In 2019, scholars from the University Library of Cambridge discovered an extremely rare 750-year-old text about King Arthur hiding in a simple sight. In the conjunction of the 16th-century real estate records, fragments of fragile manuscripts were reused, making it nearly impossible to study medieval text without demolishing and certainly damaging the cover of the record. Nearly impossible – but not entirely.
Interdisciplinary teams of scholars from the University of Cambridge use a variety of advanced imaging techniques to create bound virtual copies, allowing them to expand rare text digitally without damaging their or property records. This groundbreaking approach also preserves artifacts, as an example of the 16th-century archival binding practice, which is “a history in itself”, Irène Fabry-Tehranchi introduced the project in Irène Fabry-Tehranchi, a French expert at the library and academic contact at the University of Cambridge.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpl2jyzmi5c
In addition to common tools such as mirrors, magnets, and prisms, Fabry-Tehranchi and her colleagues also used cutting-edge imaging techniques to capture every aspect of the folded clip, making the text more readable and creating a highly detailed 3D model to understand the workpiece structure that doesn’t need to be disassembled. Hundreds of images are then pieced together like a puzzle to create a digital version of the cover that researchers can now unfold and study them as if they have something real.
“If this was done 30 years ago, the fragment might have been cut, unfolded and flattened. But today, keeping it in place can give us a crucial insight into the 16th-century archival practice and access to the medieval story itself,” Fabry-Tehranchi said. “First think that this is a 14th-century story about Sir Govin, but further investigations show that it is part of the ancient French Folget Melin sequel, a different and extremely important King Arthurian writing.”
The medieval legends of King Arthur, Queen Gineville, Sir Lancelot, the magician Merlin and the pursuit of the Holy Grail have been written, copied, read, performed, studied, studied and produced countless versions for hundreds of years, perhaps a thousand years. this Vulgate cyclealso known as Lancelot-Grail loopis such a version in the old French.
It was written in the first half of the 13th century and tells the legendary figure of King Arthur in a huge five-part epic prose. The clip found at the University of Cambridge Library comes from Suite Vulgate du Merlinpart Vulgate cycle This tells the story of what happened after King Arthur’s coronation. A passage in the clip tells the victory of Christianity in defeating the Saxons in the Battle of Cambinik, involving the Knight Gavin (also Govin), who uses his excalibur sword. Another disguised Merlin appears in the court of King Arthur at the feast of Pirgin Mary. This is the English translation:
When they rejoice at the feast, Seneschal Kay brought the first dish to King Arthur and Queen Guinevere, reaching the handsomest man ever on Christian land. He shines in a silk top with silk harnesses decorated with gold and gemstones, illuminating the room.
Less than 40 copies Suite Vulgate du Merlin Texts known to scholars, and because medieval scribes copied them manually, each text is a unique version. For example, the decorative red and blue abbreviation found at the University Library of Cambridge. Based on this and other functions, the researchers believe that the text was written between 1275 and 1315.
But, “This project is not only about unlocking a text, but also about developing methods that can be used in other manuscripts,” Fabry-Tehranchi concluded. “Libraries and archives around the world face similar challenges, with these fragments embedded in binding, and our approach provides models for non-invasive access and research. ”
One person’s garbage (or book constraints) can indeed be another person’s treasure, even after 750 years.
