>> From the Library of
Congress in Washington, DC.
>> Jason Steinhauer:
Well, good afternoon.
My name is Jason Steinhauer,
I'm a program specialist
at the J. W. Kluge Center
at the Library of Congress.
Today's lecture is presented
by the John W. Kluge Center
at the Library of Congress.
The Kluge Center is a vibrant
scholar center on Capitol Hill
that brings together scholars and
researchers from around the world
to stimulate and energize one
another, to distill wisdom
from the Library's rich
resources, and to interact
with policy-makers and the public.
The Center offers opportunities
for senior scholars,
post-doctoral fellows, and PhD
candidates to conduct research
in the Library of Congress'
collections.
We also offer free public
lectures, conferences, symposia,
and other programs, and we
administer the Kluge Prize
which recognizes outstanding
achievement
in the Humanities and
Social Sciences.
For more information about the Kluge
Center, please visit our website,
loc.gov/kluge and I invite you
to sign up for our RSS email list
on your way out to learn about
future programs and opportunities
for you to conduct your own research
here at the Library of Congress.
Today's program is titled,
"Medieval Manuscripts
at the Library of Congress."
It features scholar Ilya
Dines, currently a Kluge fellow
at the John W. Kluge Center.
While at the Library of Congress,
Dr. Dines has been working
to catalogue 150 medieval
manuscripts
and fragments held by the Library.
In his presentation, he will
analyze and detail the importance
of the Library's Medieval
Manuscript collection
and outline the role it
could play in expanding
and deepening understandings
of the medieval era.
For those of you with us
today who have had a chance
to view the wonderful
manuscripts that we've put
out in the other room, we'd like to
thank the Law Library of Congress,
the Rare Books Division of
the Library of Congress,
and the Music Division of
the Library of Congress
for making those documents
available to us today.
Dr. Ilya Dines has been involved
in numerous cataloguing projects
since receiving his PhD
into -- excuse me --
in Medieval History from the Hebrew
University of Jerusalem in 2009.
He was the director of the Medieval
and Renaissance Catalogue Project
at the National Library of Israel
and is currently head paleographer
and codicologist for the
Lazarus Project at the University
of Mississippi, perhaps the best
title I've ever had the opportunity
to read [laughter].
Dines has been a post-doctoral
researcher at the University
of Cologne, University of
Cambridge, Ben-Gurion University,
and Hebrew University of Jerusalem,
and has taught at the Higher School
of Economics in Perm, Russia.
Besides publishing
numerous articles,
Dr. Dines has written three
books, Apocalyptic Cartography ,
Thematic Maps , The End of the
World in a Fifteenth-Century ,
co-written with former scholar at
the Kluge Center, Chet Van Duzer.
As well as both " Westminster
Bestiary: Text and Commentary ,
and a critical edition
of the " Bestiaries
of the Third Family
forthcoming this year.
So, please join me in
welcoming Dr. Ilya Dines.
[ Applause ]
>> Dr. Ilya Dines: Thank you
[inaudible], thank you very much
for all for coming to my talk.
This is a big honor for me.
Let me start.
Medieval manuscripts at
the Library of Congress --
it gives me great pleasure
to begin my talk with thanks
to the Kluge Center for
the wonderful opportunity
to work here during the past
year and to conduct my research
on medieval manuscripts [noise].
A year ago, I was granted
the Kluge fellowship
to catalogue medieval
bestiary manuscripts acquired
by the Library of Congress.
This was a great honor considering
the scope of the collection
and that [inaudible] who's
distinguished role I was to assume.
My work wouldn't have been possible
without the care and collaboration
of the director of Kluge
programs, Dr. Mary Lou Reker,
the Collector of the Rare Books
Department, Dr. Mark Dimunation,
Dr. Eric Fraser, Dr. Nathan
Dorn, Dr. Susan Claremont,
and my many other colleagues
for their valuable contribution.
Thank you.
The [inaudible] are the treasure,
the Library of Congress possesses
about 300 medieval manuscripts.
These manuscripts have been produced
in various parts of Europe from 1100
to about 1600, throughout Europe.
