The Life of the Medieval Book, presented by Bridget Whittle, Digital Archives Librarian (McMaster University) in the Crescent Breakout Room
Talk Summary
The Life of the Medieval Book
The Medieval book, hand written on vellum or paper pages, was an object of immense value and labour. The production of a single volume involved a staggering amount of work. The form of the book varied depending on use, with influences from all over nudging the decoration and scribal character in different ways over time and place. Books were living documents, that people interacted with and liberally wrote in. Often carrying them around with them or travelling great distances to be able to use certain texts. Towards the end of the period, with the introduction of moveable type, the medium evolved, carrying over elements inherent to the manuscript form into the printed book, many of which we still see today, even as books make a new transition to digital objects.
Join me for a tour through the stages of medieval book creation, some of the major scribal types, binding styles, and the variety of book formats that proliferate throughout the age. We’ll look at some of the most luxurious methods of production as well as some of the more day to day ones. Finally, we’ll take these notes and do a deep dive into a book of hours in McMaster’s collection and what this ‘everyday’ book can show us in how it is unique and representative of the life of a Medieval book.
About Bridget
Bridget Whittle is the Digital Archives Librarian and has worked at McMaster since 2012. Before shifting in Archives, Bridget completed an undergraduate and Master’s programs in Medieval Studies at the University of Toronto. Currently, she works with digital archival records at McMaster University, which shares unexpected parallels to reading medieval manuscripts, but is significantly less fun. When not knee deep in floppy disks and cables, she is looking for medieval manuscript fragments used in book binding and trying to find missing pages from McMaster’s Book of Hours.
The William Ready Division of Archives and Research Collections is the principal repository for rare books, archives, antiquarian maps, and related historical material at McMaster University in support of teaching, education, and scholarship.
The Division serves a broad range of users, including McMaster students, faculty, staff, and alumni, as well as a national and international community of researchers and scholars, and members of the general public, both locally and beyond. Archives and Research Collections aims to collect materials that will support the research and teaching activities of the McMaster community and to be an engaged participant in the scholarly work of the University.
Symposium Gift Baskets
Winners were announced!
Teacher gift basket: Sigriðr galdrakona “GALA” Eiriksdottir
Class submissions gift basket: Beatris inghean Ghiolla Mhuire
