Paleography

Make Work?? Making History!

Staff Happenings, Out of the stacks, Staff projects , , , ,

Like most cultural institutions in the greater Philadelphia area, the Historical Medical Library (HML) along with the rest of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, closed to the public in mid-March due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

We closed in a hurry, with about 3 hours warning.  Our focus was on securing the collection before we gave thought to what files we might need to take home with us to support work for an unknown period of time.

And being a librarian is challenging when you are away from your collection, particularly since the HML staff had been working intently on collections maintenance prior to closure.  But as those of you in the profession know, there is always “virtual” work that can be done from the comfort of home.
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Ad nonum sic proceditur

Staff #MedievalMonday , , , ,

The text on this binding is part of Thomas Aquinas’ Summa Theologiae.  The front cover contains a section of the Third Part [Christ], Question 68 [Of Those Who Receive Baptism], Articles 8 [Whether faith is required on the part of the one baptized] and 9 [Whether children should be baptized].  The back cover contains a section of the Third Part [Christ], Question 72 [Of The Sacrament of Confirmation], Articles 4 [Whether the proper form of this sacrament is: “I sign thee with the sign of the cross,” etc.] and 5 [Whether the sacrament of Confirmation imprints a character].

 

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“Licet plyrima de apostolicis signis sacra euangeliorum”

Staff #MedievalMonday , , , , ,

It’s hard not to have favorites when working in a special collections setting.  While searching through our incunabula, I found one bound in a manuscript that I had not seen previously.  This particular wrapper has now become one of my favorite items in the collection, and one that I intend to continue researching when time and other duties allow.

 

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A script in sanitatis

Staff #MedievalMonday , , ,

Over the past few months, we’ve looked at various parts of medieval manuscripts – catchwords, ink (here and here), illuminations (here, here, and here), etc., etc.  Today we are going to look at the script of 10a 210 (Arnald of Villanova’s Regimen sanitatis ad regem Aragonum).

 

Folio 9v. Arnald of Villanova,
Regimen sanitatis ad regem Aragonum. Spain or southern France; 14th century or c.1400. Call number 10a 210.

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Pretty in…purple?

Staff #MedievalMonday , ,

Last week we went back in time to read about a researcher’s experience with 10a 189, de Argenta’s De fructibus.  Mentioned briefly were the illuminations on folio 1r; this week we’ll look at the decorated initial in more detail, and later this month, talk about the inks used in the coat of arms.

 

Close-up of initial, folio 1 r. Baptista Massa de Argenta, De fructibus virtutibus, Ferra, Italy. 1471. Call no. 10a 189.

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A medieval ‘table of contents’

Staff #MedievalMonday , ,

The idea of a table of contents or index is not a new one; in fact, even early Greek papyri contained sections and often lists of items.  In 10a 159, a 15th century Italian manuscript which includes Macer Floridus’ De virtutibus herbarum, the section headings are listed in the back of the volume.

 

f. 41r, Macer Floridus, De virtutibus herbarum , 1493, 10a 159

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