Several words about the collation
and its place of origin in order.
Contrary to many European
collections, the time to recite
where they were produced, the
Library of Congress manuscripts came
from various collections.
They were donated by
various individuals
and were purchased at various times.
Two of these collections are
particularly worthy of mention.
The first is the Collection
of Sir Thomas Phillips ,
who was probably history's greatest
private collector of manuscripts.
His collection included
about 60,000 manuscripts.
His success as a collector was due
-- at least in part, to the solution
of the monastic libraries,
[inaudible] the French Revolution,
and to the relative and expensive
use of manuscripts at that time.
And as [inaudible], Phillips
established Middle Hill Press
in 1822 which he named
after his country,
set in Broadway, Worchester,
England.
At Middle Hill, he not only
recorded his book holdings,
but also published his findings on
English topography and genealogy.
During his lifetime, Phillips
attempted to turn over his collation
to the British library as his
legacy to the British nation.
He corresponded to then Chancellor
of the Exchequer Disraeli,
but the negotiations proved
unsuccessful and ultimately,
the dispersal of his
collection took over 100 years.
Significant portions of
the European material sold
to national collections on the
continent included the Royal Library
in Berlin, the Royal
Library of Belgium,
and the Provincial
Archives in Utrecht.
Outstanding individual items
were sold to J. Pierpont Morgan
and Henry Huntington
libraries in the US.
The Library of Congress is
very fortunate to have acquired
about 10 manuscripts from Sir
Thomas Phillips' collection.
The second notable collection is
that of the famous
Chicago businessman
and chess patron Lessing
Julius Rosenwald.
Eventually, he dedicated
himself full-time
to collecting rare books and art.
In 1943, he pledged to donate
his collection to the Library
of Congress and to the
National Gallery of Art.
The Library of Congress
collection contains
about 20 medieval manuscripts.
Among them is the famous
Giant Bible produced ion 1452,
1453 probably in Mainz
or its [inaudible].
It is well known not only because
of its beauty, but also that is one
of the last manuscript bibles
written before the invention
of printing in the west.
The Bible was written by a single
scribe on high quality parchment.
The pages measure 576 millimeters to
405 millimeters with wide margins.
Because the collection of
manuscripts at the Library
of Congress came from so
many different sources,
it has a very mosaic character.
Another peculiarity of the
Library of Congress collections is
that contrary to many
other libraries,
its collections are
not kept in one place
but are distributed among
several library locations.
Thus, manuscripts can be
found in the Rare Books room,
the Law Library, the Music Division,
Manuscript Department, Geography
and Map Division, and
probably some other places
that I hope I didn't
over look [laughter].
Most of the Library of Congress
manuscripts have been briefly
described in census of medieval
and Renaissance manuscripts
in the United States and
Canada, prepared between 1935,
1940 by the same duration
with the assistance of Wilson.
Here's how the standard
description appears in the region.
You can see.
Manuscript number one, Biblia Velum,
circa 1340, 352 and394 folios.
Then, we have size, there's
one folio in volume one
and five folios in volume two.
Written in Italy, probably in
Bologna, contains 146 miniatures,
formerly bound in velvet.
Rebound circa 1830 in dark blue
Morocco, with H. Perkins arms.
As you can see, the
description is very short.
It mentions briefly the
content of the manuscript,
specifies the material of the
manuscript, paper or parchment,
provides information
about the number of pages
to get the [inaudible] size and
gives a not very precise date,
such as the 13th Century.
Sometimes, it mentions
the place of production,
usually very generally, say Italy.
It also specifies whether or not
the manuscript is illustrated.
This is generally all areas that are
[inaudible] from the Rich Catalogue
which until today, remains the most
common way readers gain information
about manuscripts.
The Rich Catalogue has
been updated several times.
In 1962, Foy and Bond
composed a supplement
in which they described
more manuscripts
and where they provide readers
with slightly more details
and when possible, with important
corrections of the Rich data.
