Eric J. Johnson
@ejjohnson.bsky.social
Professor & Head of Thompson Special Collections, Ohio State University / Curator of Rare Books & Manuscripts / Medieval MSS nerd / Fragmentology / walking / puro RGV, y que
New acquisition just in time for today: 1st ed. of the works of St. Patrick, edited by Sir James Ware (1594-1666), London: John Crook, 1656, w/ Patrick's Confessio & Epistola to the soldiers of Coroticus & the canons of the Synodis Patricia and various other synodal decrees Happy St. Patrick's Day!
March 17, 2025 at 5:07 PM
New acquisition just in time for today: 1st ed. of the works of St. Patrick, edited by Sir James Ware (1594-1666), London: John Crook, 1656, w/ Patrick's Confessio & Epistola to the soldiers of Coroticus & the canons of the Synodis Patricia and various other synodal decrees Happy St. Patrick's Day!
The MS was rebound for Lagerfelt by the Gothenburg bookbinder Otto Schoultz. At some point, red tabs were added to the foredge of many pages to mark textual divisions throughout the codex. So much more work to be done on this lively--and significant--manuscript! 6/6
March 12, 2025 at 3:34 PM
The MS was rebound for Lagerfelt by the Gothenburg bookbinder Otto Schoultz. At some point, red tabs were added to the foredge of many pages to mark textual divisions throughout the codex. So much more work to be done on this lively--and significant--manuscript! 6/6
The manuscript has a long & distinguished provenance, with medieval ownership by the Carthusian monastery of St. Barbara in Cologne; the 18th-century rare book dealer Johann Matthias Heberle; Leander van Ess; Sir Thomas Phillipps (his MS 661); dealer Paul Gottschalk; & Adolf Lagerfelt. 5/6
March 12, 2025 at 3:34 PM
The manuscript has a long & distinguished provenance, with medieval ownership by the Carthusian monastery of St. Barbara in Cologne; the 18th-century rare book dealer Johann Matthias Heberle; Leander van Ess; Sir Thomas Phillipps (his MS 661); dealer Paul Gottschalk; & Adolf Lagerfelt. 5/6
Odd additions such as a short list of the Electors of Germany, occasional lines in Middle Low German, the Epistola Luciferi (attr. here to Nicole Oresme, but prob. by Pierre Ceffons), & von Langenstein's letter to Eberhard von Yppelbrunn, the Deacon of Mainz. 4/6
March 12, 2025 at 3:34 PM
Odd additions such as a short list of the Electors of Germany, occasional lines in Middle Low German, the Epistola Luciferi (attr. here to Nicole Oresme, but prob. by Pierre Ceffons), & von Langenstein's letter to Eberhard von Yppelbrunn, the Deacon of Mainz. 4/6
Confessional treatises by Johannes Nider & Heinrich von Langenstein, excerpts from the works of Bernard of Clairvaux, St. Augustine, Caesarius of Heisterbach, Thomas Aquinas... 3/6
March 12, 2025 at 3:34 PM
Confessional treatises by Johannes Nider & Heinrich von Langenstein, excerpts from the works of Bernard of Clairvaux, St. Augustine, Caesarius of Heisterbach, Thomas Aquinas... 3/6
A confessional manual focusing on the deadly sins, with schematic trees and diagrams outlining each sin and it's offshoots and remedies 2/6
March 12, 2025 at 3:34 PM
A confessional manual focusing on the deadly sins, with schematic trees and diagrams outlining each sin and it's offshoots and remedies 2/6
Excited to introduce the first of our two newest #MedievalManuscript codices at Ohio State: Fantastic mid-15th century pastoral miscellany, complete w/ a dazzling illustration of the Scarlet Beast of the Apocalypse! We're still determining the complete contents of the thick MS, but included are: 1/6
March 12, 2025 at 3:34 PM
Excited to introduce the first of our two newest #MedievalManuscript codices at Ohio State: Fantastic mid-15th century pastoral miscellany, complete w/ a dazzling illustration of the Scarlet Beast of the Apocalypse! We're still determining the complete contents of the thick MS, but included are: 1/6
This was not a sign we needed when I first got to Ohio State and started figuring out how to grow our #MedievalManuscripts collection. A fun concern we now deal with...
March 6, 2025 at 2:29 PM
This was not a sign we needed when I first got to Ohio State and started figuring out how to grow our #MedievalManuscripts collection. A fun concern we now deal with...
