Lisa Fagin Davis
@lisafdavis.bsky.social
Medievalist, Paleographer, Codicologist, Voynichologist; Executive Director, @medievalacademy.bsky.social; Brown Univ. and Yale Univ. alum; PhD; Red Sox fan
Had a blast talking with Jared Bowen today about the upcoming @associatesbpl.bsky.social Hundred-Year Book Debate! Join us @bpl.boston.gov on Feb. 10. More information here: www.associatesbpl.org/events-and-p...
January 22, 2026 at 12:56 AM
Had a blast talking with Jared Bowen today about the upcoming @associatesbpl.bsky.social Hundred-Year Book Debate! Join us @bpl.boston.gov on Feb. 10. More information here: www.associatesbpl.org/events-and-p...
Are you in the @wgbh.org listening area? Tune in at 2:40 today to hear me talk with Jared Bowen about the upcoming Hundred-Year Book Debate, sponsored by the Associates of the Boston Public Library! www.associatesbpl.org/events-and-p...
Hundred-Year Book Debate - Associates of the Boston Public Library
www.associatesbpl.org
January 21, 2026 at 7:08 PM
Are you in the @wgbh.org listening area? Tune in at 2:40 today to hear me talk with Jared Bowen about the upcoming Hundred-Year Book Debate, sponsored by the Associates of the Boston Public Library! www.associatesbpl.org/events-and-p...
Roger Bacon would like a word.
Scientists mimicking the Big Bang accidentally turn lead into gold
Scientists mimicking the Big Bang accidentally turn lead into gold
Scientists mimicking the Big Bang accidentally turn lead into gold
www.independent.co.uk
January 20, 2026 at 5:45 PM
Roger Bacon would like a word.
Call for Papers for an online #Voynich conference with an A-list Programme Committee! Follow @voynich2026.bsky.social for updates. More info at:
www.um.edu.mt/events/voyni...
www.um.edu.mt/events/voyni...
January 19, 2026 at 4:59 PM
Call for Papers for an online #Voynich conference with an A-list Programme Committee! Follow @voynich2026.bsky.social for updates. More info at:
www.um.edu.mt/events/voyni...
www.um.edu.mt/events/voyni...
This is splendid work! Using sophisticated raking-light imaging to see drypoint inscriptions in an 8th-c. uncial manuscript. Really cool stuff.
The inkless doodles of Eadburg, an 8th-c. nun, discovered by new technology: now published by Jessica Hendy-Hodgkinson in EME doi.org/10.1111/emed... (Open access)
January 19, 2026 at 2:23 PM
This is splendid work! Using sophisticated raking-light imaging to see drypoint inscriptions in an 8th-c. uncial manuscript. Really cool stuff.
Reposted by Lisa Fagin Davis
University of Arizona Libraries is hiring for a RARE BOOK LIBRARIAN! 1st review of applications February 9, 2026.
arizona.csod.com/ux/ats/caree...
We have great collections and great people here. Not on the committee, happy to chat.
arizona.csod.com/ux/ats/caree...
We have great collections and great people here. Not on the committee, happy to chat.
Librarian, Rare Books (Assistant or Associate)
CHARACTERISTIC DUTIESAcquire, appraise, and
preserve collections of primary and significant research value, especially rare
books.In partnership
with ...
arizona.csod.com
January 13, 2026 at 11:14 PM
University of Arizona Libraries is hiring for a RARE BOOK LIBRARIAN! 1st review of applications February 9, 2026.
arizona.csod.com/ux/ats/caree...
We have great collections and great people here. Not on the committee, happy to chat.
arizona.csod.com/ux/ats/caree...
We have great collections and great people here. Not on the committee, happy to chat.
#OttoEge alert! So excited to learn that @rarebookschool.bsky.social has acquired Ege's "Fifty Original Leaves" box no. 33 (RBS 9542), never before studied! If you aren't versed in Ege lore, learn about everyone's favorite biblioclast here: manuscriptroadtrip.wordpress.com/2013/10/07/m...
Manuscript Road Trip: In Otto Ege’s Footsteps
Ohio is one of the areas of the country richest in medieval manuscripts, with more than 2200 codices and 2400 leaves in at least thirty-three collections. In fact, once you leave the East coast, Oh…
manuscriptroadtrip.wordpress.com
January 13, 2026 at 7:50 PM
#OttoEge alert! So excited to learn that @rarebookschool.bsky.social has acquired Ege's "Fifty Original Leaves" box no. 33 (RBS 9542), never before studied! If you aren't versed in Ege lore, learn about everyone's favorite biblioclast here: manuscriptroadtrip.wordpress.com/2013/10/07/m...