The 1980s are shown in a
new e-book for the Library
of Congress manuscripts
when Swetha [inaudible] one
of the finest manuscriptologist
of that period assumes scholarly
responsibility for the collection.
In this presentation, I
will be using the notes
and technological records compiled
by Swetha and other librarians.
Swetha has a huge advantage
over most cataloguers.
Before starting to work at
the Library of Congress,
Swetha was a priest
and his deep knowledge
of Catholic literature
stood him in a good stead
in describing various
medieval liturgical books.
During the past 30 years, several
important North American libraries
such as the Chicago Newberry
Library, Yale's Beinecke Library,
Princeton University Library, and
some others produced new catalogues
of the medieval and
renaissance manuscripts
but none equals the
catalogue produced by Swetha.
It comprised a special place among
them and deserved practical notice.
Then to [inaudible]
catalogues showed
that there are many ways
to describe manuscripts.
This way depends on
manufacturers such the amount
of time [inaudible] chooses or is
able to devote to the manuscript.
This series in which he approached
each manuscript, the skill
and the scholarship
of the researcher,
and the opportunity
to fulfill his goals.
Most catalogues, however, present
that to promote further research.
The fact is most historians
including our historians do not
possess the skills of archivist
and of good cataloguers.
The [inaudible] described 116
manuscripts is simply amazing.
His description combined
what is seldom contained
in a simple catalogue entry,
that is the fullest
description and research.
His every manuscript entry
represents many articles
of approximate 10 pages which makes
this entry virtually unparalleled
in cataloguing practice
throughout the vault.
This [inaudible] explains why
116 manuscripts are described
in two volumes and occupy
more than 1000 pages.
It also explains why this
research took more than 20 years.
Let us look at standards
[inaudible] description.
This is the description of
manuscript number one --
I used, in this case,
I use Foy Bond number.
An early 13th Century Bible of
English production and it's possible
to see the depth of the
descriptions [inaudible].
At the left -- because
see the correct date
of the manuscript [inaudible]
13th Century.
Thirty-one [inaudible] important
[inaudible] information about number
of columns in the test
and the measurement
of the bound volume itself.
For [inaudible] description of
the content of the manuscript,
for instance, there is a description
of the preface to the Bible.
A considerable amount of
medieval Bibles are preceded
by introductory text from
[inaudible] who translated the Bible
from [inaudible] at the
end of the 4th Century.
This entry provides information
about the structure of this prefix
which is slightly different
in many medieval manuscripts.
This way, the reader can get
initial information about the group
to which this manuscript belongs.
Furthermore, contrary
to [inaudible] order
of the books is set
beginning with Genesis.
The medieval Bible
shows great consistency
in the order of the books.
Therefore, [inaudible] is very
important in describing manuscripts
because quite often a single
manuscript may contain a number
of texts that at some point
in time, were bound together.
The deRitchi and other short
catalogues simply overlook this fact
and mostly mentioned on the first
item for text in the manuscript.
As a result, scholars don't know
what else the manuscript contains.
The situation is dramatized
by Umberto Eco in the name
of the [inaudible]
who's plot is based
on an erroneous catalogue
description
where a relatively unimportant text
by Cipriani is noted in the context
of the manuscript while
[inaudible] copy
of Aristotle's second book
of [inaudible] is not.
[Inaudible] detailed
description save readers
and researchers an
incredible amount of time.
After two or three pages of such
a description comes a codological
analysis of the manuscript.
Swetha describes the system of
foliation, the [inaudible] numbered,
then he provides details about
measurement of [inaudible] space.
The number of columns, the number
of lines, the margins are close,
and the way the manuscript is ruled.
All this information is of
crucial importance for the reader.
Of great importance is an
analysis of the number of hands
that participated in
creating a manuscript.
To illustrate this importance,
the first like of the folio
in a medieval manuscript can be set
either above or below the top line.
While the difference seems
insignificant, in fact the position
of the line in many cases can be
crucial for the proper [inaudible]
of the manuscript, in accordance
with the rule of Neil Ker,
the name of the English
scholar who discovered it.
