Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies

Trans Studies as Book Historical Method J. D. Sargan considers generative modes of reading through the premodern archive to seek out trans lives beyond the ephemeral glimpses that have gone unnoticed in the historical record.

I'm giving several talks about the books in the next couple of months, if you want to hear more (before you buy?). The first, linked below, is online via. UPenn @sims-mss.bsky.social on October 17th at 12 midday EDT.

Today we take a look at one of our favorites - and the oldest codex in Philadelphia! LJS 101 is a 9th and 11th century translation of Aristotle's De interpretatione (by Boethius) with some additional texts. #medievalsky

🔗: https://bit.ly/43ayh61

YouTube video by SchoenbergInstitute Coffee with a Codex: Voynich Facsimile (Beinecke Library (Yale) MS 408)

youtu.be/LlwjwLYTJug

Trans Studies as Book Historical Method J. D. Sargan considers generative modes of reading through the premodern archive to seek out trans lives beyond the ephemeral glimpses that have gone unnoticed in the historical record.

Online Lecture Fri. Oct. 17, 12:00pm EDT @sims-mss.bsky.social J. D. Sargan on Trans Studies as Book Historical Method @jdsargan.bsky.social

A delightful copy of the Seven Penitential Psalms (Les sept pseaumes penitentiaux) written in France in 1681. The binding is embroidered silk, interior decoration includes vignettes and illuminated initials. (UPenn Ms. Codex 1564)

🔗: https://bit.ly/4c0KGg5

YouTube video by SchoenbergInstitute 17th Annual Schoenberg Symposium on Manuscript Studies in the Digital Age: Nov. 21, 2024, Keynote

Just noticed that my @sims-mss.bsky.social 2024 Plenary is online, in which I explore the #MedievalManuscript #OpenAccess ecosystem, including @iiif.bsky.social, @digitalscriptorium.bsky.social, Digital Mappa, and the Schoenberg Database of Manuscripts: www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDwQ...

From fragments to text and ink: a scientific and historical study of an Umayyad Qur’ān - npj Heritage Science npj Heritage Science - From fragments to text and ink: a scientific and historical study of an Umayyad Qur’ān

New open-access publication: Discover how a multidisciplinary approach helped identify and contextualise three Qurʾānic parchment fragments from the University of Münster collection, revealing their shared origins in an Umayyad Qur’an:
www.nature.com/articles/s40...

Coffee with a Codex On The Road: Bat Book at the Rosenbach An informal lunch or coffee time to meet virtually with Kislak curators and talk about one of the manuscripts from Penn's collections. Each week we'll feature a different...

Oh boy, on Oct 16, @leoba.bsky.social is showing Rosenbach Museum & Library MS 1004/29, a mid-14thC physician's belt w/ calendar, tables of solar & lunar eclipses, anatomical phlebotomy diagram, & urine wheel. A 🦇 book, b/c it unfolds like a pair of 🦇 wings. libcal.library.upenn.edu/event/14872116

Coffee with a Codex: Documents Concerning a Community of Friars An informal lunch or coffee time to meet virtually with Kislak curators and talk about one of the manuscripts from Penn's collections. Each week we'll feature a different...

For #CoffeeWithACodex on October 9, Curator @leoba.bsky.social will bring out Ms. Codex 736, a collection of papal letters and instruments regarding the order of the Eremite Friars of St. Augustine of Rouen. It was written in Italy in 1475. #medievalsky #cwac

Register here: https://bit.ly/3Kvn0H0

Today we're looking at a late 15th-century collection of Latin astronomical treatises and tables of the 12th through 14th centuries, illustrated with six volvelles and numerous diagrams. Written in Germany, with a colophon dated 30 December 1481. (UPenn Ms. Codex 1881)

🔗: https://bit.ly/471ams3

Heart eyes! A loving bird flaps its wings in the bottom margin of f. 311v, Ms. Codex 724, a 13th century illuminated Bible #DrolleryDonnerstag #medievalsky

🔗: https://bit.ly/4gNmqRc

This week's #RainsfordDay book is notes on cabala collected by Charles Rainsford. Sections include how to predict a plentiful or scarce season by observing the type of insect on an oak apple, and writings on the seventy-two divine names of angels. (UPenn Ms. Codex 1702)

🔗: https://bit.ly/3VqKcIV

A group of students sat at a table examining documents and books from the Library's collection.

