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liz
montreal
dedicated to detail
Interests: anything, unusual, arcane, beautiful, strange
Recent Activity
As ever THANK YOU - your blog my drug of choice
liz - montreal
Updated List of Digitised Manuscripts’ Hyperlinks
What are these Easter bunnies (or hares) hurrying towards? Detail of hares, from Roman de la Rose, France, c. 1325-1375, Add MS 31840, f. 3 An updated list of all the early and medieval manuscripts digitised in full by the British Library! Every quarter, we try to publish a list of all the m...
Hilarious! Superbly done!
Medieval Library Rules
Today is National Libraries Day. Here's a guide to proper behaviour in the library. Rule No. 1: No Pets Please do not bring your pets to the library. That includes pet rabbits and tame doves. St Gregory the Great in his study. Hours of Bona Sforza, Milan, c. 1490–4. Add MS 34294, f. 196v ...
Terrific stuff! Prepping talk on LOVE with as much silly stuff as I can locate....the exploding eyes sound just the ticket!
Exploding Eyes, Beer from Bath-Water and Butter from Nettles: the Extraordinary Life of Brigid of Kildare
Today, February 1st, is the feast day of saint Brigid of Kildare (d. c. 524). Brigid or ‘Brigit’ or ‘Bride’ was a virgin and abbess, and is the patron saint of dairymaids, poets, blacksmiths and healers. She is one of the most popular medieval Irish saints, with numerous churches and shrines ...
That was a great post...fascinating. Thanks
Elves and Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts
Recently, three beautiful Mercian prayerbooks from the late 8th and early 9th century have been uploaded to Digitised Manuscripts as part of our Anglo-Saxon manuscripts digitisation project. These manuscripts, which were probably made somewhere in what is now western England, are notable for a ...
Wishing you all the best wherever life is now taking you...and a massive thank you for your always interesting, amusing and intriguing posts. Loads of fun and it was your posts that "turned me" into a passionate fan of MSS. Thanks for that.
Liz........
Until We Meet Again
As my time here in the British Library ticks away, I have very much to be grateful for. It has been a massive privilege and pleasure to work with my marvellous colleagues in the Ancient, Medieval and Early Modern Manuscripts department, and to be able to have daily contact with such a spectacul...
St Omer Hours....great grotesques, especially if clarification as to why they are there! And is there anywhere a Dies Mal????
Help Us Choose our 2016 Calendar
It has long been a tradition on our blog, hailing back to the distant days of 2011, to highlight pages from a medieval calendar throughout the year. We have been privileged to bring you the Isabella Breviary, the Hours of Joanna of Castile (or if you prefer, the Hours of Joanna the Mad), the Go...
It's his way of signalling a left turn.
Caption Competition 4
We know you've all been waiting for another caption competition! Today's contender comes from a manuscript made in the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem at the end of the 13th century. It contains the Histoire ancienne jusqu'à César, an incredibly popular universal chronicle discussed in this blog pos...
Thank you British Library! The digitised mss are gifts...I hope this post reaches a far wider audience than those who follow this blog.
How to Make the Most of Digitised Manuscripts
What is Digitised Manuscripts? One of the British Library’s most valuable electronic resources is our ever-growing Digitised Manuscripts website. It features complete digital copies and descriptions of thousands of manuscripts in the British Library’s collection, including almost 2,000 items cur...
"Yes it DOES make a lot of noise but it's ever so useful! See, right there? At the bottom? It's a JUICER!"
Caption Competition 2
The second of our caption competitions is from a manuscript newly published in the Catalogue of Illuminated Manuscripts. There are many possibilities for this image – use your imagination! Leave your suggested caption in the comments, or tweet us @BLMedieval. Results will be published here and...
WONDERFUL re illumination descriptions!
Thanks for that
liz - montreal
Art in the margins: the Theodore Psalter
The psalter, a copy of the Psalms designed for personal or liturgical uses, was an important text in Byzantinum, particularly in monastic life. Among the many copies of this text surviving down to the present day are marginal psalters, which contain illuminations in the margins of the folios. Se...
In which direction does one 'read' Malay?
Malay manuscripts from south Sumatra
Think ‘Malay manuscript’, think ‘Jawi’ – the modified form of the Arabic script used in Southeast Asia – but this is not invariably the case. Manuscripts in the Malay language from the interior regions of south Sumatra are often written in local incung scripts of Indian origin, which read from l...
Excellent! Congrats.
Ten Things To Know About Medieval Monsters
In their new picture book published by the British Library, Medieval Monsters, medieval historian Damien Kempf and art historian Maria L. Gilbert explore the fantastic, grotesque and exuberant world of monsters in the Middle Ages through the images found in illuminated manuscripts, from dragons ...
Fabulous - look forward to digitised version!
A new manuscript of 'Inayatallah's Bahar-i Danish
Shaikh ‘Inayatallah Kanbu of Delhi finished his romantic tale the Bahar-i Danish (‘The Springtime of Knowledge’) in 1651, a collection of Indian tales held together by the frame story of the romance of Jahandar Sultan and Bahravar Banu. No early illustrated copy seems to have survived. A prev...