For some probably mostly [inaudible]
reason, after the year 1250,
the practice of most
European scribes changed
from placing the first
line in the above position
to placing it in the below position.
In the absence of other indicators,
such information can point
to the date of the manuscript.
Without such a notation
in the catalogue,
much research will
be lost as sometimes
on microfilm or in digital image.
[Inaudible] is hardly visible.
The analysis [inaudible] undertook
in his research is virtually
unparalleled in modern cataloguing.
He described the correct usage of
letters and justified his conclusion
about the number of
[inaudible] and the date
and origin of the manuscript.
The codological description
and coloration --
-- this is one of the
most problematic elements
in manuscript research.
The manuscripts are made
from [inaudible] of leafs.
They usually have four,
six, eight, and 10 folios.
Depending on the number of
folios, in some cases, the country
and region of the manuscript
production become possible
to determine.
Checking the [inaudible] is
a very sensitive process,
some manuscripts [inaudible]
are fragile
and many manuscripts
are bound very tightly.
In many libraries, librarians
understandably prohibit [inaudible].
Thus, the only possible
way for a researcher
to obtain the required
information is a catalogue and thus,
the crucial importance of such
information in catalogues.
The description of the
entry and the description
of the [inaudible] program
of the manuscript --
-- and if notes about
prominence and bibliography.
The way Swetha described
160 manuscripts is amazing.
It saves researcher a lot of time
and helps keep manuscripts safe.
Readers who are not interested
in [inaudible] Swetha's codological
analysis can easily find this data
in his catalogue.
Such a thorough description is also
very useful in our digital era.
Nowadays, many libraries
tend to digitize manuscripts
and the process becoming
progressively is indeed.
With the reduction of the
cost of good [inaudible],
we can see that every era, more
and more libraries put their
collections sometimes even entire
collections online.
The [inaudible] problem for
scholars arise not from the images,
but from the fact that the image
itself is not as [inaudible]
as description in the manuscript.
As I noted earlier, the catalogues
of many libraries are simply old
and uninformative so that
the large efforts library --
librarians and technical
assistants result
in beautifully [inaudible]
manuscripts [inaudible]
with very poor descriptions
like for instance,
the [inaudible] of
the Rich Catalogue.
A further complication is that
once a digital copy is available,
many libraries tend to bar scholars
from examining the
original manuscripts
and make an accurate catalogue
entry virtually impossible.
The possibility of destruction of
manuscripts also makes accurate
and thorough catalogue
description mandatory.
During the last decades, we have
seen the manuscript which survived
for 1000 years in medieval
repositories are not as safe
in our modern environment.
It is enough to recall
[inaudible] Library of Anna Amalia
in Germany 10 years ago and the
tragedy that happened in 2009,
to the famous archive at
Cologne where in several minutes,
a huge collection of
[inaudible] charters
and many medieval manuscripts
was lost.
A considerable portion
of manuscripts have not
been properly described
or at least they're not described
in the way Swetha has done
and such precious information
is lost to us forever.
At the time Swetha retired,
the [inaudible] description
of manuscripts have been
stopped for [inaudible].
Before retirement, Swetha compiled
a list of manuscripts to be added
to the third already-planned volume.
This list includes
about 70 manuscripts.
In 2015, Swetha generously
provided the draft
that he had compiled
for some manuscripts.
One problem however, [inaudible]
catalogue was published
because Swetha had used his
own shelf marks for manuscripts
and despite the fact that
the volume include the index
of the [inaudible] of
old and new numbers.
In many cases, [inaudible]
errors of within the numbers.
To resolve the problem,
today the library tends
to use [inaudible]
system of shelf marks.
As I noted, the library [inaudible]
and the manuscripts are spread
over several departments.
As a result, about 70
manuscripts were never noted
by deRitchi, [inaudible],
and Swetha.
Some of them didn't have any
shelf mark at all and as a result,
they are not known to
the general public.
All these manuscripts would
appear in the third volume
that I have been compiling
during the past year.
Let me come directly
to these manuscripts.
