False Colour Image of the Galen Syriac Palimpsest, Revealing Galen’s “On Simple Drugs” Public Domain

Sandars Lecture Two: The medieval manuscript and its digital image (interfaces)

Tue 12 March 2019

McCrum Lecture Theatre

About the lecture

The value of digital images, unlike medieval manuscripts, lies in what you can do with them. The interface through which the images are accessed provide the context in which they are examined, determining the both the ways in which images are studied and used, and the audiences that are likely to use them. The cultural and scholarly value of images therefore changes with the utilities of the interfaces through which they are presented. This lecture examines a wide variety of interfaces for the medieval manuscript image, from multispectral imaging viewers for palimpsests to a crowdsourcing platform for the Cairo Genizah, and illustrates their potential and explores their weaknesses.

About the series

Digital reproductions are indispensable to the study and publication of the medieval book in the twenty-first century. These lectures explore the relationship between manuscript pages and digital images, and between physical collections and digital ones. They examine the importance of interfaces in shaping audience and inquiry, and the potential of tools to aid in the archaeology of the medieval book. The lectures argue that rather than attempting to recreate the medieval book in a virtual environment, institutions would better serve the field by presenting datasets that can be mined by users, taking advantage of the user’s skills, knowledge and imagination to embed institutional collections in twenty-first century cultural life.

Each of the three Sandars Lectures take place 5-6pm at the McCrum Lecture Theatre, Corpus Christi College (the lecture theatre is located off Bene't Street behind The Eagle pub). The final lecture will be followed by a drinks reception. Lectures are free, and seats will be offered on a first-come, first-served basis.

About the speaker

The Reader for the 2018-19 series of Sandars Lectures is Dr William Noel, Director of the Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, and Director of the Schoenberg Institute for Manuscripts Studies at the University of Pennsylvania Libraries.

About the Sandars Readership in Bibliography

Hosted by Cambridge University Library, the Sandars Readership in Bibliography is one of the most prestigious honorary posts to which book historians, librarians and researchers can be appointed to deliver a series of lectures on their chosen subject.

Cost: Free