This case study takes a step towards providing detailed in-depth descriptions of all in situ medieval manuscript fragments found in incunable bindings in the Bodleian Library. The descriptive entries produced will complement the printed catalogue, A Catalogue of Books Printed in the Fifteenth Century now in the Bodleian Library, and cover all records for sections âAâ and âBâ. At the same time, the descriptions will fully integrate with the Bodleianâs digital incunable catalogue (Bod-Inc) and forthcoming online manuscripts catalogue, as well as the Fragmentarium platform. The descriptive model will not only be flexible enough to be implemented across these three digital platforms, but will simultaneously allow each catalogue entry to exist as a thorough, independent description. Ruth Mullett (PhD 2017,…
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Florus of Lyons is known both for his encyclopedic compilations of the Fathers, and for his critical, almost philological appreciation of manuscript traditions. By chance, more than a hundred codices which then belonged to the library of the Cathedral of Lyons, among which a few dozens were annotated or written by Florus himself, are still preserved in today's European libraries, representing a rare opportunity to observe the contents and life of a Carolingian library. Doing so consists not only in identifying surviving codices, but also in studying, not unlike an archaeological enquiry, the remaining fragments of what has been lost, and the way they have been dispersed. The fragments of otherwise lost codices, the dispersed parts of surviving ones, and…
This case study carried out at the Austrian National Library intends to create a model for describing book decorations in an online catalogue and database. To develop this model, we chose the fragments of decorated manuscripts, which amount to roughly 10% of the total collection of fragments of the Austrian National Library. On the basis of these fragments, we plan to: Collect and unify all available data from published descriptions of illuminated fragments Survey and describe illuminated fragments in the collection of fragments Describe known illuminated fragments still in situ, mainly in incunabula. Differences in definitions and vocabulary for describing book decorations in various European languages will make it necessary to use a combined model of basic classification with thesauri…
A large portion of the rich fragment collection at the Leipzig University Library remains to this day uncatalogued and hence unexplored. A noteworthy exception are the fragments found in situ in historic bindings of incunabula volumes â 2014 their content and codicological features were published by the Leipzig manuscript centre within the catalogue of incunabula. This data will now be integrated in the Fragmentarium database, serving in this manner as a model for retrospective conversion of analogue fragment descriptions into digital ones. The current case study focuses on the circa 850 disjoint fragments from the library collection, which are only partially examined. In the period 2008 to 2011 the manuscript centre of the Leipzig University Library prepared an inventory, listing…
The project consists in a codicological, palaeographical, critical and philological study of manuscript fragments of Latin psalms and psalters preserved in the Abbey Library of St. Gall. This case study is related to Isidore of Sevilleâs works and his hypothetical revision of the Latin Psalter. This case study focuses on the location, description and examination of the fragments of the Latin Psalter preserved in the Abbey Library of St. Gall. Northern Italy and the Lake Constance region are important areas for the early transmission of Isidore's works as well as for their Precarolingian and Carolingian reception. This is also the area of origin of some of the fragments of psalms preserved in St. Gall. The Latin versions of fragments of…
This case study aims to inventory, identify, and describe the in situ medieval manuscript fragments found in the bindings of Beinecke Library incunables. Detailed descriptions of the binding fragments, which have never before been inventoried, will be compiled into a digital catalogue. Additionally, the fragment descriptions will be imported into the MARC record environment, where they will be attached to the entries for their incunable host volumes, making this material fully searchable to the public for the first time. Beinecke Technical Services will photograph the in situ fragments, and the images will be made available to researchers via the Beinecke Digital Images database as well as the Fragmentarium web application, along with fragment descriptions. This project is part of a larger initiative…
The WolfenbĂźttel collection â two boxes full of music â offers a comprehensive collection of liturgical manuscripts spanning the period from the eleventh to the early seventeenth century. Although at first glance many of the manuscripts seem rather sober, they provide candid testimony to the development of ecclesiastical libraries, even if only in a few cases their place of origin can be identified. Moreover, these documents record the liturgical practice, and through it, the cultural heritage of Central Europe. Antje Hoffmann (Weimar) received her MA in musicology in 2015. In addition to her studies, she has worked at the Free State of Thuringia Music Archive Weimar, the library of the University of Music FRANZ LISZT Weimar, and for several projects…
