Our next meeting on 25.2.21 will be hosted by Laure Miolo. a Cambridge
University Fellow who completed her Phd in Medieval History in 2017 based on
scientific medieval manuscripts of the Collège de Sorbonne, their owners and
users from the 13th century to the early 16th century.
Autograph and authorial astronomical/astrological manuscripts
This paper will focus on a specific aspect of manuscript studies, which is
the autograph, whether it is autograph notes or a whole manuscript. Although
a large number of medieval manuscripts contains marginal annotations, short
texts, or other additions due to external readers, the identity of these
hands remains often unknown. However, in some cases, the historian and
paleographer is lucky enough to distinguish a specific hand and put a name on
it. In fewer cases, the signature of the medieval scholar appears, and the
identification is easier. As others, medieval astronomers and/or astrologers
have left records in codices, and for some of them their handwritings are
clearly recognisable. Although marginal autograph annotations and texts are
less studied, they deserve more attention as they reveal scientific
practices, working methods, habits, and readings. The study of
practitioners’ autographs allows a better understanding, not only of their
practices, but of the elaboration of their texts and private libraries. I
shall focus here on three case studies of astronomers/astrologers at work and
their manuscripts, ranging from the late 13th century to the late 15th
century. Their autograph productions include a wealth of information for the
history of science but also for the history of the book.
We look forward to seeing you soon. A reminder with the link to join will be
sent before the meeting.
For our March meeting we are considering running a session oriented around
teaching using medieval manuscripts. If you have any perspectives you would
like to share with the group on how you have used manuscripts as objects in
classes, please get in touch with me (j.nurse@wellcome.org) or any of the
group owners. We are looking for a mix of practitioners/scholars who could
share 10 minutes on top tips.