Weird, funny, surreal, fun, silly, bawdy, macabre, cool and strangely beautiful.
The Discarded Image is a Tumblr collection of Medieval illustrations gleaned from various illuminated manuscripts, bestiaries, books describing the cosmology of the Middle Ages,
ordered and maintained by a celestial hierarchy.
The Discarded Image is also the name of CS Lewis' last book, about the fascinating Medieval mindset and world picture.
[more inside]
posted by nickyskye
on Apr 13, 2013 -
23 comments
Early English Laws is a project to publish online and in print new editions and translations of all English legal codes, edicts, and treatises produced up to the time of Magna Carta 1215.
[more inside]
posted by jedicus
on Nov 21, 2012 -
7 comments
The Royal Spanish Library has put online today an
interactive version of Leonardo da Vinci's
Madrid Codices I & II. There are transcriptions of the text (in Spanish and Italian, click "T" on the bottom menu), animations of many of the mechanical contraptions (click play button "ver animacion") and the "Indice" in the bottom menu organizes the folios by theme.
posted by Marauding Ennui
on Oct 30, 2012 -
3 comments
For more than two years, scholars and imaging scientists have been using advanced scanning techniques to recover the mostly illegible contents of an 1871 field diary kept by the British explorer David Livingstone in Africa. Low on paper and ink, the explorer had resorted to writing on newspaper sheets, with ink made from berries, and over time the original document had become almost impossible to read. Now the team has unveiled an online “multispectral critical edition” with images, transcriptions, and relevant notes, making Livingstone’s first-person account accessible again. They’ve also created a “Livingstone Spectral Images Archive” to give anyone who wants it direct access to the images, transcriptions, and metadata the project has created, no strings attached. Almost everything in both the edition and the archive comes with a Creative Commons license that allows the contents to be reused with attribution. [more inside]
posted by Horace Rumpole
on Jun 3, 2012 -
11 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
"Commonwealth of Diverse Cultures: Poland's Heritage is an international educational exhibition which presents the history of tolerance and cohabitation of various ethnic groups in the territory of Polish-Lithuanian Commowealth and is addressed primarily to foreigners all around the world
". This is achieved via a very beautiful flash site.
posted by peacay
on Mar 25, 2008 -
11 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
The Benedictine Vivarium "In the Benedictine tradition of reverence for human thought and creativity, the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library preserves manuscripts, printed books and art at Saint John's University and undertakes photographic projects in regions throughout the world.
" --
"Nearly half of HMML's holdings derive from libraries in Austria and Germany, but HMML also houses significant collections from Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, England, and Ethiopia. It holds archival materials, and of particular importance are the Archives of the Knights of Malta, housed in the National Library in Valletta, and the Archives of the Roman Inquisition, located at the Cathedral Museum in Mdina.
" EXAMPLE PAGES --
Illustrations,
Photographs ,
Paintings/Iconography,
Pottery/Sculptures,
Artifacts,
Manuscripts and more - if this kind of thing interests you, then search around - I've only begun scratching the surface.
Nb. See browser setup info at bottom of page in main link.
[via]
posted by peacay
on Aug 28, 2005 -
9 comments
A 63-year old Norwegian bus company owner has
amassed one of the worlds
largest collections of ancient manuscripts valued at over 110 million dollars. His story, how the collection is used and his plans for the sale proceeds are all first-class and an inspiration to private collectors of antiquities.
posted by stbalbach
on Aug 25, 2002 -
15 comments
The Tora-Bora Manuscripts As soon as I published this journal at Blogger.com its servers were hacked. I believe it is a conspiracy perpetrated by the enemies of the TRUTH, trying to stop me. A lame but amusing hoax? Or dangerous and ancient secrets that will blow things wide open?
posted by y6y6y6
on Dec 30, 2001 -
16 comments