A considerable part of the Library
of Congress manuscript treasures
consist of eight Bibles,
about 40 liturgical manuscripts,
and about 20 books of ours.
These items are described
in the first volume
of the Swetha's Catalogue.
Of particular interest
is the creation scene
from manuscript number 71
produced in Paris around 1250.
The peculiarity of this
manuscript is evident
in its initial [inaudible]
at the beginning of Genesis.
The sections of compartments in
this initial doesn't correspond
to the days of Scriptural
account but the order of days goes
as follows, like firmament, division
of waters, dry land, plants, sun,
moon, fish, reptiles, birds,
quadrupeds, man and [inaudible].
In the manuscript 71,
the first compartment --
-- appears to stand for
the general beginning,
the second for creation of light.
The meaning of the third and
fourth is rather unclear.
The fifth compartment showed plants,
the sixth birds, and
the seventh, man.
Liturgical manuscripts -- liturgical
manuscripts are represented
by Antiphonals, Graduals,
Breviaries, Missals,
and of course, the Book of Hours.
Antiphonary is one of the most
popular liturgical books intended
for use in the liturgical choirs
and characterized by the assignment
to principally of the antiphons used
in various parts of
the Roman Liturgy.
It has included general antiphons
and antiphonal chants sung
by the cantor, congregation,
and choir at Mass
and in the canonical hours.
The Library of Congress has
several beautiful [inaudible]
where the most beautiful
is manuscript number 128.
The book was produced in
Northern Italy probably
at the beginning of
the 16th Century.
The Book of Hours is
a devotional book,
extremely popular in
the Middle Ages.
It is the most common type
of surviving medieval
eliminated manuscripts.
Book of Hours show a huge diversity
in the textual and
[inaudible] program.
But most contain a similar
collection of texts, prayers,
and psalms for Grecian devotion.
The Book of Hours,
are mostly written
in Latin although there are
many manuscripts written
in vernacular languages,
especially Dutch.
A considerable part of them and the
most beautiful ones were produced
in the [inaudible], Yiddish,
[inaudible], and Gelt.
Here's an example of a
beautiful Book of Hours
in the Library collection,
manuscript 46.
Among the -- among the manuscripts
that don't relate to Bibles,
liturgy, and Book of Hours are books
of various important
medieval authors.
The collection includes
for instance,
one of the most popular [inaudible]
of the Middle Ages is Torres
Scholastica of Petrus Comestor
who lived in Paris in the middle of
the 12th Century and was a member
of the Church of Notre Dame.
Peter's nicknames Comestor,
Devourer, demonstrates the esteem
in which his learning was held.
He was a bibliophile and
prolific author although much
of his work wasn't published.
Historica Scholastica is a sacred
history written for students.
The author begins the book from the
Creation and continues it to the end
of the incidents related in
the Acts of the Apostles.
Another important visual text was
mentioned is the Golden Legenda,
the Golden Legend, Legenda Aurea,
a collection of hagiographies.
It was written around 1260 by the
Dominican chronicler and Archbishop
of Genoa, Jacobus de Varagine
and it immediately became a
late medieval best seller.
Thus, more than 1000
manuscripts have survived to date.
During the next two centuries,
many texts were added
to the original Legenda.
Among other rare texts,
I would like to bring
to your attention [inaudible]
text entitled,
"Tractatus de members beate
Maria Virginis," a treatise
about the body of the Virgin Mary.
This is an old piece of writing that
combines the image of [inaudible]
with a rather graceless
anatomic scrutiny
of the Mother of Jesus Christ.
Connoisseurs of Medieval Book
Binding will certainly appreciate
the original bindings which
are in the Library of Congress,
manuscript 127 is [inaudible]
probably around the year 1200.
The manuscript is important
because of its iconographical style
but what is really precious
in this it's binding.
It is bound in old oak boards,
each about 12-millimeter-thick
with [inaudible] compartments for
[inaudible] and or jewels none
of which are [inaudible] both
on the face and the edges
of the covers showed the former
locations of the fasteners.
The boards are oversized
for the [inaudible] book
in its present state and might
have been taken from another book.
