The author's thesis, Amsterdam. / "Tekstgedeelte": p. [209]-366. "Literatuur": p. [ix]-xv.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Columbia University, 1980. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 376-383).

Thesis--Strasbourg. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

This thesis argues that the minor decoration and full-page images of the Book of Kells reflects a cohesive theme: the role of the gospel book in man's apprehension of God. This is demonstrated by an examination of the decorated initials and smaller images in relation to the text and a reinterpretation of the full-page images within the context of patristic commentary and the writings of the period. It is argued that the decorated initials and minor imagery are not merely ornamental but instead emphasize and comment upon the text. They do so in three ways: Firstly, they draw the eye to passages of gospel text that describe the visual apprehension and recognition of Christ as the Son of God. In demonstrating this, the assumption that the decorated initials operate in a traditional manner, such as marking lections or Eusebian sections, is rejected. The atypical function of the decoration, highlighting themes rather than liturgical or content divisions, indicates the unique function of the manuscript. Secondly, it is argued that the decorated initials employ the metaphorical imagery of the Psalms to describe the distinction between the manuscript's audience who acknowledge Christ as the Son of God, and those described within the text as confused and unable to recognize the identity of Christ despite his presence in their midst. Thirdly, the imagery of the decorated initials describes the manner in which the Godhead is literally contained within the text of the gospel book. The larger images also emphasize the recognition of Christ and distinguish between those who look to the Word of God and those who fail to do so. Additionally, the full-page imagery instructs the audience in the use of the manuscript. To an even greater extent than the minor decoration, the larger images articulate the role of the Gospel book and liturgy as a visible guide to an invisible deity and shield against temptation.

This essay stresses the importance of the visual and material aspects of these manuscripts. By examining her work in relation to collage practices, it highlights Dickinson's role as an avant-garde figure in both American poetry and material culture. Rather than write interlocking theses that connect each reading, I aim to demonstrate the ways in which an art historical consideration of Dickinson's envelope manuscripts complicates the already open-ended nature of her poetry through associating the texts with the cultural phenomena of the scrapbook. Additionally, I will foreground the importance of the materiality of these works through emphasizing the role of correspondence in Dickinson's life.

John Gwenogvryn Evans was an important figure in late nineteenth and early twentieth century Welsh Celtic Studies, because he published accurate diplomatic editions of medieval manuscripts that are still used today. He also compiled an important and detailed Report on Welsh Manuscripts for the Historic Manuscripts Commission that was of significant utility to scholars of his day, and still has uses for its detailed description of manuscripts. His extraordinary talent for accuracy in the reproduction of medieval script came to the attention of John Rhŷs, then Professor of Celtic at Jesus College, Oxford. Through Rhŷs he was exposed to the best scholarship of his day, and with the assistance of scholars such as Egerton Phillimore and John Morris Jones, he was enabled to produce work of enduring value. Due to his limited training in Welsh linguistics, and in research methodology, there were, from the start, serious flaws in his interpretation of early Welsh. Later, on losing contact with academic influences due to unwise actions, he fell into a pseudoscientific mentality more common earlier in the 19th century, seeking to find historical fact in poetry of legend and prophecy. Major errors arose from his later inclination to consider the date of a manuscript and the date of the content to be identical, and the ridicule that resulted from his 'amendments and translations' to early poetry so undermined his credibility that he never completed the full range of his intended series of texts. This study traces the origins, manifestations, and consequences of his dual nature through seven chapters. It considers the value of his solid earlier work, and balances it against the follies of his later translations, and seeks to give a fairer view of the value of his work to his own generation, and to those that followed on from him.

This thesis examines the life and works of the 15th century Indian Saint known as Raidas by Hindi speakers and as Ravidas by Panjabi speakers. The first chapter surveys the sources for the study of his life and investigates what is known of his life and the development of his hagiography. The second chapter describes the manuscript sources for the vani of Raidas. The third chapter examines the original form of Raidas's works and how their transmission within oral traditions influenced their content prior to their being set down in manuscript form. The fourth chapter is a study of the teachings of Raidas as found in this critical edition of his works. The fifth chapter is an examination of the differences between the DSdQ PanthT, Sikh, and Nath recensions of the vani. In this chapter it is argued that it is those portions of the vani which are found in most, or all, the recensions of the vani which are most likely to represent original compositions of Raidas himself and the early Raidas tradition. The sixth chapter is a critical edition of 111 padas and 6 sakhis based on twelve sources which predate AD 1700, accompanied by an annotated translation of the text. The seventh and eighth chapters contain a full etymological glossary of the text and brief descriptive grammar of the vani and its prosody.

