Lisa Fagin Davis

It is quite common, and in this case the illustrations sometimes do and sometimes don't relate the text. This part of the manuscript (the Hours of the Virgin) has roundels that illustrate the Life of St. Katherine of Alexandria, which this doesn't seem to be related to.

Here's the recto. This now-lost leaf preserves Psalm 1, which is a different problem entirely as it's not clear what part of the MS it belongs to! The other text on the leaf (end of the hymn "Memento salutis auctor") places it in the Hours of the Virgin, but it's not clear which Hour. Any thoughts?

OK #MedievalSky, what in the world is going on in this miniature from the St. Alexis Hours? It doesn't fit into the other narratives we're rebuilt (Life of St. Alexis and the Life of St. Katherine). The iconography is a mystery! St. Apollonia? But why?

*spits coffee while laughing*

Rare 15th Century Jewish Prayer Book, Looted by the Nazis, to Be Sold The illuminated manuscript, confiscated from the Rothschild banking dynasty during the Holocaust, is expected to draw at least $5 million.

A rare 15th-century Jewish prayer book, confiscated from the Rothschild banking dynasty during the Holocaust, has been returned by Austria to the Rothschild family. It will be sold at Sotheby's next year for an estimated $5 million to $7 million.

...then I'll make it all public so you can enjoy this GORGEOUS mid-to-late fifteenth century Book of Hours from Northern France! I'm so proud of these students. #Fragmentology ftw!

...but it turns out that the illustrative campaign is much more elaborate and complex than just one Saint's Life. I need to do some more research, flesh out the description of the re-sequence, and proofread all of my students' individual leaf records...

Look what my awesome @simmonsuniversity.bsky.social Library Science students did! This year, we studied a manuscript broken in the 1980s (likely by Ferrini, but we don't know for sure). It's generally known as the Hours of St. Alexis because many of the roundels illustrate scenes from his Vita...

Sounds wonderful!

This project is so cool

Thanks for the recommendation!

I know, it's so lovely and so very very English!

#BeauvaisMissal sighting! The Kansas nuns who own this leaf reproduced it on the cover of an album of Gregorian Chant their choir recorded in the 1970s...which I own, naturally!

Confirmed! It's definitely HL 115! drive.google.com/file/d/1crKD...

I've definitely seen that one before. Give me a few minutes to look through my images!

ALA welcomes reinstatement of all federal IMLS grants to libraries Today, the American Library Association (ALA) greeted an announcement by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) that it had reinstated all the agency’s grants.

The Institute of Museum & Library Services has restored all previously canceled federal grants to libraries, following a ruling by a federal judge

"Restoration of these grants is a massive win for libraries of all kinds in all states."

PSA: this is not an invitation! Truth is, I cannot possibly take the time to carefully read and review every #Voynich "solution" sent to me, & most are definitely not worth the trouble as they are AI-generated slop. If you've got a "solution", post it to a forum & you'll get plenty of feedback!

That wasn't an invitation! 😂

definitely

omg

Total number of #Voynich solutions received in November = 18. Can we break that record in December? I've received two already this month, so I'm well on my way...

One of the things I love about Uber and Lyft is when drivers introduce me to new music. Today I heard Dimash Qudaibergen for the first time and my life will never be the same. Damn, that man can sing.

Thanks!

Also, good lord please ignore what I wrote in the caption for the Tres Riches Heures. Obviously not an Annunciation scene!

Indeed, it might be useful to have a scale for some of the drivers!

This is definitely a WIP, so please let me know what you think!

10. Late-15th c.: Development of mechanical printing in western Europe -> cross-influences from printed books to manuscripts and from manuscripts to printed books. Drivers: aesthetic, technological (image: the Morgan Library's Gutenberg Bible, www.themorgan.org/collection/G...)

9. Mid-15th c.: more efficient papermaking technology -> lower costs and higher supply -> increase in the number of professional scribes and booksellers. Drivers: economic, technological (image from manuscriptevidence.org/wpme/waterma...)

8. Early 15th c.: Rise of Humanism -> development and spread of Humanistic style and bookhands as well as vernacular texts and literature. Drivers: aesthetic, intellectual (image: Schøyen MS 647, www.schoyencollection.com/palaeography...)