Manuscript 84 is a
mid-15th Century copy
of the immensely influential
Italian theologian
and philosopher Thomas Aquinas.
The impressive protection arranged
for the manuscripts indicates
it was highly esteemed.
As you can see -- as you can
see its bindings are made
of yellowish pigskin
over thick wooden boards
with five round [inaudible] --
-- on each cover made to prevent
the rubbing off the surface
of the cover.
The manuscript is also equipped
with an iron chain intended
to protect the book from theft.
The last interesting binding I
will show is that of manuscript 91
which is -- which is a 15 Century
Gradual produced in Northern Italy.
It is bound in contemporary covers
sewn over seven leather bands.
The covers are made of
reddish-brown goatskin
over wooden boards heavily
protected and decorated by brass
around all the edges with added
hexagonal spike like protections.
[Inaudible] cover.
On the surface of each cover,
there are five hexagonal
[inaudible] protruding
from the octagonal rosettes also
[inaudible] four eight-point stars.
The metalwork is strong,
sometimes even crude.
The overall impression
being that of armor.
Okay, the goatskin of the
covers is also blind stumped
with fleuron forming a latch rosette
around its central metal ornaments.
[Inaudible] creating a large
rectangular frame closed
with a scalloped protecting metal.
The catalog I am compiling, which
compliments the two volumes written
by Svato will include
about 150 items.
Because of the time restrictions,
I have had only one year
for all these books.
I cannot describe the manuscripts
in the same level of detail
that Svato has done
in his two volumes,
but I hope to match the high
standards for codicology
and paleography established
by Svato.
The books chosen for the third
volume are also different
from the ones which formed
the previous volumes.
Many of these items are
classical Roman and Greek authors
and their translations into
vernacular languages such as Caesar,
Plutarch, [inaudible],
Terence, Cicero,
[inaudible], Virgil, and Plautus.
There is a good scope of alchemical
and cartographical material,
various encyclopedic material
represented by the work
of Johannes de Sacrobosco
and Bartholomeus Anglicus.
Several manuscripts deal with music.
I am not going to demonstrate a
few highlights from the manuscripts
that will comprise the third volume.
Manuscript 101 is a very
important medical work.
It is a book called "Thesaurus
Pauperum", "Treasury of the Poor,"
written by famous doctor
Petrus Hispanus.
Petrus Hispanos was born of noble
family in Lisbon between 1210
and 1220 and was called
Peter, the son of Julian.
After having studied in
Paris where he took degrees
in all the faculties,
he returned to Lisbon.
Soon he became Archdeacon
of the church in Braga.
Then he went to Rome when he
was appointed First Physician
to Pope Gregory 10th.
While in Pope's service, Peter
composed his "Thesaurus Pauperum"
in which he discussed in
detail remedies for the disease
of every part of the body.
The book quickly became popular and
was widely quoted and circulated,
with many additions made
by later physicians.
Later, in recognition of his
merits, the Pope appointed Peter
as Cardinal Bishop of Tusculum.
The Library of Congress possesses
a very good late-13th century copy
of Peter's "Thesaurus Pauperum,"
which you can see in the images.
The book, typical for
medieval period,
opens with various zodiac tables --
-- and only later addresses
the subject of medicine itself.
In this image you can see a typical
Italian [inaudible] made by scribes,
so that the book binder will not
confuse [inaudible] while binding.
About 14 manuscripts, many
of which were not described
by any previous cataloger
are kept in the law library.
Manuscript L5 is of great importance
for all specialists dealing
with the Latin Empire in the Orient.
The laws of this empire
were formed by the leaders
of the Fourth Crusade, Baldwin of
Flanders, the first Latin Emperor;
Boniface, Marquis of Montferrat;
and Enrico Dandolo,
doge of Venice in 1204.
The laws were codified following
the model of laws of the kingdom
of Jerusalem, which had been
compiled a century before.
On April 4, 1453, when the
Latin Empire had been extinct
for almost a century, and only
about eight weeks before
the Byzantine Empire
of Constantinople collapsed,
the Venetian doge Francesco Foscari
approved the use of this code
in Euboea, Negroponte which was
a Venetian possession until 1470.
