Visit to the Archives and Special Collections

I really enjoyed our visit to the Archives and Special Collections today! I learned a lot about the history of so many different texts.

Regarding Antigone, I learned that it was originally written down on Papyrus, and in 1502 there was a milestone printing in Italy that became a reference for a lot of different people. This was really interesting to apply to our reading of Antigone, being that we read a 2005 translation. It was cool to think about the pathway the text could have taken from the original papyrus to the books we were using. 

There were a lot of other literary works we went over that I learned a lot about such as the Epic of Gilgamesh and other cuneiform writing on clay tablets. I thought it was so cool to see and be able to hold something that was from around 3000 years ago! We also learned about Esther on scroll, and the large St. John's Bible. 

One of the most interesting overarching concepts of this that I would be interested in learning about is the physical creation of the manuscripts. I remember Kelci talking about how the animal hide was shaved and stretched to make paper, and I am curious what other processes took place to make the different types of "books." I really liked learning about how stories evolved from stone to papyrus to parchment and finally codex. I also thought it was really cool to see the accordion fold as the middle step between the paper and the codex!

One last thing that caught my eye were the miniature books. I thought it was so interesting just how many there were! In the vault, Kelci opened a box of the books for us and let us look at them, and it was crazy just how many other boxes were on the shelf, also filled with miniature books. Something fun I didn't even know existed! (pictures of us with the mini books below!)



Comments

  1. Audrey SchroederOctober 27, 2022 at 3:44 PM

    Cassi, first amazing picture inclusion. I feel like those pictures summarized the fun mood from today. I, too, thought the mini books were crazy! How fun that someone can just have a collection of THOUSANDS of those in their house and read a tiny book whenever they feel like it.

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  2. Eloise DanielloOctober 28, 2022 at 12:25 AM

    Hey Cassi! In love with with these pictures, I think they really embody our experience today. Second of all, I also thought it was fascinating how the original text had been written on Papyrus and eventually transferred over to other mediums.

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  3. Catalina DegnanOctober 28, 2022 at 12:55 AM

    Hey Cassi! Love the picture that you included. It really captures our time in the archives quite well. I too was quite struck by some of the ways in which a material was produced in order to be able to write on it!

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  4. Monique Cov.October 28, 2022 at 5:33 PM

    Hey Cassi! I actually didn't know that 1502 is an important date. Thank you for that information! I also found it fascinating that we were able to pick up objects that were thousands of years old.

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  5. Hilary LeOctober 28, 2022 at 8:35 PM

    Hi Cassi! Love the pictures you included in the post! The tiny books were probably my favorite part of our exhibit. Being able to touch all the books and objects really added to understanding book history and how they were produced.

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  6. HeatherLOctober 29, 2022 at 11:21 PM

    Hey Cassi! I totally laughed when I saw these pictures - you may have just launched my modeling career! All jokes aside, I was also really interested in the process of treating animal hide to turn it into paper. It seems like such a time-consuming process, so it makes me appreciate the effort historical people went into to get their message across. I'm not sure if I have anything important enough to say that I would spend days preparing to document it, but I'm glad that they did!

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  7. Jalen PaigeOctober 30, 2022 at 2:45 PM

    Hey, Cassi! I loved how you included pictures with your post. It really help illuminate how fantastic those tiny books are! It is a bit ridiculous to me that somebody owned 5,000 of those things, especially since they cost anywhere from $20-$50. I am glad they got rid of their tiny books- it sounds like that was becoming a hoarding problem!

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  8. Paulos HabtewoldOctober 30, 2022 at 5:11 PM

    Hi Cassi, the miniature books were really interesting to see. I've heard of a miniature Bible before that people carried, but I never really thought people would carry miniature books of literature. I find it hard to believe that people read these books, especially when I saw that there was a magnifying glass right next to some of them.

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  9. Griffin JonesOctober 30, 2022 at 7:45 PM

    I find it so interesting to think about all the ways that Antigone could be different today if there had been a different series of events in getting the original play out. I wonder if different people translated, and someone else printed it first, and more or fewer scraps of the original were found how the meaning and cultural impact of the play would have changed.

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  10. James MaddenOctober 30, 2022 at 10:34 PM

    Hey Cassi! I'm glad you enjoyed the trip to the archives and collections so much! I could tell you were enthusiastic even before I saw the pictures you took at the bottom! I was also incredibly fascinated by the evolution of physical mediums from tablets to animal hides to parchment to codex.

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  11. Gema Sanchez GamezOctober 31, 2022 at 12:09 AM

    Hi Cassi! I also loved the mini books! I think it's super interesting how different media make us so much more receptive to messages. Seeing so many early forms of books was super special because it showed all the trial and error that people throughout history had to go through.

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  12. Noah English 11H BlogNovember 1, 2022 at 9:39 PM

    The processes used to make books that survive this long are fascinating. It also makes me think of what types of books and materials were used that did not survive. We only have the context of books that were made well enough to last, but that is likely not nearly all the types of books that have existed.

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