This two-year case study funded by the Austrian Academy of Science (Go Digital 2.0) focuses on fragments from the Benedictine monastery of Mondsee (Upper Austria). Mondsee became an important local center for book production already shortly after its foundation in 748 with phases of increased activity in the 12th as well as the 15th century. When a book-binding workshop was installed in the 15th century many books from the monasteryâs collection were cut up and re-used as binding material for its own library. After the dissolution of the monastery in 1791 the court library in Vienna received nearly all manuscripts from this important monastic library. Many printed books and the remnants of Mondseeâs archive remained in Linz, today the capital…
The Free Library Case Study focuses on manuscript cuttings and fragments from the John Frederick Lewis Collection at the Free Library of Philadelphia. The Free Libraryâs collection of approximately 2,300 fragments, principally of European origin and dating from the eleventh to the sixteenth centuries, is one of the largest of its kind and remains relatively understudied. Emily Shartrand is a Ph.D. candidate in Art History at the University of Delaware
The burnt fragments of the Cotton manuscripts are among the most evocative artefacts of medieval culture, both for the tragedy of their destruction and the mystery of their contents. Many of the surviving leaves remain critical to scholarship, often containing unique texts or their earliest known copies. Work on other fragments at the British Library has shown that multispectral photography makes it possible to extract more information from what survives. The burnt leaves are continuing to deteriorate, and it is critical that digital techniques be applied to document and to preserve their present state. This project will publish photographs of fragments from key remnants of Anglo-Saxon Cotton manuscripts in the Cotton collection on Fragmentarium. Andrew Dunning (ORCID: 0000-0003-0464-5036) is Curator…
This case study focuses on noteworthy fragments produced during the Byzantine period and written in ancient or Byzantine Greek. In particular, it documents and catalogues fragments from patriarchal, monastic, ecclesiastical, public and municipal libraries all over Greece and the Hellenic World. The first phase concentrates on the manuscript collections of the Diocese of Samos, the monastery of Chozoviotissa on Amorgos, the monastery of Iviron on Mount Athos, and the Archdiocese of Cyprus. A second phase will expand the research to other libraries, including those of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem, the Patriarchate of Alexandria, the monastery of Ioannou Theologou Patmos, and the Library of the Hellenic Parliament and Ethnological Museum in Athens. The 14-month case study plans to analyze more than…
This case study focuses on the manuscript cuttings and fragments found in the Houghton Library and other Boston-area collections. Building on the intense collaboration among experts involved in the exhibition Beyond Words: Illuminated Manuscripts in Boston Collections (http://beyondwords2016.org/), the study aims to illuminate the dense interactions between manuscripts culture, trends in North American collecting, and the shifting role of manuscripts in creating cultural capital in American institutions. Elena Iourtaeva (MA, Medieval Studies, University of Toronto, 2014) has extensive experience in both Information Technology and Manuscript Studies. As a medievalist, she has a particular interest in palaeography and codicology; she is eager to combine this interest with her experience as a professional photographer to develop how best to tell the story…
The second issue of Fragmentology, the Open Access eJournal dedicated to the study of medieval manuscript fragments, was published today. Featuring 215 pages of articles, research notes, and book reviews, the journal provides a view of current research results, presenting studies of individual fragments, fragment collections, libraries, and fields of research.
The GoDigital 2.0 project on Mondsee Abbey Fragments continues to bear fruit. Project member Larissa Rasinger published today on the Iter Austriacum blog the discovery of an offset of the Middle Dutch didactic poem Dietsche Doctrinale as part of their research. The Mondsee team then found the original fragment in Berlin and traced its movement. As with the other spectacular materials from Mondsee, The offset, fragment, and reconstruction are published on Fragmentarium.
Today, the Fragmentarium team concluded their first Cataloguing Course, a three-day workshop dedicated to introducing scholars, librarians, and interested parties to publishing fragments on the Fragmentarium platform. The first course helped establish the approaches and procedures to be used in future events, which will be announced in advance.