Just finished drafting an 11,000-word chapter on "Crafting the Codex." Wondering what my editor will think about my asking for fifty-seven illustrations in this one chapter.
nvm I think I just answered my own question.
nvm I think I just answered my own question.
January 13, 2026 at 3:40 PM
Just finished drafting an 11,000-word chapter on "Crafting the Codex." Wondering what my editor will think about my asking for fifty-seven illustrations in this one chapter.
nvm I think I just answered my own question.
nvm I think I just answered my own question.
Reposted by Lisa Fagin Davis
🚨Phd Position in #Digital #Medieval Manuscripts Studies
You will be part of an international research project, applying innovative computational methods to the study of the transmission history of the Latin Physiologus and the Bestiary.
📍Radbout University (NL)
📆15 Jan 2026
▶️ tinyurl.com/3wtcxpfc
You will be part of an international research project, applying innovative computational methods to the study of the transmission history of the Latin Physiologus and the Bestiary.
📍Radbout University (NL)
📆15 Jan 2026
▶️ tinyurl.com/3wtcxpfc
PhD Position in Medieval Manuscript Studies | Radboud University
Do you want to work as a PhD Candidate in Medieval Manuscript Studies at the Faculty of Arts? Check our vacancy!
tinyurl.com
January 9, 2026 at 9:53 AM
🚨Phd Position in #Digital #Medieval Manuscripts Studies
You will be part of an international research project, applying innovative computational methods to the study of the transmission history of the Latin Physiologus and the Bestiary.
📍Radbout University (NL)
📆15 Jan 2026
▶️ tinyurl.com/3wtcxpfc
You will be part of an international research project, applying innovative computational methods to the study of the transmission history of the Latin Physiologus and the Bestiary.
📍Radbout University (NL)
📆15 Jan 2026
▶️ tinyurl.com/3wtcxpfc
Join us in Amherst, Massachusetts for the 101st Annual Meeting of @medievalacademy.bsky.social! maa2026.wordpress.amherst.edu
January 8, 2026 at 5:17 PM
Join us in Amherst, Massachusetts for the 101st Annual Meeting of @medievalacademy.bsky.social! maa2026.wordpress.amherst.edu
FINALLY! I've been using this as my first guess for 736 games! Wordle 1,664 1/6
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
January 8, 2026 at 2:01 PM
FINALLY! I've been using this as my first guess for 736 games! Wordle 1,664 1/6
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Reposted by Lisa Fagin Davis
2027 MAA Annual Meeting Call for Papers
Call for Papers
102nd Annual Meeting of the
Medieval Academy of America
University of Toronto
15-17 April, 2027
The 102nd Annual Meeting of the Medieval Academy of America will take place on the campus of
www.themedievalacademyblog.org/2027-maa-ann...
Call for Papers
102nd Annual Meeting of the
Medieval Academy of America
University of Toronto
15-17 April, 2027
The 102nd Annual Meeting of the Medieval Academy of America will take place on the campus of
www.themedievalacademyblog.org/2027-maa-ann...
January 7, 2026 at 9:00 PM
2027 MAA Annual Meeting Call for Papers
Call for Papers
102nd Annual Meeting of the
Medieval Academy of America
University of Toronto
15-17 April, 2027
The 102nd Annual Meeting of the Medieval Academy of America will take place on the campus of
www.themedievalacademyblog.org/2027-maa-ann...
Call for Papers
102nd Annual Meeting of the
Medieval Academy of America
University of Toronto
15-17 April, 2027
The 102nd Annual Meeting of the Medieval Academy of America will take place on the campus of
www.themedievalacademyblog.org/2027-maa-ann...
Join me @rarebookschool.bsky.social for an intensive week of Latin Paleography, June 1-5 in Charlottesville. Paleography doesn't have to be scary. Trust me...we'll have a blast! Application portal is now open. rarebookschool.org/courses/manu...
Introduction to Paleography, 800–1500 | Rare Book School
“This course was very useful and packed with information.” — 2016 student Course Length: 30 hours Course Week: 31 May–5 June 2026 Format: in person, University of Virginia in Charlottesville, VA Fee: ...
rarebookschool.org
January 7, 2026 at 9:33 PM
Join me @rarebookschool.bsky.social for an intensive week of Latin Paleography, June 1-5 in Charlottesville. Paleography doesn't have to be scary. Trust me...we'll have a blast! Application portal is now open. rarebookschool.org/courses/manu...
