1Jayked
Those senior members who wasted their substance on FS limited editons of medieval manuscripts might be interested in de Hamel's latest, The Migrants. An autobiography, it yet has lots to say about manuscripts, in a manner more approachable for general readers than his "Manuscripts Club." In the innocence of youth he used his pocket money to buy single pages torn from complete medieval texts by vandals such as Charles Ede, p.129 ff, who bought them at auction then dismantled them for profit at Folio Fine Art. A teenager at the time, I looked down my nose at the practice, on a par I thought with his dodgy wines, and bought early Folio books instead. Some of those now look more aged than than the mss.
2ultrarightist
>1 Jayked: "Those senior members who wasted their substance on FS limited editons of medieval manuscripts"
Do you count yourself amongst them?
Do you count yourself amongst them?
3Jayked
>2 ultrarightist:
As a Canadian medievalist I could write off the riotous living as work-related, though of course there are some aspects of a ms that can only be examined in the flesh, e.g. under an oblique light. But lining up your library ducks for a single transatlantic visit is difficult. You don't just show up at a collection, flash your ID, and ask to see your chosen ms. You need to have submitted an official request backed by a recognised University with assurances that you are bona fide and pursuing approved research that requires examination of the original. Then you may receive permission for a specific date and time, under the beady eye of a librarian. So for mss that aren't directly related to personal research, a good facsimile is a boon and a blessing, especially if you have Latin and OE.
As a Canadian medievalist I could write off the riotous living as work-related, though of course there are some aspects of a ms that can only be examined in the flesh, e.g. under an oblique light. But lining up your library ducks for a single transatlantic visit is difficult. You don't just show up at a collection, flash your ID, and ask to see your chosen ms. You need to have submitted an official request backed by a recognised University with assurances that you are bona fide and pursuing approved research that requires examination of the original. Then you may receive permission for a specific date and time, under the beady eye of a librarian. So for mss that aren't directly related to personal research, a good facsimile is a boon and a blessing, especially if you have Latin and OE.