Program
The Stadtbibliothek Trier's ongoing fragment digitization project serves as the subject for a series of articles in the German newspaper Volksfreund. One fascinating piece describes the digitization of fragments, while another presents Peter Bohn (1833-1925) and his trailblazing work on Gregorian Chant; Bohn's personal collection of musical manuscripts and fragments is currently at the Stadtbibliothek Trier. The director of the Stadtbibliothek, Prof. Dr. Michael Embach, announces the beginning of a cooperation with Fragmentarium to make these manuscripts available to the public around the world. We look forward to the collaboration.
The Austrian newspaper Der Standard ran on May 12 a feature on the Austrian National Library's Go!Digital 2.0 Project to publish on the fragments of Mondsee on Fragmentarium. The spectacular article features stunning, behind-the-scenes photographs and candid interviews with Fragmentarium Fellows and Collaborators Ivana Dobcheva and Katharina Kaska.
The Schoenberg Institute of Manuscript Studies, together with the Free Library of Philadelphia, will be holding "Hooking Up", the 12th Annual Lawrence J. Schoenberg Symposium on Manuscript Studies in the Digital Age in Philadelphia, 21-23 November. The theme explores linking data in manuscripts and manuscript research. On 21 November at the Free Library, Prof. Mary Carruthers (New York University and All Souls College, Oxford University) will deliver the keynote address. On the following days, the action shifts to the Kislak Center of Special Collections, Rare Books, and Manuscripts at the University of Pennsylvania. Prof. Christoph FlĂźeler, director of e-codices and Fragmentarium will participate in the panel discussion "What's Next", to be held on Saturday, 23 November at 4 pm.
On Tuesday, 22 October, Fragmentarium Project Manager, Dr. William Duba, presented "Medieval manuscript fragments, Fragmentology and Fragmentarium" to the Trans.Script center at the Universitatea BabeČ-Bolyai in Cluj, Romania.
University College Dublin has announced a Symposium on Manuscript Fragments on 17 October, 2019. Presenting will be the Director of Fragmentarium, Prof. Christoph FlĂźeler, and Fragmentarium partner Lisa Fagin Davis, of the Medieval Academy of America. A program is now available.
The Wolfenbßtteler Arbeitskreises fßr Bibliotheks-, Buch-und Mediengeschichte is holding conference at the Erzabtei St. Peter, Salzburg, 26-28 September 2019, on the theme: "Fenster zur Ewigkeit: Die ältesten Bibliotheken der Welt" on the four oldest libraries of the world: Biblioteca Capitolare di Verona, St. Catherine in Sinai, St. Gallen, and St. Peter in Salzburg. William Duba and Maria Widmer, project managers of Fragmentarium and e-codices, respectively, will present a paper on reconstructing the oldest libraries in the world: the example of St. Gallen.
Fragmentarium fellow Dr. Katharina Kaska has organized a session at the International Medieval Congress at Leeds. Tuesday, July 2, 2019, from 14:15-15:45 the session Fragments: Texts Reduced to Objects features four exciting papers by leading and up-and-coming fragmentologists on the subject of fragmentology. Moderating the event is member of the Fragmentology board, Prof. Dr. Christoph Egger. We are declaring this the must-see event of the summer!
Fragmentarium is an international digital research lab for medieval manuscript fragments that enables libraries, collectors, researchers and students to publish medieval manuscript fragments, allowing them to catalogue, describe, transcribe, assemble and re-use them online.
Fragments of medieval manuscripts offer an as-yet largely unexplored field of study. Except for isolated initiatives and individual, often spectacular discoveries, traditional manuscript research has so far only marginally undertaken work with fragments. The Internet offers extraordinary potential for overcoming some of the chief difficulties of traditional fragment research. Building on the technology developed by e-codices - Virtual Manuscript Library of Switzerland, Fragmentarium offers an application for scholarly work with fragments. Collaborating with 16 partner institutions throughout Europe and the USA, the project aims, over the next years, to lay the foundations for research on medieval manuscript fragments by providing open standards and guidelines.