The previously-mentioned Rosenwald
collection contains a manuscript
which is of great importance to
the local history of Nuremberg.
This manuscript was
produced in the year 1555 --
-- and contains the Coat of Arms
of many Nuremberg families
with their description.
And here [inaudible]
with the description.
The manuscript includes an index
of the Coat of Arms at the end --
-- according to the alphabet.
Another Rosenwald manuscript I would
like to mention is a manuscript
of Roberto Valturius who was born
in Rimini in 15th-century Italy.
He was an engineer and writer.
In 1472, he wrote a
treatise entitled,
"De Re Militari," or
"About Warfare."
The book consists of a
preface with a dedication
to Sigismondo Pandolfo
Malatesta then follows a list
of the classical works on
warfare, an introduction
to the history of the subject.
The book became extremely popular.
Various European kings,
including Louis 11th of France,
the Hungarian King
Matthias Corvinus,
and the ruler of Florence
Lorenzo de Medici had copies
of the printed book.
Most of the methods of war
that Valturius describes are
[inaudible] and medieval.
Here are the impressive
illustrations of various methods
and fashion, catapults
and battering rams
of siege warfare from this book.
The last manuscript I would like
to show today is a copy of the
"Sachsenspiegel," or the
"Survey of Saxon Law."
This is the most important
book of laws and customs
of the German Middle Ages.
The "Sachsenspiegel" was
written in about 1220 as a record
of existing customary law.
The author was probably the Saxon
administrator Eike of Repgow,
who wrote it by the order
of his liege lord Count
Hoyer of Falkenstein.
Later, the influence of the
"Sachsenspiegel" extended
to the laws of several, mostly
German-speaking, European countries.
The manuscript which is in
possession of the Library
of Congress was made in the
south in Germany and dates
to the late 15th century.
Article 42 of the book contains
a condemnation of slavery
as contrary to the law of God.
I hope I have managed to
demonstrate that the Library
of Congress has a very impressive
collection of manuscripts,
which until now has not
been properly described,
and as a result, not
properly studied.
I also hope that all these
manuscripts will be digitized one
day and put online with
proper descriptions,
and in this way will
become widely available.
The researcher who would
like to investigate further will
certainly find more manuscripts
in the Library of Congress,
particularly fragments
of manuscripts.
The Music Division has
about 100 unstudied
and uncatalogued fragments.
The Rare Book Division has about
200 fragments, some of them letters
of European kings and Papal Bulls.
And also there is a [inaudible]
collection in the Rare Books
that has many incunabula,
a minimum of about 100,
whose bindings are leaves
of medieval manuscripts.
I hope the Library of
Congress will encourage
and support further investigations
in these important resources soon.
Thank you very much.
[ Applause ]
Questions, please.
Yes, please?
>> Thank you very much.
This was really fascinating.
In your talk you gave a really
wonderful overview of sort
of the thematic context of
a lot of the manuscripts
within the Library's holdings
[inaudible] liturgical texts,
as well as [inaudible]
alchemical works, works of music,
works on warfare, and
so on and so forth.
In terms of the chronological
and geographical focuses
of the manuscripts here, where do
you see the greatest concentrations?
Do you see the greatest
concentrations
in the traditional areas of northern
Europe, of England, France, Germany?
Or do we also have [inaudible]
in the Mediterranean?
Topologically what are
areas where you see --
>> Ilya Dines: It is much
easier to answer the second part
of your question about chronology.
Most of manuscripts which
kept here, they date from 1200
or 11 up to 1600, at least I didn't
touch any manuscript after 1600.
So I had restrict my
research up to 1600.
And as to manuscripts themselves,
I would say most manuscripts came
from France, Germany, and Italy.
But this is standard
for Middle Ages.
About 20% of all manuscripts which
we possess were made in Italy.
Thank you.
Yes, please, [inaudible].
>> Is there question of the material
on which the Parisian [inaudible],
about 500 of them were hidden.