Are you an early career researcher with an interest in our collection? Apply to develop an independent research project funded by AHRC.

Hear more about the opportunity at a virtual town hall event on Monday 6 October: bit.ly/BL-EarlyCare...

Holey moley. A thing of beauty is a joy forever.

Coffee with a Codex: Ferial Psalter An informal lunch or coffee time to meet virtually with Kislak curators and talk about one of the manuscripts from Penn's collections. Each week we'll feature a different...

For #CoffeeWithACodex (Zoom, 12pm Noon ET) On October 2, Curator Dot Porter will bring out Ms. Codex 1057, an illuminated Ferial psalter containing the psalms, antiphons, hymns, short chapter readings, and other prayers. It was written in Trento c. 1350.

Register here: https://bit.ly/4pAYgx6

A quick glimpse of a book of hours on parchment, written and illuminated in France, possibly Paris, circa 1500. (UPenn Ms. Codex 2030) #medievalsky

🔗: https://bit.ly/4gBvf0m

For #FragmentFriday we have a bifolium from a book of hours. The text includes portions from the Gospel lesson from Matthew and the matins of the Office of the Virgin. Written in France in the 15th century. (UPenn Manuscript Fragment Collection. Folder 23) #medievalsky

🔗: https://bit.ly/46gsyxH

Our bsky account was disconnected from our posting service for a few days and we just caught it, so if you see a #FragmentFriday post come through in a few minutes... yeah you did! Sorry to be late with it.

Coffee with a Codex: Arabic Dictionary For Coffee With A Codex on September 25, Curator Dot Porter will bring out LJS 394, the second volume of a 10th-century dictionary of the Arabic language. It was written in Egypt or Syria in the 14th ...

Includes this week's @sims-mss.bsky.social Coffee with a Codex, featuring @leoba.bsky.social speaking about a 14th-century Arabic dictionary from Egypt or Syria -- at noon EST on September 25th: www.library.upenn.edu/events/coffe...

Coffee with a Codex: Arabic Dictionary An informal lunch or coffee time to meet virtually with Kislak curators and talk about one of the manuscripts from Penn's collections. Each week we'll feature a different...

For #CoffeeWithACodex on September 25 (Zoom, 12pm Noon ET), Curator Dot Porter will bring out LJS 394, the second volume of a 10th-century dictionary of the Arabic language. It was written in Egypt or Syria in the 14th century.

Register here: https://bit.ly/46PW7X2

Today's #MiniatureMonday is a Hebrew manuscript of prayers for the time of plague. Consists of selections from the Psalms and the "Parashat ha-Ḳeṭoret" (the Biblical and Talmudic passages detailing the creation of the incense in the Temple) (UPenn CAJS Rar Ms 656)

🔗: https://bit.ly/4pyGfj1

I would watch this!!!

My janky photoshop is here to serve 🫡

You know what, we have no idea!

Happy Gerald R. Ford Stuck in an Elevator Day to all those who celebrate.

(As someone who has visited the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum multiple times [my parents live 15 mins away] and who spent many hours in Van Pelt as a grad student, this is a very important and solemn day for me.)

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY, September 19, 1984, Former U. S. President Gerald Ford was stuck in an elevator in the Van Pelt Library at UPenn. Was there a medieval manuscript stuck in the elevator with him? Probably not, but we can dream. #medievalsky

I took this!

To make your own volvelle, follow the instructions here: marshlibrary.ie/make-your-ow...

Photo of a hand holding a paper volvelle

Photo of a printout of a plan for a Make Your Own Volvelle

Yesterday was our first Manuscript Studies Interest Group of the year! 10 astronomical manuscripts from Penn's collection and a dozen attendees. We made volvelles using a plan from @marshslibrary.bsky.social. No photos of the event, but here's a link to a booklist:

drive.google.com/file/d/1wzDx...

This week's #RainsfordDay book is an occult collection copied and compiled by Charles Rainsford, mainly comprising prayers, lists of divine names for invocations, and instructions for conjurations taken from works attributed to well-known occultists. (UPenn Ms. Codex 1677)

🔗: https://bit.ly/46k0mKd