Before digital technology, before the invention of the printing press, books were written, ornamented, and illuminated by hand, with unsurpassed artistry. This seminar, set in the European Middle Ages, teaches students about the ways in which human knowledge (historical, religious, literary, mythological, medical, scientific, legal) was preserved and passed down for use within a manuscript culture. By coming to know a series of spectacular manuscripts produced over the course of 1000 years, students will gain an intimate understanding of cultural shifts across the medieval centuries. One important theme will be the transformations that took place in the decades around 1200 when book production, moving out of the monasteries, came to be conducted by professionals in urban environments who prepared books for ever more varied sectors of the populace.

Estimated cost of materials: $50 or less.

D.2