The Written Word in the Medieval World
The word manuscript derives from the Latin expression manu scripti, meaning “written by hand.” In our own age of e-books and print-on-demand, it can be all too easy to forget that every aspect of a medieval book – the parchment pages, the inks and pigments used for writing, even binding materials – were all the result of personal, painstaking labor. When we as students and scholars touch, read, and use these objects, we not only engage directly with the medieval past, but fully enter into a community of readers stretching back nearly a millennia.
The Written Word in the Medieval World is a celebration of the medieval collections held by River Campus Libraries, University of Rochester, and an exploration of manuscript culture in in Europe and the Mediterranean between the 9th and 15th centuries. Highlighted are certain aspects of manuscript production – appearance, content, audience, format – that represent this crucial moment in the early history of the book. Ranging in scope from wills, deeds, and other legal documents to scholastic philosophy, musical manuscripts, and illuminated prayerbooks, these materials showcase both the diversity of medieval texts and the physical contexts in which knowledge was shared and spread throughout the Middle Ages.
Many manuscripts shown here are leaves or fragments, small pieces of a larger codex. Fragments are often recovered from bindings of later codices or printed volumes in which they were recycled as part of the bookmaking process. Others are the result of the unfortunate practice of book mutilation, whereby booksellers disband and cut up medieval manuscripts to sell as collector’s items. In this way, the post-medieval lives of Rochester’s manuscript collections are also on display, as well as the potential for hidden knowledge to be uncovered from these pieces of the medieval past. This exhibition highlights both the richness of medieval manuscript culture and the deep potential for further manuscript research and teaching here at Rochester.
This online exhibition presents a version of “The Written Word in the Medieval World” which was on display October-December 2015. The research and writing for that exhibit was the work of Dr. Marie Turner, Director, Rossell Hope Robbins Library, University of Rochester; special thanks are due to John Chandler (Phd English, 2012) for his work in creating the original finding aid for the entire medieval and early modern manuscript collection, available online here and via the tab above.
We hope to make a tradition of involving students in ongoing work and research with this and other special collections held at the University.