Upside-down illustration on Canto 3 in the Bodleian's copy, Auct. 2Q 1.11, of the 1481 Florence edition of Dante's Comedia

A virtual tour of Dante 1481 in multiple copies

A film of the event on 4 May 2021 is now available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pFvGSRzuQA Although the invention of printing seemed to promise a stream of identical copies from the press, scholars of early printing are well aware that this was not … Continue reading A virtual tour of Dante 1481 in multiple copies

Retrospect of the Hilary Term 2021 Seminars in Palaeography, Manuscript Studies, and Book History at Oxford

Meetings of the two seminar series in Hilary Term 2021 took place in unusual circumstances. The seminars welcomed participants and speakers from around the world at online meetings. Bodleian manuscripts were shared ‘live’ online at all of the Palaeography seminars, and in each series one seminar session joined material from the Bodleian collections with items from other libraries. It was possible to record some sessions; the presentations can be viewed from the links below, where indicated. Seminar in Palaeography and Manuscript StudiesConvenors: Daniel Wakelin (English), Martin Kauffmann (Bodleian) Week 1 (18 January)Julian Luxford (University of St. Andrews)‘The Tewkesbury benefactors’ book‘Presentation recorded … Continue reading Retrospect of the Hilary Term 2021 Seminars in Palaeography, Manuscript Studies, and Book History at Oxford

Survival of the Goostly Psalmes

Miles (or Myles) Coverdale’s undated ‘Goostly Psalmes’ contains just over 40 songs in English, mostly translations of German hymns, with printed music. It is printed in the quarto format, with colophon ‘Imprynted by me Johan Gough. / Cum privilegio Regalj’. The only known complete copy is at The Queen’s College, Oxford, consisting of 60 leaves in total. Fragments can be found the Bodleian and Beinecke Libraries. In the foldable sheets linked here, we have joined images of these two sets of fragments: two leaves at the Bodleian, one each from signature B and signature C, and three leaves from signature … Continue reading Survival of the Goostly Psalmes

Oxford Seminar in the History of the Book

January – March 2021, Fridays at 2:15pm (GMT) with special session 29 Jan. at 5pm (GMT) Conveners: Cristina Dondi (Lincoln College, Oxford) and Alexandra Franklin (Bodleian Centre for the Study of the Book) On-line: Join mailing list using this online form. Registrations will be honoured in the order received. You can register for the whole series or for selected seminars. Note, you must be registered at least 48 hours in advance to receive the joining instructions for that seminar. January 22 Matthew Payne, Keeper of the Muniments, Westminster Abbey, ‘Follow the Money: Wynkyn de Worde, Jacques Ferrebouc and the Bardi’ … Continue reading Oxford Seminar in the History of the Book