yeah. that happened.
Jul. 15th, 2011 04:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bedlamsbardSO TODAY I GOT TO TOUCH SOMETHING THAT WAS A THOUSAND YEARS OLD.
We had a tour of the Parker Library today, which is this amazing collection of medieval and early modern manuscripts collected by Matthew Parker, who was Archbishop of Canterbury and Master of Corpus Christi College, not at the same time, in the sixteenth century. There's a Roman law conference going on this weekend, so the books on display were various things connected with law. Like the seventeen fragments of the Codex Gregorianus found in 2010. And the accounts from Thomas Cranmer's imprisonment in the Tower. And the account of Jean d'Arc's execution, including her appeal in English. And various Magna Cartas. YEAH. I SAW THAT.
And the librarian had put out about four books that we could look at. AND TOUCH. Without gloves or anything. It was sort of shocking. I TOUCHED SOMETHING THAT BELONGED TO THOMAS A BECKET. AND LETTERS FROM ANNE BOLEYN AND MARTIN LUTHER. AND ALFRED THE GREAT'S TRANSLATION OF DE CURA PASTORALI (yes, the one glossed by the Tremulous Hand of Worcester). AND I SAW THE EARLIEST KNOWN DEPICTION OF STONEHENGE FROM THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY.
I think it is fair to say that I flipped the fuck out. So did the girl whose specialty is Anglo-Saxon lit. We aren't all archaeologists here.
The entirety of the Parker Library is also available online here, if you're interested in that sort of thing.
I kind of want to e-mail all my professors and freak out at them, but I shall restrain myself.
Yesterday we went to dinner at Formal Hall! Which I guess wasn't a proper Formal Hall because there were no fellows at the high table and no Latin graces (or grace at all) at the beginning, but we had to dress up and were fed and there was wine (no pennying, though), and then after dinner we were allowed to retire to the junior combining room for port. Unless it was the senior combining room. I don't know, it was the one directly behind the dining hall, where we were watched over by the watchful eyes of Christopher Marlowe. Er, his portrait, not his ghost, or at least I assume his ghost wasn't there. I ended up leaving early to walk a friend back to Newnham House, since she was feeling ill. Which was fine; unlike everyone else in my program, I got enough sleep last night.
I have, however, still been unable to find any used copies whatsoever of Falco. *sighs* Despite going to somewhere around six or seven used bookshops in Cambridge.
We had a tour of the Parker Library today, which is this amazing collection of medieval and early modern manuscripts collected by Matthew Parker, who was Archbishop of Canterbury and Master of Corpus Christi College, not at the same time, in the sixteenth century. There's a Roman law conference going on this weekend, so the books on display were various things connected with law. Like the seventeen fragments of the Codex Gregorianus found in 2010. And the accounts from Thomas Cranmer's imprisonment in the Tower. And the account of Jean d'Arc's execution, including her appeal in English. And various Magna Cartas. YEAH. I SAW THAT.
And the librarian had put out about four books that we could look at. AND TOUCH. Without gloves or anything. It was sort of shocking. I TOUCHED SOMETHING THAT BELONGED TO THOMAS A BECKET. AND LETTERS FROM ANNE BOLEYN AND MARTIN LUTHER. AND ALFRED THE GREAT'S TRANSLATION OF DE CURA PASTORALI (yes, the one glossed by the Tremulous Hand of Worcester). AND I SAW THE EARLIEST KNOWN DEPICTION OF STONEHENGE FROM THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY.
I think it is fair to say that I flipped the fuck out. So did the girl whose specialty is Anglo-Saxon lit. We aren't all archaeologists here.
The entirety of the Parker Library is also available online here, if you're interested in that sort of thing.
I kind of want to e-mail all my professors and freak out at them, but I shall restrain myself.
Yesterday we went to dinner at Formal Hall! Which I guess wasn't a proper Formal Hall because there were no fellows at the high table and no Latin graces (or grace at all) at the beginning, but we had to dress up and were fed and there was wine (no pennying, though), and then after dinner we were allowed to retire to the junior combining room for port. Unless it was the senior combining room. I don't know, it was the one directly behind the dining hall, where we were watched over by the watchful eyes of Christopher Marlowe. Er, his portrait, not his ghost, or at least I assume his ghost wasn't there. I ended up leaving early to walk a friend back to Newnham House, since she was feeling ill. Which was fine; unlike everyone else in my program, I got enough sleep last night.
I have, however, still been unable to find any used copies whatsoever of Falco. *sighs* Despite going to somewhere around six or seven used bookshops in Cambridge.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-07-15 05:32 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-07-15 06:37 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-07-15 09:35 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-07-16 05:06 am (UTC)SO VERY COOL. EEEEEEEEEEEEEE.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-07-16 09:30 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-07-16 09:33 pm (UTC)