Due to the überlieferungsgeschichtliche Methode and New Philology, the idea that the meaning of texts is determined by the material context in which they are preserved has become central to the study of historical literature in the Low Countries. However, this approach has mainly inspired researchers to study texts in their manuscript context, especially that of miscellanies. During a symposium on book collections we would like to explore the significance of material context outside the manuscript. Not only individual texts, but also manuscripts as a whole functioned in the context of a larger collection of books and derived meaning from the context of this collection. In Memory’s Library. Medieval Books in Early Modern England (2008) Jennifer Summit stated that ‘libraries were dynamic institutions that actively processed, shaped, and imposed meaning on the very materials they contained’.
The focus of this symposium will be on the ways in which books functioned in the context of a collection, on how individual books related to collections as a whole and to the users and owners of these collections. Book collections constitute a melting point of materials and themes that are often studied separately: Latin and vernacular texts, religious and secular literature, manuscript and print, rhyme and prose, splendour and plainness, old and new. By making use of inventories, library catalogues and preserved manuscripts the speakers at this symposium investigate the characteristics, size and meaning of book collections in the Low Countries. They address questions about the owners and users of these collections, social and cultural exchange, the formation of meaning, the organisation of collections, and the consequences of this approach for our view on literary history. The confrontation of the study of texts in their manuscript context and in book collections will be one of the central discussion points of this day.
Programme :
10h30 : Welcome and Coffee
11h00 : Suzan Folkerts and Renée Gabriël – Introduction
11h15 : Prof. Dr Albert Derolez (Ghent University) – Keynote : Texts in medieval libraries: Thoughts for an integrated approach
12h00 : Prof. Dr Herman Brinkman (Huygens ING/University of Amsterdam) – Books that are collections of books
12h30 : Lunch
14h00 : Dr Sabrina Corbellini (University of Groningen) – Collecting Religious Knowledge: books, libraries and networks
14h30 : Dr Hanno Wijsman (Institut de recherche et d’histoire des textes Paris) – Book Collections and their Use. Some Examples from Princely and Noble Libraries
15h00 : Coffee and Tea break
15h30 : Ad Poirters MA, in collaboration with Dr Hans Kienhorst (Radboud University Nijmegen) – The Beckers Connection: Some Thoughts on the Latin Books of Hours in the Soeterbeeck Collection
16h00 : Dr Ryan Perry (University of Kent) – Keynote : Devotional anthologies: Collectors of religious texts and their methods
16h45 : Drinks
You are also invited to the public lecture Medieval Manuscripts as Truly Open Data by Dr. Will Noel, Director of The Special Collections Center and The Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies (University of Pennsylvania) on Wednesday 13 February at 16h30.
Informations pratiques :
A bunch of books. Book collections in the medieval Low Countries
Symposium at the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of Queeste
Organised in cooperation with Radboud University Nijmegen
Date : 14 February 2013
Venue : Gymnasion, room GN 3, Heyendaalseweg 141, 6525 AJ Nijmegen.
Costs : €15,– (students 7,50)
Registration : Please send an e-mail to Renée Gabriël (r.gabriel@let.ru.nl) before 1 February 2013
L'Agenda des Médiévistes 