The Geese Book is a lavishly illustrated manuscript of choral music, written for the church of
St Lorenz, Nuremberg, between 1504 and 1510. It takes its name from a whimsical illustration showing a
choir of geese with a wolf as their choirmaster. The manuscript has now been
digitized, and many of the chants
recorded, so that you can listen to the music (or even sing along) while following the text. Highlights include Christmas, with a
fox and rooster, Ascension Day, with the famous
choir of geese, All Saints' Day, with a
dragon eating a baby, and the Mass for St Lawrence, with a
musical bear.
posted by verstegan
on Nov 29, 2012 -
8 comments
A small piece of Truman Capote’s famously unfinished novel Answered Prayers has come to light. The six-page story, “Yachts and Things,” found among Capote’s papers in the Manuscripts and Archives Division of the New York Public Library, is published in the December issue of Vanity Fair, out now in New York and nationally next week. The story will be available online in mid-November. [more inside]
posted by Egg Shen
on Nov 1, 2012 -
13 comments
John Cage Unbound, A Living Archive is a multimedia exhibition created by the New York Public Library documenting their collection of
videos, original notes and
manuscripts of contemporary American composer and music theorist
John Cage (1912-1992). "Cage believed that, following his detailed directions, anyone could make music from any kind of instrument" so the NYPL is asking visitors how they would bring his music to life, by submitting videos of their own interpretations of Cage’s work for possible inclusion in the archive. For more extensive collections of John Cage resources, see:
WNYC: A John Cage Web Reliquary and Josh Rosen's
fan page.
[more inside]
posted by zarq
on Apr 17, 2012 -
21 comments
The “Copiale Cipher” is a 105 pages manuscript containing all in all around 75 000 characters. Beautifully bound in green and gold brocade paper, written on high quality paper with two different watermarks, the manuscript can be dated back to 1760-1780. [...] the manuscript is completely encoded.
[more inside]
posted by tykky
on Oct 3, 2011 -
15 comments
The Koran of Kansuh al-Ghuri is a 500 year old manuscript written on six foot square sheets of a silken, vellum-like fabric which is polished with smooth stones so that ink sits on the surface rather than being absorbed. It is considered "one of the finest, most
lavishly illuminated and calligraphically significant Qur’an manuscripts from the late
Mamluk period". Too fragile to be displayed, it is also missing two leaves that were discovered in Dublin's Chester Beatty Library in the 1970s. So a unified digitized edition is being prepared that will be freely available on the Internet for researchers. The process is being blogged
here.
posted by Joe Beese
on Jan 24, 2011 -
14 comments
Gallica (the digital section of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France) has put Charles Baudelaire's heavily annotated proofs of
Les Fleurs du Mal on line.
posted by Lezzles
on Jan 11, 2011 -
10 comments
For millions of addicts around the world, Alcoholics Anonymous's basic text - informally known as the Big Book - is the Bible. And as they're about to find out, the Bible was edited. After being hidden away for nearly 70 years and then auctioned twice, the original manuscript by AA co-founder Bill Wilson is about to become public for the first time next week, complete with edits by Wilson-picked commenters that reveal a profound debate in 1939 about how overtly to talk about God.
posted by Joe Beese
on Sep 22, 2010 -
76 comments
"
[Celtic] knots are most known for their adaptation for use in the ornamentation of Christian monuments and manuscripts like the 8th century St. Teilo Gospels, the Book of Kells and the Lindisfarne Gospels."
[more inside]
posted by litterateur
on Jun 2, 2009 -
9 comments
The Shahnama or “Book of Kings” is the longest poem ever written by a single author: Abu’l-Qasim Hasan Firdausi, from Tus in northeastern Iran. His epic work narrates the history of Iran (Persia) since the first king, Kayumars, who established his rule at the dawn of time, down to the conquest of Persia by the Muslim Arab invasions of the early 7th century A.D.
posted by tellurian
on Nov 3, 2008 -
18 comments
The University of South Carolina recently completed an
ambitious survey of all medieval texts in the state for an exhibit at the university library. All the works were scanned and archived electronically. However, not only can you
view the texts online, you can hear the university's chorus
sing (MP3) the musical manuscripts.
[more inside]
posted by 1f2frfbf
on Mar 18, 2008 -
8 comments
For anyone with even a passing interest in Islamic history or cartography,
'The Book of Curiosities of the Sciences and Marvels for the Eyes' site at Oxford University's Bodleian Library will provide a thoroughly interesting timesink. This recently discovered 13th/14th century copy of an 11th century Egyptian manuscript was partly based on Ptolemy and includes the oldest rectangular map of the world...not to mention the famed human-bearing
Waq-Waq tree.
[via]
posted by peacay
on Apr 5, 2007 -
7 comments
One of only ten poems published during Emily Dickinson's lifetime, the poem beginning "Safe in their Alabaster Chambers" continues to be reproduced in
conflicting versions.
Emily Dickinson Writing a Poem lets us leaf through images of Dickinson's original manuscripts and correspondences concerning the poem. According to the site, this documents surrounding this poem offer "the only example of Emily Dickinson responding directly to another reader's advice." At one point, Dickinson apparently struggled to decide between at least
three alternatives of the
much-contested second verse. Also included is a
history of the poem's early printings, providing an opportunity to note how many publications have ignored Dickinson's
idiosyncratic punctuation.
posted by treepour
on Nov 9, 2006 -
14 comments
The
Book of Kells is one of the most beautiful illuminated manuscripts ever made, a fusion of Celtic motifs, Germanic forms and Christian themes. We can view the image gallerys, or even visit in person, but it's a soulfully thin experience compared to actually holding its weight and turning the pages. Enter the world of
Facsimile Books, a faithful re-creation of the original to the extent that it is virtually indistinguishable from the original, where price is no concern, editions are limited, and can cost $20,000 or more and often sell-out quickly.
Finns Fine Books is a leading distributor. A list of
publishers, mostly European fine arts craftsmen.
posted by stbalbach
on Jun 30, 2005 -
16 comments
Scattered Leaves In the early decades of the 20th century, a Cleveland book collector named
Otto Ege removed the pages from 50 medieval manuscript books, divided the pages among 40 boxes, and sold the boxes around the world. Now the University of Saskatchewan
plans to digitally
remake the book.
posted by dhruva
on May 28, 2005 -
32 comments