Today I learned that Frederick II of Sicily explicitly banned the use of Beneventan script in his Liber Augustalis of 1231. What did Beneventan script ever do to HIM? I mean, I get it, it can be a challenge compared to Caroline bookhand, but COME ON it's so pretty!
January 7, 2026 at 3:11 PM
Today I learned that Frederick II of Sicily explicitly banned the use of Beneventan script in his Liber Augustalis of 1231. What did Beneventan script ever do to HIM? I mean, I get it, it can be a challenge compared to Caroline bookhand, but COME ON it's so pretty!
A recent post from @sims-mss.bsky.social reminded me of a really cool UPenn manuscript that I keep meeting to write about. It's UPenn Ms. Codex 1056, a lovely Book of Hours for the Use of Rouen. colenda.library.upenn.edu/catalog/8143...
January 6, 2026 at 4:55 PM
A recent post from @sims-mss.bsky.social reminded me of a really cool UPenn manuscript that I keep meeting to write about. It's UPenn Ms. Codex 1056, a lovely Book of Hours for the Use of Rouen. colenda.library.upenn.edu/catalog/8143...
All that for three sentences and three footnotes...but the record has been corrected for posterity!
January 4, 2026 at 4:40 PM
All that for three sentences and three footnotes...but the record has been corrected for posterity!
Important postscript! My question this morning was: if the 1057 document is lost, how do we know it was written on papyrus? After some more digging, I found the answer: it was copied in 1236, and the COPY begins with "Eidem privilegium in papyro conscriptum innovat et rescribit..." 🧵
Got it! With MAJOR thanks to @benpohl.bsky.social and others. The original reference is to JL 4366, in H. Bresslau's Papyrus und Pergament in der päpstlichen Kanzlei bis zur Mitte des 11. Jahrh. published in 1888. BUT he clearly states that the original document is lost! 🧵
I am on the trail of my very own manuscript studies chortlemuffin (™️Drimmer). Everyone says that the last dated papal bull on papyrus was issued in 1057 but I cannot find a shelfmark or incipit or image or any supporting evidence for this statement. I will get to the bottom of it, I assure you.
January 4, 2026 at 2:23 PM
Important postscript! My question this morning was: if the 1057 document is lost, how do we know it was written on papyrus? After some more digging, I found the answer: it was copied in 1236, and the COPY begins with "Eidem privilegium in papyro conscriptum innovat et rescribit..." 🧵
Got it! With MAJOR thanks to @benpohl.bsky.social and others. The original reference is to JL 4366, in H. Bresslau's Papyrus und Pergament in der päpstlichen Kanzlei bis zur Mitte des 11. Jahrh. published in 1888. BUT he clearly states that the original document is lost! 🧵
I am on the trail of my very own manuscript studies chortlemuffin (™️Drimmer). Everyone says that the last dated papal bull on papyrus was issued in 1057 but I cannot find a shelfmark or incipit or image or any supporting evidence for this statement. I will get to the bottom of it, I assure you.
The citation chain usually works like this:
-supposition stated as fact
-supposition with reference to reputable book from c.1930s
-reputable book from c.1930s with reference to Sir Edward Chortlemuffin, 1782
- Sir Edward Chortlemuffin, "here's an idea I'll fart out," 1782
/2
-supposition stated as fact
-supposition with reference to reputable book from c.1930s
-reputable book from c.1930s with reference to Sir Edward Chortlemuffin, 1782
- Sir Edward Chortlemuffin, "here's an idea I'll fart out," 1782
/2
January 4, 2026 at 3:52 AM
Got it! With MAJOR thanks to @benpohl.bsky.social and others. The original reference is to JL 4366, in H. Bresslau's Papyrus und Pergament in der päpstlichen Kanzlei bis zur Mitte des 11. Jahrh. published in 1888. BUT he clearly states that the original document is lost! 🧵
I am on the trail of my very own manuscript studies chortlemuffin (™️Drimmer). Everyone says that the last dated papal bull on papyrus was issued in 1057 but I cannot find a shelfmark or incipit or image or any supporting evidence for this statement. I will get to the bottom of it, I assure you.
