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Paleography Illuminated: The ISU Manuscript Project

Welcome! The ISU Manuscript Project Page is a research hub for scholars and enthusiasts of Latin and Latin paleography, codicology, and diplomatics. Our project, “Paleography Illuminated” seeks to transcribe and translate manuscript folios housed in Special Collections at Milner Library, and to make these materials available digitally for public scholarly use.

Vivat

Lingua

Latina!

Who Is Involved?

The project is interdisciplinary in its very nature and invites the participation of scholars in fields such as art history, history, languages, literature, material culture, and library science. Our collaborative approach extends into the classroom as the project presents opportunities for pedagogical innovations and research projects.  On the ISU campus the project involves the Department of History, the School of Art, the Department of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures, Milner Library, and Special Collections. ISU students have produced excellent transcriptions, and some translations, of the diverse manuscript folios in Milner Library’s Special Collections. The original folios and their transcriptions can be found on the side tab “Student Projects.” Coming soon we will have a tab dedicated entirely to the medieval documents in Special Collections.

What’s the Latest News?

After four very successful iterations of Latin Paleography at ISU, we have made the course ‘official’ as Latin 300, “Introduction to Paleography.” Students can only enroll with permission of the instructor and must have three semesters of Latin completed. The spring 2022 semester brings a new group of students together to begin study in paleography and codicology.

Just for funsies, take a look at a recent essay on Mental Floss about paleographers featuring Dr. Kathryn Jasper:

11 Job Secrets of Paleographers

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