Made available in DSpace on 2013-01-07T15:59:29Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license.txt: 1748 bytes, checksum: 8a4605be74aa9ea9d79846c1fba20a33 (MD5) 3.pdf: 1821490 bytes, checksum: 270137acc095b512de73d3e353c6f34d (MD5) Previous issue date: 2005 / Fonte documental do Brasil setecentista ainda inédita, os “Dialogos Geograficos Chronologicos, Politicos, e naturais, escriptos por Joseph Barbosa de Sáa Nesta Vila Reyal do Senhor Bom Jesus do Cuyaba - Anno de 1769.”, até então depositado no Instituto Histórico e Geográfico Brasileiro (Rio de Janeiro), constituem um manuscrito com 926 páginas. É dividido por seu autor em duas partes, a primeira constante de 10 capítulos e a segunda de 11. Nesta primeira parte dos Diálogos Geográficos, José Barbosa de Sá aborda os temas concernentes não somente à geografia física, mas também ao continente americano, às raças que povoam e povoaram as Américas, além de explicar como os animais foram trazidos a este continente; a segunda parte é composta de 11 capítulos que tratam principalmente da descrição de animais, plantas e minerais. Neste sentido, elegemos enquanto objeto de análise e estudo nos Diálogos Geográficos, as teorias de seu autor para explicar a ocupação do Novo Mundo pelos seres humanos e animais. Para além da investigação acerca das teorias cosmológicas contidas nos Diálogos Geográficos, procedemos a um levantamento sobre a vida e as obras de José Barbosa de Sá e elaboramos um índice explicativo com os autores por ele citados. Pretende-se assim fornecer subsídios não somente para uma maior compreensão do manuscrito Diálogos Geográficos, mas, principalmente, do Brasil setecentista, palco histórico onde José Barbosa de Sá concebeu sua maior obra.

This thesis examines the sustainability of fifteenth-century manuscripts. It analyses the durability of manuscripts, and the ways in which people recycled and reused their books. During the long fifteenth-century (here, 1375-1530), book production in England flourished, driven by increased demand for books. Yet while the fast-developing commercial book trade produced new books in great quantity, significantly, older books were also sustained, recycled and reused. Although there is awareness within medieval scholarship of recycled manuscript components, such as flyleaves, no sustained study has yet been undertaken into recycled and reused materials in fifteenth-century manuscripts, or into book production's practices and processes of reuse. In addition, previous book history studies of recycling have focused on the book material reuse that followed the Dissolution. By contrast, this study offers a broader exploration of sustainable practices in fifteenth-century manuscript culture, as well as in-depth analysis of manuscript examples, to argue that book producers made and reused books in sustainable ways. The introduction outlines key concepts and relevant scholarship, such as studies that follow the material turn, and ecocriticism. The four chapters that follow address sustainability from different angles, focusing primarily on the evidence both in and written on books themselves. Chapter 1 explores the craftsmanship of parchment- making through contemporary recipes and physical evidence in manuscripts. Chapter 2 presents case studies of parchment reused sustainably in books, as off-cuts, quire guards, flyleaves, pastedowns, limp covers, and palimpsests. Chapter 3 surveys spaces reclaimed in books for opportunistic mark-making, in the form of doodles, jottings, and short verses. Chapter 4 presents three surveys of second-hand books and the inscriptions written onto their leaves. A conclusion draws together the findings. This thesis augments and nuances current scholarship by arguing that fifteenth-century reuse and recycling of book materials were customary aspects of book production and symptomatic of more widespread sustainability in manuscript culture.

The significance of dot patterns in Carolingian manuscripts is the subject of my research. In my investigation into the sources of these patterns I hope to show some relationship between them and metal working techniques to which could be attributed an overall development of pattern and design during the early Middle Ages. Since the art of the period reflects so strongly the social and political conditions existent during the reign of Charlemagne I have also included a brief summary of those relevant historical conditions. The adverse situation prevailing in the Frankish kingdom during the seventh century together with the weakness of its rulers enabled the Carolingian family to obtain power, and when Charlemagne became the sole ruler in 771 he continued to carry out the family policy of uniting the peoples of the West and initiated a revival of Roman culture and learning in his kingdom. This programme also included the establishment of schools, and the illumination of books; also to fit into his ambitious programme every effort was directed by both Church and state to produce a variation in the artistic world from the then available migration art. To accomplish this foreign artists and their work were readily drawn to the court of Charlemagne to contribute to the new form of artistic expression; while the Church did its part by adapting foreign and domestic styles in its newer designs and by utilizing the working methods of the monastic workshops. From my investigation I find that the dot patterns are only used in the manuscripts of some Carolingian schools notably the School of Tours, which is generally recognised as the oldest school. Examination of these manuscripts proves there are many variations in the patterns of dots used, the reason for which is sought in the influences and inspirations of the following: 1. Foreign styles, including Insular and Eastern Mediterranean art forms. 2. Applied arts. Here I find that dottings can be listed according to their origins in metal working techniques. Finally the origin is sought of the peripheral dottings found particularly in connection with Canon Tables; and references are given to various sources of influence from the Eastern Mediterranean arts together with one example from an Irish church. I reach the conclusion that the influences governing the dot patterns in Carolingian manuscripts came from many sources and that the dot patterns were ultimately combined and moulded into new designs through the working procedures developed in the Scriptorium. In my collation of all the available evidence I establish the fact that these dot patterns are presented in three main groups: 1. Dots derived from constructional details of domestic artifacts. 2. Dots derived from decoration of the above. 3. Dots derived from imported manuscripts, ivories, and so on. My final suggestion is that the dottings of foreign origin become absorbed very rapidly in the style that borrowed them, while the dottings derived from well known objects seem to disappear entirely for two apparent reasons: 1. The art from which they sprang begins to deteriorate. 2. Society changes; and with the arrival of other values the objects copied are no longer of major importance. / Arts, Faculty of / Art History, Visual Art and Theory, Department of / Graduate