No stealing, no talking, no women – the rules you had to follow in a medieval library!
The Libraries of the Byzantine World
March 2, 2015 By
The evidence for institutional libraries—those of the palace, the secular and patriarchal schools in Constantinople, and the monasteries—gives an approximate idea of the nature and extent of their holdings.
$300 million library donated to Princeton University includes thousands of medieval manuscripts and early printed books
February 19, 2015 By
William Scheide has left his collection of rare books and manuscripts to Princeton University. It is believed to be worth about $300 million, making it the largest gift in the university’s history.
Two Lost Libraries in London
September 5, 2014 By
Medieval libraries in England were assembled in many places and for different purposes.
Call for Papers: Medieval and Renaissance Lost Libraries
February 20, 2014 By
The 2014 conference of CILIP’s Library and Information History Group will have the theme ‘Medieval and Renaissance Lost Libraries’. It will be held at Senate House in London on Saturday 12 July 2014.
Limitations and ethical implications of digitizing medieval manuscripts
February 15, 2014 By
This article seeks to identify limitations and ethical implications encountered when digitizing medieval manuscripts.
Medieval bindings: stiff board structures in Slovenian manuscript collection
November 24, 2013 By
The paper aims to present the methodology of work used in the research as well as the process of formulating description form related to conservation bookbinding. The paper closes with observations and conclusions drawn from the analysis of the Slovenian collection of medieval codices.
Late Medieval Franciscan Statutes on Convent Libraries and Education
September 16, 2013 By
Although the higher education of the Franciscans has frequently been the object of research, their role in offering elementary instruction has often been ignored.
The Place of Germany in the Twelfth-Century Renaissance: Books, Scriptoria and Libraries
August 15, 2013 By
Scholars in Germany and elsewhere have studied individual instances of this growth in the output of scriptoria and expansion of collections, but no-one, as far as I know, has drawn attention to the impressive scale and character of the phenomenon as a whole.
Downside Abbey to open its library to the public for the first time
June 12, 2013 By
Over 450,000 books and impressive medieval manuscript collection will now be available to the public thanks to a £856,000 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund.
Reconstructing a Late Medieval Irish Library
April 20, 2013 By
‘It is a tricky thing to discuss a library that has not existed for 350 years.’
Notes on a private library in fourth/tenth-century Baghdad
March 3, 2013 By
Studies on medieval Arabic bibliophilia have mainly focussed on public and semi-public institutions, for some of which we have detailed information. Less is known about private libraries and their physical arrangement. This paper looks at the library of Abū Bakr al-Ṣūlī (d. 335/947), which is described by the sources in unique terms, contextualising it with al-Ṣūlī’s own words on collecting and organizing books.
William Caxton’s Contributions to the English Language and Books and Libraries
January 21, 2013 By
Caxton’s influence has reached throughout the ages as he juggled the tasks of translator, printer, and linguist.
The Librarius and Libraire as Witnesses to the Evolving Book Trade in Ducal Brittany
October 7, 2012 By
In monasteries and cathedrals of the medieval West, the « custos librariae » functioned primarily as a custodian or keeper of bound codices, and we see a similar role emerge from extant medieval registers from Breton cathedral chapters.
“The King’s Library: Construction, Representation and Reception of the Ideal Kingship in the Late French Middle Ages”
October 6, 2012 By
This paper on Charles V of France and his contribution to education was given on October 5th, 2012 as part of a workshop between Freiburg and the University of Toronto.
Book of Kells has attracted ten million visitors to Trinity College Dublin Library
August 9, 2012 By
The Old Library and Book of Kells is one of Ireland’s major tourist venues and attracts over 520,000 visitors each year to see the exhibition on the Book of Kells and other medieval manuscripts
Libraries and Book Culture of the Byzantine Empire
April 22, 2012 By
The Byzantine Empire supported literary life at a time when many other parts of the western world were in a state of literary darkness.
University of Oxford and Vatican to digitize 1.5 million pages of historical texts
April 12, 2012 By
A collaboration between the University of Oxford’s Bodleian Library and the Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana at the Vatican will bring historical texts dating back to the Middle Ages into the digital era.
Bodleian Libraries Cairo Genizah collection now available online
March 5, 2012 By
From the store room to the web: Bodleian launches website featuring its 25,000 Cairo Genizah fragments
Medieval garbage in Leiden University Library
February 29, 2012 By
Dr. Erik Kwakkel discovered a remarkable manuscript in the rich medieval book collection of Leiden University Libraries.
‘Written in the Book of Life’: Building the Libraries of Medieval English Hospitals and Almshouses
January 30, 2012 By
Mindful of the fate awaiting them at the Last Judgement, the patrons of medieval hospitals and almshouses were understandably anxious that their good deeds should provide eloquent testimony on their behalf.
New App features Bodleian Treasures
November 8, 2011 By
The Bodleian Libraries have launched a mobile app featuring a selection of the rarest, most important and most evocative objects from the Bodleian collections.
Medieval manuscripts highlight of Lilly workshops at Indiana University
November 1, 2011 By
British scribe and illuminator Patricia Lovett will be this year’s guest for Indiana University’s Mediaevalia at the Lilly, an annual event focused on the Lilly Library’s large collection of rare medieval manuscripts and books.
Treasures of the Bodleian exhibition opens today
September 30, 2011 By
The Bodleian Libraries’ autumn exhibition ‘Treasures of the Bodleian’ opens to the public today (Friday 30 September). The exhibition will feature a selection of the Bodleian’s rarest, most important and most evocative items – from ancient papyri to medieval oriental manuscripts to twentieth-century printed books and ephemera. The exhibits are arranged into broad themes: the […]
Hidden Wisdom and Unseen Treasure: Revisiting Cataloging in Medieval Libraries
July 14, 2011 By
Hidden Wisdom and Unseen Treasure: Revisiting Cataloging in Medieval Libraries By Beth M. Russell Cataloging and Classification Quarterly, Vol. 26, no. 3 (1998) Abstract: Scholars working in the fields of medieval history and cultural history have recognized that understanding the cataloging and accessioning of books is central to understanding the transmission of ideas. This view […]
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