‘Hands-on’ medieval manuscripts
Two outstanding medieval manuscripts — including a rare 13th-century Bible — recently acquired by the University of British Columbia will not be stuck away in some vault collecting dust over the decades. They will be a ‘hands-on’ benefit to students.
“We bought them deliberately to support teaching,” said Prof. Siân Echard, the head of UBC’s English department.
“We bought them because they’re part of a number of courses we teach where we take students into rare books and let them work with the materials in the collection.”
Echard said the two manuscripts have bolstered UBC Library’s rare book holdings, providing valuable benefits for teaching and learning while bringing the library’s medieval collection to a new level.
UBC Library purchased the titles by auction in December. They include a ‘student Bible’ and a private devotional book called a Book of Hours. Both purchases were entirely donor-funded, UBC said, with the Bible costing about $172,000 and the Book of Hours costing about $39,000.
Financial contributors to the acquisition of the student Bible include Kenneth Fung, a former member of the UBC Board of Governors. The Breslauer Foundation provided funds for the Book of Hours, marking the first time that the New York-based organization has supported a Canadian institution.
Student Bibles were typically produced in Paris for universities so pupils and professors could use them for their daily studies. However, UBC Library’s Bible was made in Oxford, England, around 1250, making it the only one of its kind in a Canadian collection.
The thick manuscript features intricate text in Latin, which is punctuated by blue and red initials. Notes from past users are scribbled in the margins, while a handwritten ‘concordance’ — or reference section — is featured at the back.
The Book of Hours dates to the 15th century, and is written mostly in Latin, with some French. It includes hand-painted illuminations. Echard said she teaches a course called History of the Book and that it looks at all the different ways the Bible has been delivered over thousands of years.
Both manuscripts can be viewed at the Library’s Rare Books and Special Collections division, located at the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre.