On 14-15 November undergraduates in Dr. Scott Gwara’s course “Reading the Medieval Book” encountered more than forty medieval manuscripts at UNC’s Wilson Library and Ackland Art Museum, and at the Rubenstein Library on the Duke campus. Freshman Maggie Johnson wrote the following synopsis of the excursion.
![South Carolina Honors College Students Arrive at their "sister" school, UNC]()
South Carolina Honors College Students Arrive at their “sister” school, UNC
Our class trip to UNC Chapel Hill and Duke University gave fascinating insight into the types of medieval manuscripts. Although the collection here at USC is informative, seeing unique books both sacred and secular introduced a new dimension to medieval literature.
![USC Students Examining a Wycliffite New Testament in Middle English]()
USC Students Examining a Wycliffite New Testament in Middle English (MS 529)
UNC Chapel Hill has manuscripts in two locations: the Louis Round Wilson Special Collections Library and the Ackland Art Museum. The librarians of the Wilson Library were welcoming and are very much interested in the preservation of their collection, which includes a truly minuscule Middle English bible—perhaps three inches wide and four inches tall at the very most.
![USC Undergraduate Neil Sauter Examines Fragments of a Tours Bible, ca. 825]()
USC Undergraduate Neil Sauter Examines Fragments of a Tours Bible, ca. 825 (MS 526)
![Host Dr. Emily Kader Shows USC Undergraduate Kirkland Gray an Illuminated Psalter from St. Denis, ca. 1216]()
Host Dr. Emily Kader Shows USC Undergraduate Kirkland Gray an Illuminated
Psalter from St. Denis, ca. 1216 (MS 11)
![Illumination of Jonah and the Whale from the St. Denis Psalter, ca. 1216]()
Illumination of Jonah and the Whale from the St. Denis Psalter, ca. 1216 (MS 11)
Also notable in the Wilson Library collection is a tome of monastic vows, beginning in the Middle Ages and spanning hundreds of years up to and beyond the Revolutionary War.
![A Profession Dated 1777 from the Profession Book of Toussaints, Angers]()
A Profession Dated 1777 from the Profession Book of Toussaints, Angers (MS 534)
More focused on artwork than books themselves, the Ackland Art Museum has a collection of illuminations taken from various sources.
![Examining Manuscripts in the Prints Room at the Ackland Art Museum, UNC]()
Examining Manuscripts in the Prints Room at the Ackland Art Museum, UNC
Although there were several beautifully painted manuscripts, the most elaborate and interesting was a leaf taken from a gradual (a large medieval book of music for the Mass). The music itself would be beautiful to translate and perform, but the illuminations along the borders are far more attention-grabbing. They show three scenes from the Adoration of the Magi: two of travel and one of the Adoration itself. The border contains intricate featherwork in yellow and blue, with small creatures hidden amongst the swirls.
![The Magi Travel on Camels...]()
The Magi Travel on Camels…
![...and on Elephants]()
…and on Elephants
Also in the Ackland Museum are two leaves from different manuscripts depicting David in Penance, a popular illumination from the “Seven Penitential Psalms” section of medieval books of hours.
![David in Penance from the Chester Beatty Hours]()
David in Penance from the Chester Beatty Hours
