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
And then there was that time when Frederick II of Italy apparently decided that Beneventan script was illegible and decreed it couldn't be used in official documents...
February 6, 2026 at 1:52 PM
And then there was that time when Frederick II of Italy apparently decided that Beneventan script was illegible and decreed it couldn't be used in official documents...
Latin: Whether it's New Roman Cursive or Visigothic or Gothic Quadrata or Aquinas' own handwriting, we start with the same fundamental question: "WTAF?" [this is Aquinas, in case you were wondering]
February 6, 2026 at 1:44 PM
Latin: Whether it's New Roman Cursive or Visigothic or Gothic Quadrata or Aquinas' own handwriting, we start with the same fundamental question: "WTAF?" [this is Aquinas, in case you were wondering]
Arabic: Ibn-Muqla, who developed the six post-kufic script types, was called "a prophet in the field
of calligraphy" & his letters were often compared to flowers. [this is a later ms explaining Muqla's rhomboid system for composing letters of correct proportions] iiif.lib.harvard.edu/manifests/vi...
of calligraphy" & his letters were often compared to flowers. [this is a later ms explaining Muqla's rhomboid system for composing letters of correct proportions] iiif.lib.harvard.edu/manifests/vi...
February 6, 2026 at 1:44 PM
Arabic: Ibn-Muqla, who developed the six post-kufic script types, was called "a prophet in the field
of calligraphy" & his letters were often compared to flowers. [this is a later ms explaining Muqla's rhomboid system for composing letters of correct proportions] iiif.lib.harvard.edu/manifests/vi...
of calligraphy" & his letters were often compared to flowers. [this is a later ms explaining Muqla's rhomboid system for composing letters of correct proportions] iiif.lib.harvard.edu/manifests/vi...
Hebrew: Judah Ibn Tibbon, 13th c: “Hast thou not seen R. Shesheth’s son, a boy of twelve, whose writing so resembles that of his teacher…that the scripts are indistinguishable? ...with attention, intelligence, and practice, anyone can imitate his model." [this is the Sarajevo Haggadah]
February 6, 2026 at 1:44 PM
Hebrew: Judah Ibn Tibbon, 13th c: “Hast thou not seen R. Shesheth’s son, a boy of twelve, whose writing so resembles that of his teacher…that the scripts are indistinguishable? ...with attention, intelligence, and practice, anyone can imitate his model." [this is the Sarajevo Haggadah]
So excited about @imc-leeds.bsky.social! Find me at the @medievalacademy.bsky.social plenary (Fiona Griffiths!) Tues. evening (free wine after!); chairing the awesome @digitalmedievalist.bsky.social #DH panel Wed.; & presenting NEW #Voynich research, also on Wed. (data + codicology + paleography)!
January 28, 2026 at 2:03 PM
So excited about @imc-leeds.bsky.social! Find me at the @medievalacademy.bsky.social plenary (Fiona Griffiths!) Tues. evening (free wine after!); chairing the awesome @digitalmedievalist.bsky.social #DH panel Wed.; & presenting NEW #Voynich research, also on Wed. (data + codicology + paleography)!
Here's my daughter's dog Walter in Philly! (posted with permission)
January 26, 2026 at 3:22 PM
Here's my daughter's dog Walter in Philly! (posted with permission)
January 25, 2026 at 4:55 PM
And are we all aware that Jane Krakowski originated the role of Dinah in the Broadway production?
January 24, 2026 at 2:25 PM
And are we all aware that Jane Krakowski originated the role of Dinah in the Broadway production?
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...
There were forty of these boxes, & thirty-two have been located. Each is filled with fifty leaves, one from each of the same fifty manuscripts dating from the 12th to the 15th c. This means that without trying very hard, we can find 32 leaves from each of these 50 manuscripts!
January 13, 2026 at 7:50 PM
There were forty of these boxes, & thirty-two have been located. Each is filled with fifty leaves, one from each of the same fifty manuscripts dating from the 12th to the 15th c. This means that without trying very hard, we can find 32 leaves from each of these 50 manuscripts!
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.
NO ONE can read Aquinas' scrawl!
January 7, 2026 at 5:19 PM
NO ONE can read Aquinas' scrawl!
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!
Finally, Capricorn = Jacob cooking lamb for Isaac on his deathbed ('cause it's a lamb, get it?)
January 6, 2026 at 4:55 PM
Finally, Capricorn = Jacob cooking lamb for Isaac on his deathbed ('cause it's a lamb, get it?)
Side quest: Usually, for Sagittarius, we get David's son Absalom stuck by his hair in a tree as he is shot with an arrow by Joab-as-a-Centaur. Just go with it. Here's that scene in three related manuscripts:
January 6, 2026 at 4:55 PM
Side quest: Usually, for Sagittarius, we get David's son Absalom stuck by his hair in a tree as he is shot with an arrow by Joab-as-a-Centaur. Just go with it. Here's that scene in three related manuscripts:
Sagittarius = St. Katherine with her wheel (why? because her feastday is shown on that page, nothing to do with Sagittarius really)
January 6, 2026 at 4:55 PM
Sagittarius = St. Katherine with her wheel (why? because her feastday is shown on that page, nothing to do with Sagittarius really)
Scorpio = Pharoah's Armies drowning in the Red Sea ('cause there were scorpions in the water, even though we can't see them we know they're there)
January 6, 2026 at 4:55 PM
Scorpio = Pharoah's Armies drowning in the Red Sea ('cause there were scorpions in the water, even though we can't see them we know they're there)
Libra = Christ and the Money-lenders ('cause they needed a scale to weigh the coins, we can't see it but we know it's there)
January 6, 2026 at 4:55 PM
Libra = Christ and the Money-lenders ('cause they needed a scale to weigh the coins, we can't see it but we know it's there)
Virgo = The Virgin Mary (obviously)
January 6, 2026 at 4:55 PM
Virgo = The Virgin Mary (obviously)
Leo = Daniel in the Lions' Den (obviously)
January 6, 2026 at 4:55 PM
Leo = Daniel in the Lions' Den (obviously)
Cancer = Job on the Dung Heap (because there were critters crawling all over him, get it?!)
January 6, 2026 at 4:55 PM
Cancer = Job on the Dung Heap (because there were critters crawling all over him, get it?!)
Gemini = Adam and Eve
January 6, 2026 at 4:55 PM
Gemini = Adam and Eve
Taurus = Noah and the Ark ('cause there was a bull on the ark, even though you can't see it we know it's there)
January 6, 2026 at 4:55 PM
Taurus = Noah and the Ark ('cause there was a bull on the ark, even though you can't see it we know it's there)
Aries = The Sacrific of Isaac ('cause there's a ram, get it?!)
January 6, 2026 at 4:55 PM
Aries = The Sacrific of Isaac ('cause there's a ram, get it?!)
Pisces = Jonah and the Whale:
January 6, 2026 at 4:55 PM
Pisces = Jonah and the Whale: