Book and Print Initiative, School of Advanced Study, University of London's Lunch-time Zoom Discussions.

Announcement of lunchtime talks concerning books and prints on Zoom.

"The Book and Print Initiative (BPI), School of Advanced Study, University of London, for Term 3 2022/23. BPI offers informal discussions about all aspects of print and book research, highlighting projects at the School of Advanced Study and Senate House collections. All lunchtime talks are free and take place Thursdays, 1-2pm (UK), on Zoom. Please RSVP at bit.ly/BookAndPrint.

Book and Print Initiative, School of Advanced Study, University of London

Term 3, 2022/34

18 May 2023

Dr Dimitrios Skrekas, Research Assistant at the AHRC-funded project “Greek manuscripts in Renaissance Venice: the library of Guillaume Pellicier and its contribution to Europe’s intellectual heritage”, SAS, the Warburg Institute.

Holkham Hall Greek MSS and their online catalogue: challenges and desiderata

My presentation draws on the results of the online cataloguing of the Holkham Hall Greek manuscripts. Almost 90 of the 117 codices come from the island of Crete. Study of this Cretan collection sheds light on the intellectual networks linking Venice and Crete in the years immediately before Crete’s fall to the Ottoman Turks (1669). Taking as a starting-point annotations found in the manuscripts, one can explore networks primarily as witnesses to intellectual currents in Venetian Crete. Equally important are the owners who have been traced, witnessing to the manuscripts’ circulation in Crete, Venice and elsewhere.

Sign up: https://www.sas.ac.uk/events/holkham-hall-greek-mss-and-their-online-catalogue-challenges-and-desiderata

8 June

Dr Karen Attar, Curator of Rare Books and University Art, Senate House Library / Senior Librarian, Rare Books, State Library of New South Wales (if you prefer, simply: Senate House Library / State Library of New South Wales)

Tales from Two Cities: From Senate House Library to the State Library of New South Wales

“Uncle Jack said you must choose between this world, the next world, and Australia”. Based on a secondment from Senate House Library to the State Library of New South Wales in the heart of Sydney, this talk juxtaposes the two institutions. It looks at holdings, acquisitions, descriptions, and values at the State Library, a copyright library founded 10 years before the University of London. The Library is renowned for its travel narratives and Australiana and holds some enviable treasures. Conversely, discoveries there have led to heightened appreciation of the treasures at Senate House.

Sign up: https://www.sas.ac.uk/events/tales-two-cities-senate-house-library-state-library-new-south-wales

15 June 2023

Dr. Livia Cárdenas, Technische Universität Berlin, Institut für Kunstwissenschaft und Historische Urbanistik - Fachgebiet Kunstgeschichte

Woodblocks of the Derschau Collection: (In)visible Phenomena of the Woodcut

Although woodblocks have recently attracted increased interest in research, they are still among the great unknowns in the history of printmaking. The talk is dedicated to the large holdings of 15th and 16th century printing blocks in the Berlin Kupferstichkabinett, the so-called Derschau Collection. It comprises more than 1700 individual objects mainly from German-speaking countries (especially from Nuremberg) and represents the broad spectrum of profane and religious imagery in a wide variety of formats by famous artists such as Albrecht Dürer or Hans Burgkmair, as well as monogrammists and otherwise unknown designers. The variety of specific phenomena of woodblocks will be shown by selected examples.

Sign up: https://www.sas.ac.uk/events/woodblocks-derschau-collection-invisible-phenomena-woodcut

22 June 2023

Dr Devika Mehra, IPE Fellow, Institute of Languages, Cultures and Societies, School of Advanced Study

Diversity and children's museums: Tapping the potential of children's archives, prize lists, and museum practices

In recent years there has been a surge in interest in children's archives, specially curated exhibitions and prize culture, and their association with diversity and inclusion. What is the role of museum practices, archival research, and prize culture in addressing questions of diversity and inclusion in children's literature? In this talk, I will investigate the impact of museum practices and archival research at Seven Stories, National Centre for Children's Books (UK) and Internationale Jugendbibliothek (Germany) in creating awareness about diversity in children's literature. I will consider the intersection between archival research and the participatory practice of creating toolkits and curating exhibitions as essential alternative knowledge production modes that amplify ongoing discussions on diversity and historically minoritised voices in children's literature scholarship. I will explore how prize catalogues such as The White Ravens, published annually by Internationale Jugendbibliothek (Germany), influence the global discourse on diversity in international children's and youth literature through its typologies and categorisation.

Sign up: https://www.sas.ac.uk/events/diversity-and-childrens-museums-tapping-potential-childrens-archives-prize-lists-and-museum

29 June 2023

Dr Elisa Bianchi, Research Assistant at the AHRC-funded project “Greek manuscripts in Renaissance Venice: the library of Guillaume Pellicier and its contribution to Europe’s intellectual heritage”, SAS, the Warburg Institute.

Observations and remarks about the monastery of San Salvatore in Bologna and its Greek manuscripts

The library of the Augustinian monastery of San Salvatore in Bologna grew considerably during the 16th century thanks to purchases of Greek and Latin manuscripts; most of these acquisitions were made in Venice by the erudite Pellegrino Fabretti, very active on the Venice book market at the time.

Recent cataloguing work with the study of the old inventories and the investigation of the 33 Greek manuscripts (11th-16th centuries), which belonged to the Augustinian monastery and are now kept in the Biblioteca Universitaria in Bologna, allowed us to trace an overview of copyists involved in the growth of the Augustinian library. We were also able to shed light on the reading and studying of the Greek language in the Bolognese monastery, mainly in the first half of the 16th century.

Sign up: https://www.sas.ac.uk/events/observations-and-remarks-about-monastery-san-salvatore-bologna-and-its-greek-manuscripts

We look forward to seeing you this term

Elizabeth, Raphaële & Tansy

Dr Elizabeth Savage FSA FRHistS Senior Lecturer in Book History and Communications

PI, British Academy/Leverhulme Small Grant: Fladerpapier: Art, Craft, and the Earliest Mass-Produced Wallpaper in the West

Co-Director, Book and Print Initiative Moderator, Blocks Plates Stones listerv

School of Advanced Study, University of London

Senate House, Malet Street

London WC1E 7HU

20% off with the code AFL01 until 30 June 2023: Elizabeth Savage/Linda Stiber Morenus, ‘Pre-Industrial Printing Inks, c.1450–1850’, in Conservation of Books, ed. Abigail Bainbridge, Routledge Series in Conservation and Museology

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