The Rare Books & Manuscripts Library of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge
As with any historical field, despite the sheer quantity of evidence you may collect, there will always be parts of the past that remain shrouded in mystery. This is of course true for manuscripts; even if we combined all our current knowledge, we will never quite manage to uncover each and every hidden facet of... Continue Reading →
Encountering a manuscript is a vastly different experience to reading a modern printed edition of the same text. I discovered this when I had the privilege of examining the Ancrene Wisse manuscript (Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, MS 402) during my internship at the Parker Library. Ancrene Wisse—meaning ‘advice for anchoresses’—is an early thirteenth-century text intended to guide... Continue Reading →
As part of my work experience here at the Parker Library I was given the opportunity to do my own research and write it up on a blog post. This was an amazing chance to see what research means practically, and at first I was overwhelmed by the number of books available to look at... Continue Reading →
A heavy oak chest in the Parker LIbrary (Corpus Christi College) was used to store objects left as collateral for loans of money. Its ironwork features the outline of a plant – but no-one knew why. Now a visitor to the Library may have unravelled the meaning of this decorative motif. A visitor to the... Continue Reading →
Almost 400 years after the death of William Stukeley there is a resurgence of interest in his life and work. Stukeley studied medicine at Corpus, and was a contemporary and friend of Stephen Hales, inventor of the ventilator. His room at Corpus was, Stukeley records, "generally hung round with Guts, stomachs, bladders, preparations of parts... Continue Reading →
With the cardinals assembling for the conclave to elect a new pope, commentators speculating and bookmakers laying odds, it's a good time to take a look at a strange medieval text full of prophecies about popes known as the Vaticinia pontificum or Vaticinia de summis pontificibus. A copy is found in CCCC MS 404, a... Continue Reading →
The Parker Library 