The Scriptorium: Center for Christian Antiquities announces its first
international conference, The Bible As Book: The Manuscript Tradition, to be
held Wednesday, May 31 through Saturday, June 3, 1995, at Hampton Court
Herefordshire, near Hereford, England.
This forum has been organized for the purpose of examining the various
forms of transmission of the biblical text within devout communities throughout
history. From the Hebrew scroll to the earliest clandestine manuscripts of the
English vernacular, the physical evidence of the written Bible gives testimony
to its high theological and artistic value within these various cultures. The
topics will approach its construction, decoration, use, and symbolic
significance as essential aspects of the textual history of an immortal book.
Progressing chronologically, the conference will explore the material
aspects of the Bible as it appears in its earliest state of the Hebrew scroll,
its representations in Egypt among the Copts and other Egyptian Christians, the
forms it took among Christians of Byzantium and the East, and its appearance in
Latin and other Western forms from the Celts in the north to Alpine monasticism.
The sessions and speakers are scheduled as follows:
Wednesday, May 31:
Opening Convocation: Scripture as Talisman, Specimen, and Dragoman
Edwin Yamauchi, Miami University, Ohio
Thursday, June 1
Session I: The Bible in the Hebrew Community: Scrolls and Community
Scribal Practices Reflected in the Dead Sea Scrolls
Emanuel Tov, Editor-in-Chief, Dead Sea Scrolls Publication Project, Hebrew
University
Images of the Temple in Medieval Hebrew Manuscripts: Origins, History, and
Meaning
Gabrielle Sed-Rajna, CNR, Paris
The Prophets in Jewish Worship and Life: A Yemenite Manuscript of Haftarot
Dan Rettburg, Curator of Hebraica, Emory University
Session II: The Early Christian Church in Egypt
An Early Christian Library: The Nag Hammadi Codices
Bastiaan Van Elderen, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam
The Coptic Church and the Place of the Book in Monasticism
Stephen Emmel
The Making of the Great Codices
T.S. Pattie, The British Library
Session III: The Church in the East
The Four-Gospel Form in Byzantium
John Sharpe, Duke University
Cultural Transmission: Illustrated Biblical Manuscripts in the Medieval Arab
World
Lucy-Anne Hunt, University of Birmingham
Armenia and the Bible as a Book
Sylvie Merian, Norman Ross Publishing
Session IV: Early Art and Theological Form
The Theology of the Word Made Flesh
Andrew Lowth, Goldsmith's College, London
Among the Earliest Representations of the Bible: Bookmaking from the Bamburg
Codex through Jost Amman
Christopher Clarkson, Director of Conservation, West Dean College, West Sussex
Session V: The Bible in the Church in the West
The Cambridge-London Gospel Book: An Insular Manuscript
Christopher Verey
Writing As Devotion: In Praise of Scribes
Nicholas Hadgraft, Cambridge University
Session VI: Devotion and Patronage
Books of Hours: Imaging the Word
Christopher de Hamel, Sotheby's, London
The Bible as Constant Companion: The Girdle Bible
Janet Backhouse, The British Library
A Thirteenth-Century French Book of Hours: Aspects of Family Devotional Life
Adelaide Bennett, Princeton University
Session VII: The Celtic Tradition
The Psalms in the Irish Church: The Most Recent Research on Text, Commentary,
and Devotion--With Emphasis on the So-Called Psalter of Charlemagne *EN
Lat.13159*
Fr. Martin McNamara, Milltown Institute of Theology and Philosophy, Dublin
The Evangelist Symbols in Insular Gospel Books: Context and Meaning
Jennifer O'Reilly, University College, Cork
The Lindisfarne Community as a Center on the Edge: The Gospel Book as Site of
Voluntary Exile
John Skillen, Gordon College
Session VIII: The Emergence of the English Bible
Anglo-Saxons and the Origin of their Books
Richard Marsden, Cambridge University
Early Latin Manuscripts Produced in England
Thomas N. Hall, University of Illinois, Chicago
God's Law, Lay Literacy, and the Lollards
Christina von Nolcken, University of Chicago
PLENARY SESSION:
The Divine Library
Fr. Leonard Boyle, O.P., Prefetto, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana
Closing Address:
Trithemius, the Manuscript Tradition, and Technological Innovation: the
Twenty-First-Century Scriptorium
Scott T. Carroll, Executive Director, The Scriptorium: Center for Christian
Antiquities
Registration Information:
The conference fee is $150.00 or 100.00, payable to The Scriptorium: Center for
Christian Antiquities, 926 Robbins Road, Suite 183, Grand Haven, Michigan,
49417. Please include name, address, and affiliation. Fee includes conference
materials, dessert reception Wednesday evening, continental breakfast and lunch
on Thursday and Friday, and continental breakfast and closing medieval dinner on
Saturday. For more information please call 800-333-8373 or write me at
76221.135@compuserv.com. Registration closes May 15th.
Hampton Court Herefordshire is a fourteenth-century castle located approximately
three hours northwest of London. Lodging is available in nearby Hereford and
shuttle service will be provided daily from the Starting Gate Travel Inn,
Hereford, 0432-274853.
The Scriptorium: Center for Christian Antiquities is a non-sectarian,
privately-endowed research center recently established in Grand Haven, Michigan.
The Scriptorium's holdings consist primarily of ancient and rare bibles and
related materials. The various endeavors of the center reflect its commitment
to excellent scholarship and contributions to biblical and Christian-era
studies.