Superb #ManuscriptFragment at Ohio State: an 11th-century Italian Homiliary, w/ sermon on Luke 5:17-26 on Jesus's miraculous cures, w/ a lovely decorated initial "D". Previously owned by Bernard Rosenthal &, later, Martin Schøyen. #fragmentology Spec.Rare.MS.MR.Frag.472 #MedievalManuscripts
February 28, 2025 at 4:15 PM
Superb #ManuscriptFragment at Ohio State: an 11th-century Italian Homiliary, w/ sermon on Luke 5:17-26 on Jesus's miraculous cures, w/ a lovely decorated initial "D". Previously owned by Bernard Rosenthal &, later, Martin Schøyen. #fragmentology Spec.Rare.MS.MR.Frag.472 #MedievalManuscripts
One of my favorite #ManuscriptFragments in Ohio State's collection: bifolium once recycled as a pastedown w/ text from Adam of Aldersbach's Summula Pauperum, ca. 1300, w/ glosses in multiple hands covering topics like menstruation, wives, the status of priests and sacraments ##fragmentology
February 27, 2025 at 5:40 PM
One of my favorite #ManuscriptFragments in Ohio State's collection: bifolium once recycled as a pastedown w/ text from Adam of Aldersbach's Summula Pauperum, ca. 1300, w/ glosses in multiple hands covering topics like menstruation, wives, the status of priests and sacraments ##fragmentology
Just finished teaching about Don Quixote & printing through the centuries, including great stuff from OSU's collections, from our 1605 edition, to modern children's adaptations, 19th- & 20th-century trade ephemera, and one of my favorite items: the 2005 Quechua edition set in the Andes. Fun time!
February 25, 2025 at 9:11 PM
Just finished teaching about Don Quixote & printing through the centuries, including great stuff from OSU's collections, from our 1605 edition, to modern children's adaptations, 19th- & 20th-century trade ephemera, and one of my favorite items: the 2005 Quechua edition set in the Andes. Fun time!
Another new #ManuscriptFragment just acquired by Ohio State: folio from the late-13th century Peter Lombard MS I posted about earlier, this one w/ text from Bk. IV, Dist. 14-15. I love the informal beastie faces added to descenders at the bottom of the text block. #fragmentology #MedievalManuscripts
February 25, 2025 at 3:29 PM
Another new #ManuscriptFragment just acquired by Ohio State: folio from the late-13th century Peter Lombard MS I posted about earlier, this one w/ text from Bk. IV, Dist. 14-15. I love the informal beastie faces added to descenders at the bottom of the text block. #fragmentology #MedievalManuscripts
Newest #ManuscriptFragment at Ohio State: folio, once recycled as a binding fragment, from John of Bologna's Quaestiones de Anima Humana, produced in Italy, 14th century. The leaf once belonged to the famous bibliographer, A. N. L. Munby #fragmentology #MedievalManuscript Spec.Rare.MS.MR.524
February 25, 2025 at 3:40 AM
Newest #ManuscriptFragment at Ohio State: folio, once recycled as a binding fragment, from John of Bologna's Quaestiones de Anima Humana, produced in Italy, 14th century. The leaf once belonged to the famous bibliographer, A. N. L. Munby #fragmentology #MedievalManuscript Spec.Rare.MS.MR.524
Pop-up exhibition of travel and exploration materials at my library to correspond with today's Ohio State Center for Medieval & Renaissance Studies symposium on the maritime humanities. From cartography and pilgrimage, to legal statutes, navigational aids, and pirates!
February 21, 2025 at 1:50 PM
Pop-up exhibition of travel and exploration materials at my library to correspond with today's Ohio State Center for Medieval & Renaissance Studies symposium on the maritime humanities. From cartography and pilgrimage, to legal statutes, navigational aids, and pirates!
Discovered this in the stacks last week; it was acquired in 1989 but never catalogued: Sebastian Münster's 16thC "Die neuwen inseln...", the first map to show the Americas in their (approximately) true continental forms (& the 1st printed map to show Japan--immediately to the left of North America).
February 19, 2025 at 5:57 PM
Discovered this in the stacks last week; it was acquired in 1989 but never catalogued: Sebastian Münster's 16thC "Die neuwen inseln...", the first map to show the Americas in their (approximately) true continental forms (& the 1st printed map to show Japan--immediately to the left of North America).
