Manuscript Studies: But like… what are you doing?

Probably like a lot of grad students, my mom will often ask me how my work is going. And normally, it’s not so much that she wants to know what I’m doing; she just wants to know that I’m happy doing whatever it is that I’m doing. But all last year, I was running around visiting about 40 medieval manuscripts located in more than a dozen special collections libraries across Europe and the UK, and she needed to be able to explain my behavior to others. She finally asked: But like… what are you doing? When you visit a manuscript, and you’re there all day, what do you do?

Fair question.

When we say “manuscript studies” what does that even mean? When you spend hours with a manuscript, what are you actually doing there besides marveling at centuries old pigments and that sweet sweet old-book smell?

When I’m in the room with, say, a thirteenth-century tome of saints’ Lives, the first thing I usually have to do is collect myself because how cool?? I often think about the hundreds of people who have flipped through these exact pages for hundreds of years. Unnamed scribes, rich patrons, naive children, greedy sellers, trusted librarians, and many of my own scholarly idols. Manuscripts are these sorts of nodes linking countless people together for countless reasons, and I get to touch them.

So, after I finish freaking out internally for a minute, I get to work documenting as many details as I can. This rich metadata informs my ongoing dissertation work and prompts new questions and new avenues for future research.

But to answer my mom’s question (what are you doing?) and for anyone else who’s curious, I thought I might provide a brief how-to-visit-a-medieval-manuscript guide based on my experiences:

1. Plan Ahead
   • Figure out what you need to see: If digitized images of the manuscript you’re interested in are available online, study these thoroughly first. Not only will this save you time later when you’re on-site, but any evidence you can collect at this stage will also strengthen your case for why seeing the physical manuscript is necessary in the first place. If no digitization is available, all the more reason to see the real thing!
   • Who’s gonna pay for that?: Unless you’re uber-wealthy or something, funding applications will need to happen well in advance, so budget your time for this stage as well.
   • Get your papers in order: Most institutions will require a formal letter of support from your advisor and proof of your status as a student or researcher. Keep these documents handy both in digital and hard copy.
   • Make contact: Don’t be scared. Get a hold of the appropriate library staff, explain your research project, and request access. At this stage, you’ll of course schedule your visit, but you should also make sure that you and the librarians are on the same page about your research plans. Are photos permitted? What documents are required? etc. I once had a Welsh lady scold me because of a misunderstanding over email, and nobody wants that.
2. Come Prepared
   • Register: When you arrive, you’ll typically need to register for a library card, so bring the necessary identification and any other documentation the library requires. This too can take some time, so budget for this step in your schedule. Soon, you’ll have a little collection of library cards :)
   • Pack your bag: Normally, you are not permitted to bring a bag into the room — because you might be a dirty little thief — so be prepared to pull your essential items out of your bag. I like to carry a clear plastic envelope folder with all the essentials:
     • extra pencils with a sharpener
     • a clear ruler and retractable tape measure
     • a pocket magnifying glass
     • and extra paper copies of all required documents
3. Be Kind
   • Support the codex: Despite popular images of researchers wearing white gloves, handling parchment manuscripts with clean, dry, uncovered hands is actually the generally recommended method. Wearing gloves can make your movements clumsier, leaving you more likely to potentially damage the material. Always use the proper supports to minimize strain on the manuscript’s binding, and adjust these supports as needed while you work.
   • Support the staff: BE COOL. Librarians and library staff are the guardians of these precious objects. Do as they say, be patient, and be kind. Their first priority is to protect the manuscript, not to cater to the whims of over-eager researchers. I recommend not wearing headphones at all during your visit as these will make you less responsive to staff instructions.
4. Document Everything
   • Use your time wisely: Give yourself a comfy window of time to do your work — ideally about 2 hours per manuscript. Establish a procedure for yourself to follow in advance, and be sure to prioritize focusing on the essentials first in case you’re short on time. You’ll kick yourself later if you run out of time to document the one dang thing you were there to see.
   • Record, record, record: Take detailed measurements, including the dimensions of the manuscript, the area of the writing space, the average height of the ruled lines, all in millimeters! Count the average number of lines per column and the number of columns per page. Note any unique features like characteristics of the scribe’s hand, any added glosses and marginalia, and other decorative elements.
   • Take pics: If permitted, take as many photos as possible to minimize your reliance on memory or hurried notes later. Be aware of the library’s restrictions beforehand, and always ask again in-person for further guidance. When taking photos, include in your frame a little slip of paper identifying what you’re photographing. This will save you headaches down the road when you’re up late at night trying to recall if that was folio 351 recto or folio 357 recto…
   • Turn every page: After you’ve collected all the essentials, if there’s time left, savor the moment. Turn every page. Take your time. Let yourself meditate on it. Let yourself notice what you didn’t expect to see. And take notes, lots and lots of notes.
5. Follow Up
   • Tidy your notes: Read back over your data and make sure everything will be intelligible to you six months from now. If you took photos, name each of them with a consistent file naming convention (ex: CITY_LIBRARY_COLLECTION_MS#_FOLIO#_recto/verso), and back them up in one (or two) other places besides your phone.
   • Transcribe your photos: When doing your own transcriptions, finding a guiding text for comparison, even if it is not an exact match for your manuscript copy can be extremely helpful, particularly if you’re a beginner to medieval scribal hands. We’re on the cusp of having more reliable OCR for medieval manuscripts through platforms like Transkribus, but as I write this blog, we aren’t quite there yet. This stage takes a significant amount of time, but it also gives you the opportunity to really get close to the text, working letter by letter. You’ll really come to sympathize with medieval scribes. I totally get now why so many scribes left colophons complaining about how arduous the work of copying is and how maddening it can be to make a mistake despite all of your careful attention over many hours and many days.
   • Thank your librarians. Thank your advisors. Thank your funders. Thank everyone who made your research possible.

And by the way, you don’t have to travel to far flung libraries to encounter these beauties. Just last week, I put together a visit for UVA students to see some of Rare Book School’s medieval materials, and not only did the staff at RBS generously open their doors, but we even had the great Barbara Shailor (gasp) and Consuelo Dutschke (double gasp) there to lead the session. It was such a treat organizing this opportunity for students to get curious about manuscript studies and ask: but like… what are you doing?