Has it been solved?
It can be solved probably on
basis of some DNA study or some --
>> Ilya Dines: Oh, [inaudible].
Oh.
>> [Inaudible] of the
15th century [inaudible],
and the books are [inaudible] about
500 of [inaudible] for students.
They are about the size of
the [inaudible] and such.
And I [inaudible] that
it was [inaudible]
because for the 500 books.
And -- but it was [inaudible] and --
>> Ilya Dines: So thank you
very much for the correction.
As far I know, there
is no one who made DNA
of pocket Bible for Parisian origin.
This is the only thing I know.
>> [Inaudible] find some
[inaudible] which is going
to be able to DNA studies --
>> Ilya Dines: Thank
you much for that.
Thank you very much --
Yes, please?
>> Hi, [inaudible] this
cataloging of manuscript,
and it makes me curious, do you have
examples or evidence of manuscripts
that were deliberately
miscataloged, or misplaced,
or hidden for ideological purposes?
>> Ilya Dines: From a
geological -- here or at all?
>> Anywhere at all.
>> Ilya Dines: Yes, for example,
there are many medieval treaties
against women, which are usually --
and in this case, the
content of manuscripts
in many libraries was
hidden in catalogs of --
many medieval or post-medieval,
18th and 19th century catalogs.
This is the only thing
I can think about.
>> [Inaudible] nothing [inaudible]
books that would have been saved
from being destroyed [inaudible]
in the [inaudible] various works --
>> Ilya Dines: Here?
In Rare Books there
are two manuscripts
where there are [inaudible]
downs which are --
which came from Jewish Bibles.
>> Oh.
>> Ilya Dines: Yeah, but only two.
But only two.
>> Fragments or --
>> Ilya Dines: Fragments, fragments.
A 13th-century one
of Parisian origin,
and one probably [inaudible] origin.
This all I know.
>> The work is fragment?
>> Ilya Dines: Yeah.
>> Of all the manuscripts that
you've looked at while here,
which one most excites
you, or resonates with you,
or do you find the most fascinating?
>> Ilya Dines: Well, this --
well, thank you very much,
this of course a question
of preference.
You have seen this book binding
of -- where most of [inaudible] --
where all [inaudible] were student.
This is my favorite, because this
is rare -- very rare and atypical.
>> Jason Steinhauer: If there are
no more questions -- last chance.
Ilya will stick around
for a few minutes.
If there are no more
questions -- oh, was there one?
Oh, yes.
>> I was actually [inaudible] but
I also wondered is there anything
in the manuscripts
[inaudible] that you wanted
to point our attention to, or --
>> Ilya Dines: Actually, most of
manuscripts which are in that room,
these are manuscripts
which are demonstrated,
except several manuscripts which are
-- except for manuscripts which came
from Music Division, and they simply
were beautiful, and I want you
to see the real treasures
of Library of Congress.
>> Jason Steinhauer: Well,
that's a great note to end it.
So please join me in
thanking Ilya again.
>> Ilya Dines: Thank
you, my pleasure.
[ Applause ]
>> Jason Steinhauer:
A quick just tad-bit
of administration before we let you
go for the rest of your afternoon,
there is an event survey
circulating around the institution
that we are asking those who attend
our events to give us some feedback
on our events and also feedback on
how you found out about our events.
So please do fill that
out on your way out.
We would be appreciative.
We are on break here at the Kluge
Center for a couple of weeks.
Our next event is actually an
evening event, on Tuesday evening,
April 19th, we will be
in the Coolidge Auditorium
downstairs holding the second annual
Daniel K. Inouye distinguished
lecture.
And this year's lecture will
actually be a conversation
between former Secretary of
Transportation Norman Mineta
and former U.S. Senator
Alan Simpson.
They'll be discussing how America
balances its national security
with civil liberties.
So if you're interested in that
topic or other future events,
please sign up for a list
or check our website.
And thank you all again for coming.
Thank you to Ilya for a great talk.
[ Applause ]
>> This has been a presentation
of the Library of Congress.
Visit us at loc.gov.