Am actually stunned at your allowing photography so liberally. Admiration total.
THANK YOU!
Photography in the Manuscripts Reading Room
Royal MS 6 E VI, f 329r. Detail of an historiated initial 'C'(olor) of an artist mixing colours. England, S. E. (London), c. 1360-c. 1375 Many of our readers will have seen the announcement that, from Monday March 16th, self-service photography will be permitted in the Manuscripts Readi...
I wondered if dog were a lamb...but it IS a dog...it shows up later again. Watch out for it.
A Calendar Page for March 2015
To find out more about the London Rothschild Hours, take a look at our post A Calendar Page for January 2015. Calendar page for March, with decorative border comprising a Zodiac sign, architectural column and suspended roundel, and bas-de-page scene, from the London Rothschild Hours, Souther...
Just to say thank you....always in awe of the ability to quite literally 'flip through' manuscripts, zoom in on details, see things that even the human eye unaided would probably not see, things that would probably be impossible with the original in hand. Again awesome. All that thanks to what you do. AndTHANK YOU
Photographed by the Hand of a Sinner
Senior Imaging Technician Kristin A. Phelps takes us behind the scenes of the British Library’s Imaging Services where there are several ongoing digital projects at any given time. Click here for an Arabic translation of this article, as translated by the Thesaurus Islamicus Foundation and Dar ...
The 'carriage' is not a gig which are two wheelers...this is a high perch phaeton...google and you will see loads of similar images.
Mouse-skin eyebrows.
In the British Museum collection there is a print dated 18 June 1782, showing two women driving a vehicle in front of a cosmetic shop. The vehicle is a gig, raised absurdly high on springs, so that the seats are poised above the height of the four horses pulling it. A monogram on the side shows ...
See f162V for trompe l'oeil of a flower pinned to the page...very hoefnagel. Also the decorated planter pot that appears about 3-4 times. Sorry didn't note f numbers. Never seen that before.
A Calendar Page for January 2015
Regular readers will know that one of our blog traditions is to highlight a calendar from a particular medieval manuscript throughout the course of the year. Past manuscripts have included the Isabella Breviary, the Hours of Joanna the Mad, the Golf Book, and the Huth Hours. In 2015 we are ple...
Thank you! That fireplace scene seems to appear and appear looking so very similar to others, very like what's in Huth...even to the little grey pussycat on the hearth...but clearly by someone who does not realise that in real life she would be much much closer to the fire!
Thanks Sarah Happy New Year
A Calendar Page for January 2015
Regular readers will know that one of our blog traditions is to highlight a calendar from a particular medieval manuscript throughout the course of the year. Past manuscripts have included the Isabella Breviary, the Hours of Joanna the Mad, the Golf Book, and the Huth Hours. In 2015 we are ple...
Aw - can we have some glorious Nativity scenes? That lovely one in the Huth Hours with the magi???
Guess the Manuscript XVIII - Christmas Special
Less than a week to go until Christmas! We thought we'd treat you to another Guess the Manuscript - we know you love them - but this time with a festive twist... Carol singing, medieval-style - but where might you find these three angels? Answers, as usual, through the comments box below, or ...
The faces within the elaborated captials are fascinating, especially that on 35r...a portrait cartoon of Henry himself? NOT very complimentary.
Tudor Scribe and Spy at No. 2 in the Official Classical Charts
A new recording of a magnificent choirbook produced for King Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon, one of the great treasures in the British Library’s music collections, reached number 2 in the Classical Charts in the first week of its release in October 2014. Detail of a historiated initial wi...
Fabulous! Must get CD and what a great backstory.
Tudor Scribe and Spy at No. 2 in the Official Classical Charts
A new recording of a magnificent choirbook produced for King Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon, one of the great treasures in the British Library’s music collections, reached number 2 in the Classical Charts in the first week of its release in October 2014. Detail of a historiated initial wi...
A shame Dec is so gory. But what on earth is going to take the place of Huth Hours in 2015? THAT is going to be a real challenge! Thanks as ever, Sarah, for your wonderful posts and Happy Christmas.
A Calendar Page for December 2014
For more information about the Huth Hours, please see our post A Calendar Page for January 2014. The slaughtering of animals and preparing of meat for the winter are the labours highlighted in these final calendar pages of the year. On the opening folio can be found the beginning of the saints...
You should remind people that the design behind your header comes from Lindisfarne...stunning stuff!
Lindisfarne Gospels in our Treasures Gallery
The Lindisfarne Gospels, one of the greatest treasures in the British Library’s collections, is now back on display in The Sir John Ritblat Gallery. This Latin Gospel-book is thought to be the work of one remarkably gifted scribe and artist, who created it around 700 on the Holy Island of Lindis...
St Cuthberts Gospel????
Guess the Manuscript XV
Roll up, roll up! It's time to try your luck at another Guess the Manuscript, back by popular demand. As always, the rules are straightforward: the image comes from a manuscript that can be found somewhere on our Digitised Manuscripts website, and is part of our medieval collections. Leave guess...
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