The citation chain usually works like this:
-supposition stated as fact
-supposition with reference to reputable book from c.1930s
-reputable book from c.1930s with reference to Sir Edward Chortlemuffin, 1782
- Sir Edward Chortlemuffin, "here's an idea I'll fart out," 1782
/2
-supposition stated as fact
-supposition with reference to reputable book from c.1930s
-reputable book from c.1930s with reference to Sir Edward Chortlemuffin, 1782
- Sir Edward Chortlemuffin, "here's an idea I'll fart out," 1782
/2
January 3, 2026 at 9:48 PM
I am on the trail of my very own manuscript studies chortlemuffin (™️Drimmer). Everyone says that the last dated papal bull on papyrus was issued in 1057 but I cannot find a shelfmark or incipit or image or any supporting evidence for this statement. I will get to the bottom of it, I assure you.
In other #fragmentology news, here is this year's @fragmentarium.bsky.social resequencing project by my Simmons School of Library Science students: the Hours of St. Alexis! fragmentarium.ms/overview/F-2... 🧵
December 31, 2025 at 5:18 PM
In other #fragmentology news, here is this year's @fragmentarium.bsky.social resequencing project by my Simmons School of Library Science students: the Hours of St. Alexis! fragmentarium.ms/overview/F-2... 🧵
SO excited to see this! Lots of fragmentological goodness, including @lizhebbard.bsky.social 's survey of in situ binding fragments at Yale. I am thrilled to see my own study of two fragments of Augustine written by my old friend Gottschalk of Lambach! www.fragmentology.ms/issue/view/8...
December 31, 2025 at 2:50 PM
SO excited to see this! Lots of fragmentological goodness, including @lizhebbard.bsky.social 's survey of in situ binding fragments at Yale. I am thrilled to see my own study of two fragments of Augustine written by my old friend Gottschalk of Lambach! www.fragmentology.ms/issue/view/8...
Highly recommend!
As the year comes to an end, may I interest you in my favorite book of 2025? It's @adapalmer.bsky.social's Inventing the Renaissance: press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/bo...
You think you don't need a 700+ page romp through mostly Renaissance Italy, but you do.
You think you don't need a 700+ page romp through mostly Renaissance Italy, but you do.
Inventing the Renaissance
A New Yorker Best Book of 2025An irreverent new take on the Renaissance, which reveals it as anything but Europe’s golden age.From the darkness of a plagued and war-torn Middle Ages, the Renaissance (...
press.uchicago.edu
December 30, 2025 at 2:30 PM
Highly recommend!
BEAUVAIS MISSAL ALERT! I am so excited that @rarebookschool.bsky.social acquired this leaf! Here's its record in @fragmentarium.bsky.social , updated with the new location! Can't wait to use this for teaching in '26! fragmentarium.ms/overview/F-0...
December 24, 2025 at 5:29 PM
BEAUVAIS MISSAL ALERT! I am so excited that @rarebookschool.bsky.social acquired this leaf! Here's its record in @fragmentarium.bsky.social , updated with the new location! Can't wait to use this for teaching in '26! fragmentarium.ms/overview/F-0...
MAJOR congratulations to all of the contributors and editors of this issue of Speculum, commemorating one hundred years of the @medievalacademy.bsky.social journal! Dozens of short essays on the past, present, and future of Medieval Studies. It's SO good! www.journals.uchicago.edu/toc/spc/curr...
University of Chicago Press Journals: Cookie absent
www.journals.uchicago.edu
December 24, 2025 at 4:00 PM
MAJOR congratulations to all of the contributors and editors of this issue of Speculum, commemorating one hundred years of the @medievalacademy.bsky.social journal! Dozens of short essays on the past, present, and future of Medieval Studies. It's SO good! www.journals.uchicago.edu/toc/spc/curr...
Reposted by Lisa Fagin Davis
Interested in Greek Palaeography?
You might be interested in treating yourself to our short course with Dr Laura Franco 4-6 February.
Find out more and sign up here: buff.ly/XSr1Krk
#GreekPalaeography #ShortCourse
You might be interested in treating yourself to our short course with Dr Laura Franco 4-6 February.
Find out more and sign up here: buff.ly/XSr1Krk
#GreekPalaeography #ShortCourse
December 24, 2025 at 3:32 PM
Interested in Greek Palaeography?
You might be interested in treating yourself to our short course with Dr Laura Franco 4-6 February.
Find out more and sign up here: buff.ly/XSr1Krk
#GreekPalaeography #ShortCourse
You might be interested in treating yourself to our short course with Dr Laura Franco 4-6 February.
Find out more and sign up here: buff.ly/XSr1Krk
#GreekPalaeography #ShortCourse