Cambridge University Library (the UL) | Scraps of treasure @CamUniLib | Uploaded January 2014 | Updated October 2024, 4 hours ago.
Alex Stuart discusses the importance of the fragmentary manuscripts displayed the exhibition 'The moving word: French medieval manuscripts in Cambridge', held in Cambridge University Library, 22 January-17 April 2014
Manuscript fragments offer crucial clues for the detective work conducted by researchers working on medieval texts. They may provide scholars with a section of a literary work which does not exist in any other manuscript, or they may offer unique variations on passages known from other copies. Often they document the presence of a text in areas and periods from which we have no other manuscript witnesses, helping us better to chart a text's diffusion, circulation and fate.
Fragments are frequently recovered from the bindings of manuscripts or of early printed volumes, in which they were used as flyleaves or pastedowns to protect the book's other contents. Several of the items in this collection -- as well as many other medieval manuscript fragments -- were collected or discovered by F. J. H. Jenkinson, Henry Bradshaw's pupil and University Librarian from 1889 to 1923. Jenkinson is also well known for his work in amassing at least 10,000 'fragments' from World War I, including flyers, journals and a vast array of other writings of a personal or unofficial nature. These now comprise the University Library's War Reserve Collection.
Alex Stuart discusses the importance of the fragmentary manuscripts displayed the exhibition 'The moving word: French medieval manuscripts in Cambridge', held in Cambridge University Library, 22 January-17 April 2014
Manuscript fragments offer crucial clues for the detective work conducted by researchers working on medieval texts. They may provide scholars with a section of a literary work which does not exist in any other manuscript, or they may offer unique variations on passages known from other copies. Often they document the presence of a text in areas and periods from which we have no other manuscript witnesses, helping us better to chart a text's diffusion, circulation and fate.
Fragments are frequently recovered from the bindings of manuscripts or of early printed volumes, in which they were used as flyleaves or pastedowns to protect the book's other contents. Several of the items in this collection -- as well as many other medieval manuscript fragments -- were collected or discovered by F. J. H. Jenkinson, Henry Bradshaw's pupil and University Librarian from 1889 to 1923. Jenkinson is also well known for his work in amassing at least 10,000 'fragments' from World War I, including flyers, journals and a vast array of other writings of a personal or unofficial nature. These now comprise the University Library's War Reserve Collection.