Yet another new #OttoEge #ManuscriptFragment find in a private Ohio collection: leaf from a lectern Bible (HL 44) produced in Germany or Bohemia, 1507; text from IV (II) Kings 11:18-13:14. Ege incorporated sister leaves as MS 44 in his famous 50 Original Leaves portfolio. #fragmentology
February 18, 2025 at 3:36 PM
Yet another new #OttoEge #ManuscriptFragment find in a private Ohio collection: leaf from a lectern Bible (HL 44) produced in Germany or Bohemia, 1507; text from IV (II) Kings 11:18-13:14. Ege incorporated sister leaves as MS 44 in his famous 50 Original Leaves portfolio. #fragmentology
Another new Otto Ege #MedievalManuscript find in a private Ohio collection: leaf from an Italian pocket Bible (HL 11), one of the MSS included in the Fifty Original Leaves portfolio. Text = Isaiah 43:13-44:19. #fragmentology #ManuscriptFragment #OttoEge
February 12, 2025 at 3:08 PM
Another new Otto Ege #MedievalManuscript find in a private Ohio collection: leaf from an Italian pocket Bible (HL 11), one of the MSS included in the Fifty Original Leaves portfolio. Text = Isaiah 43:13-44:19. #fragmentology #ManuscriptFragment #OttoEge
Inspired by a research request today, here are OSU's 2 folios from the so-called Breviary of Bertrand de Chalençon, Bishop of Rodez from 1457-1495. Later owned by Louis de Rochebaron, Duke of Aumont (1709-82). #ManuscriptFragment #BookHistory #fragmentology #provenance #MedievalManuscripts
February 10, 2025 at 7:21 PM
Inspired by a research request today, here are OSU's 2 folios from the so-called Breviary of Bertrand de Chalençon, Bishop of Rodez from 1457-1495. Later owned by Louis de Rochebaron, Duke of Aumont (1709-82). #ManuscriptFragment #BookHistory #fragmentology #provenance #MedievalManuscripts
New add to Ohio State RBML's collection: #ManuscriptFragment from a late-15th century Rouen Book of Hours w/ text from the end of Matins & opening of Lauds w/ an illumination of the marriage of Mary & Joseph. Nifty bird in the margins, too. #MedievalManuscript #fragmentology Spec.Rare.MS.MR.Frag.509
February 6, 2025 at 5:56 PM
New add to Ohio State RBML's collection: #ManuscriptFragment from a late-15th century Rouen Book of Hours w/ text from the end of Matins & opening of Lauds w/ an illumination of the marriage of Mary & Joseph. Nifty bird in the margins, too. #MedievalManuscript #fragmentology Spec.Rare.MS.MR.Frag.509
Nice #ManuscriptFragment find in Ohio: leaf from a ca. 1300 copy of De Judiciis Astrologiae by the 11th-century Tunisian astrologer Haly Abenragel (Abu I-Hasan Ali ibn Abi I-Rijal). The leaf was recycled as a binding support in a later, now unknown, book. #fragmentology #MedievalScience
January 27, 2025 at 5:10 PM
Nice #ManuscriptFragment find in Ohio: leaf from a ca. 1300 copy of De Judiciis Astrologiae by the 11th-century Tunisian astrologer Haly Abenragel (Abu I-Hasan Ali ibn Abi I-Rijal). The leaf was recycled as a binding support in a later, now unknown, book. #fragmentology #MedievalScience
Yesterday's program on the Luxeuil Prophets #ManuscriptFragment attended by over 45 people--including the leaf's owner--was such a success, and our student presenter, Jessica Crabtree, did such a good job that the fragment's owner donated this early-8th century treasure to Ohio State on the spot!
January 24, 2025 at 3:21 PM
Yesterday's program on the Luxeuil Prophets #ManuscriptFragment attended by over 45 people--including the leaf's owner--was such a success, and our student presenter, Jessica Crabtree, did such a good job that the fragment's owner donated this early-8th century treasure to Ohio State on the spot!
If you're in Columbus today: Join us for a special lecture by OSU grad student Jessica Crabtree, "An 8th-Century Manuscript in Ohio: Examining the Daniel Fragment of the Luxeuil Prophets," focusing on a superb #ManuscriptFragment loaned to us last fall for use in our Manuscript Studies course.
January 23, 2025 at 2:24 PM
If you're in Columbus today: Join us for a special lecture by OSU grad student Jessica Crabtree, "An 8th-Century Manuscript in Ohio: Examining the Daniel Fragment of the Luxeuil Prophets," focusing on a superb #ManuscriptFragment loaned to us last fall for use in our Manuscript Studies course.
Exciting pair of fols. from a German Choir Psalter produced for use at St. Stephen's Abbey in Würzburg in 1499 by the scribe Mattheus Hartung, w/ 19thC ownership by Leander van Ess & Sir Thomas Phillipps, & later broken by Otto Ege (HL 42). #fragmentology #MedievalManuscripts #ManuscriptFragments
January 21, 2025 at 5:23 PM
Exciting pair of fols. from a German Choir Psalter produced for use at St. Stephen's Abbey in Würzburg in 1499 by the scribe Mattheus Hartung, w/ 19thC ownership by Leander van Ess & Sir Thomas Phillipps, & later broken by Otto Ege (HL 42). #fragmentology #MedievalManuscripts #ManuscriptFragments
First trip across the harbor and nabbed this image of the Vancouver skyline with a lovely, cloud-distorted sun overhead.
January 15, 2025 at 8:13 AM
First trip across the harbor and nabbed this image of the Vancouver skyline with a lovely, cloud-distorted sun overhead.
Another recent NE Ohio #ManuscriptFragment find: leaf from an illuminated pocket Bible, Paris, ca. 1250, broken by Bruce Ferrini & associates in the early 1980s, this leaf w/ Mark 15:21-16:20 & the prologue text for Luke, w/ a pair of lovely inhabited initials. #fragmentology #MedievalManuscripts
January 8, 2025 at 8:02 PM
Another recent NE Ohio #ManuscriptFragment find: leaf from an illuminated pocket Bible, Paris, ca. 1250, broken by Bruce Ferrini & associates in the early 1980s, this leaf w/ Mark 15:21-16:20 & the prologue text for Luke, w/ a pair of lovely inhabited initials. #fragmentology #MedievalManuscripts