of the National Manuscripts Conservation Trust in the UK, a nonprofit that sponsors the preservation and conservation of manuscripts. One of the most notable projects for which it provided funding was the preservation of the Winchester Bible, which we examined in week six. I linked to the case study of the Winchester Bible above; there is a video on the page showing some of the conservation work being done. - VBD.

This is the website of Daniel Reeve, the professional calligrapher who worked on Pirates of the Caribbean as well as all of Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings movies. Some of his work is in the gallery of past projects on his website. - VBD.

Here is a handy guide for drawing your own Celtic-style knotwork as decoration. - VBD.

Here's another cite about the printing press. Click to learn more :) -JZ

I don't know how accurate this cite is but it is really interesting! Click on it to learn more about the printing press. -JZ

Be careful, its a procrastination magnet.

- Donni A.

If It Looks Like a Goose and Talks Like a Goose, It's Actually a Fish

People in the Middle Ages took the Lenten fast extremely seriously. At the same time, they also found ways to weasel out of it. For example, the church declared that a beaver's tail was of a suitably fishlike nature that it could freely be eaten during Lent. Whales, being somewhat similar to fish in appearance, were also suitable Lenten vittles. The barnacle goose was also a loophole that was freely abused. Because it was believed that barnacle geese started life as barnacles, they were not considered birds and thus exempt from dietary restrictions on poultry. As far as the Medieval church was concerned, if it came out of or lived near the sea it was a fish, so feel free to stuff yourself with whale and goose meat while reflecting on how Christ died for your sins. Krisitan Grønhaug

This was a really cool site and the Rome Reborn section had some interesting medieval depictions and guides to the City from the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.

Kevin

https://medievalfragments.wordpress.com/2013/02/22/paws-pee-and-mice-cats-among-medieval-manuscripts/ Apparently cats had no respect for humans in the fifteenth century either. Kevin

Kevin

I sincerely hope that these weren’t made prior to the 1970s, cause if they were, George Lucas has some splainin to do.

Kevin

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