January 20, 2014, Filed Under: Books + Manuscripts, Research + TeachingRare French “Cisiojanus” fragment identified in bookbinding through crowdsourcing project Farley P. Katz is a tax lawyer in San Antonio who collects rare books, manuscripts, and “too many other things.” He is one of the contributors to the medieval fragments project, a crowdsourcing research project headed by archivist Micah Erwin to identify fragments of medieval manuscripts bound into rare books… read more
January 20, 2014, Filed Under: Books + Manuscripts, Cataloging, Research + TeachingArchivist declares medieval manuscript fragment crowdsourcing project success During the late medieval and early modern period, it was a common practice for bookbinders to cut out the sturdy parchment leaves of outdated or unwanted handwritten books to reuse those leaves as covers or binding reinforcements in new “cutting edge” printed books. This practice lasted until roughly the seventeenth… read more
July 26, 2012, Filed Under: Books + Manuscripts, Research + TeachingArchivist seeks help in identifying manuscript waste material Because manuscript waste is particularly difficult to identify due to its fragmentary nature, I started early on to think of ways to harness the knowledge of other rare book and manuscript enthusiasts to help describe these objects. Inspired by individuals who had made extraordinary discoveries about historical photographs by sharing… read more
