Dear all, now that the summer with potential holidays has arrived, I compiled a short list of books that will make great holiday reads for paper enthusiasts and manuscript people.
In English 66 Manuscripts from the Arnamagnæan Collection, edited by Matthew James Driscoll and Svanhildur Óskarsdóttir. Copenhagen, 2015. This coffee table book is a treasure trove of amazing illustrations and concise articles on noteworthy manuscripts in the Arnamagnæan Collections in Copenhagen and Reykjavík. It is available in Danish and Icelandic, too.
Bull‘s Head and Mermaid: The History of Paper and Watermarks from the Middle Ages to the Modern Period, edited by Peter Rückert et al. Stuttgart and Vienna, 2009. Created in connection with the Bernstein-project, this exhibition catalogue is a concise introduction to paper history with an abundance of information from various disciplines. Bonus points: it comes in German, Italian and Spanish as well.
Paper and the Paper Manuscript: A Context for the Transmission of Gaelic Literature, edited by Pádraig Ó Macháin. Cló Torna, 2019 Despite this book's title, you will get an excellent overview of Irish, Icelandic and English paper manuscripts, as well as learn about Gaelic bindings, Tibetan paper making and watermark capturing.
In German Sandra Schultz, Papierherstellung im deutschen Südwesten: Ein neues Gewerbe im späten Mittelalter. Berlin, 2018. Published in the series Material Text Cultures, this PhD dissertation describes the papermaking process and the history of paper mills in the South-West of the German speaking area in great detail. The bibliography is extensive, and the book is available for free in open access!
Daniel Bellingradt, Vernetzte Papiermärkte: Einblicke in den Amsterdamer Handel mit Papier im 18. Jahrhundert. Cologne, 2020. If you are interested in Dutch paper trade in the Early Modern period, or European paper trade in general, this book will provide you with useful information.
What are your holiday reads? Do you have some recommendations?
Enjoy the summer and see you after a short break again in September!
PS In case you already plan where to go next year, our conference Paper Stories will be held in Reykjavík 6-7 May 2021. The more, the merrier! https://papertrailsiceland.wixsite.com/papertrails/paperstories-2021
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