#british library – @ladykrampus on Tumblr

The Diamond Sutra

“All created things are like a dream, an illusion, a bubble, or a shadow like dew or like lightning you should view them like this.”

Over 1,100 years ago, on May 11, 868, a man named Wang Jie commissioned a woodblock-printed scroll of the Diamond Sutra, which records teachings of the Buddha. This sutra has the name “diamond” because it is said to be uniquely strong, cutting through delusion to reveal the ultimate truth.

An inscription on the 17½-foot-long scroll reveals: “Reverently made for universal free distribution by Wang Jie on behalf of his two parents.” Commissioning the reproduction of Buddhist paintings, sculptures, or texts was a way to obtain merit—good karma—for this life or next.

It’s on loan from the British Library for the Cave Temples of Dunhuang exhibition, which includes precious paintings, scrolls, and books from the so-called Library Cave of Dunhuang (Mogao).

#Diamond Sutra #CaveTemples #Dunhuang #British Library #history #China #Getty Research Institute #thegetty #11th #May #2016 #May 11th 2016 #make it look like i'm still on #most tags not mine #tags preserved for the commentary of the OP only #or index and search features of this blog

ladykrampus

The British Library Puts 1,000,000 Images into the Public Domain, Making Them Free to Reuse & Remix

goo.gl

Earlier this week, Oxford’s Bodleian Library announced that it had digitized a 550 year old copy of the Gutenberg Bible along with a number of other ancient bibles, some of them quite beautiful. Not to be outdone, the British Library came out with its own announcement on Thursday:

We have released over a million images onto Flickr Commons for anyone to use, remix and repurpose. These images were taken from the pages of 17th, 18th and 19th century books digitised by Microsoft who then generously gifted the scanned images to us, allowing us to release them back into the Public Domain. The images themselves cover a startling mix of subjects: There are maps, geological diagrams, beautiful illustrations, comical satire, illuminated and decorative letters, colourful illustrations, landscapes, wall-paintings and so much more that even we are not aware of.

The librarians behind the project freely admit that they don’t exactly have a great handle on the images in the collection. They know what books the images come from. (For example, the image above comes from Historia de las Indias de Nueva-España y islas de Tierra Firme, 1867.) But they don’t know much about the particulars of each visual. And so they’re turning to crowdsourcing for answers. In fairly short order, the Library plans to release tools that will let willing participants gather information and deepen our understanding of everything in the Flickr Commons collection.

You can jump into the entire collection here, or view a set of highlights here. The latter happens to include a curious image. (See below.) It’s from an 1894 book called The United States of America. A study of the American Commonwealth, its natural resources, people, industries, manufactures, commerce, and its work in literature, science, education and self-government. And the picture features, according to the text, a “Typical figure, showing tendency of student life–stooping head, flat chest, and emaciated limbs.” It’s hard to know what to say about that.

#Bodleian Library #British Library #Public Domain Works

ladykrampus reblogged

myimaginarybrooklyn

bit.ly

To mark the 200th year anniversary of the first publication of Pride and Prejudice we [The British Library] are holding a full day conference on the 28 June. The day features writing, dance and drama workshops as well as talks from academics and curators.

Source: bit.ly

#writers #books #lit #conference #british library #jane austen #pride and prejudice #book covers #history #queue

ladykrampus reblogged

jothelibrarian

Pretty medieval manuscript of the day is a lovely Parisian book of hours known as the Hours of René d’Anjou. The miniatures depict the adoration of the magi, and St Sylvester; the margin is illustrated with foliage which is carried by angels. Isn’t it beautiful? It dates from the fifteenth century. I think the scribal hand is quite stunning.

Like many high status manuscripts, this book has had an interesting life. It is thought to have been created for a member of the Anjou family around 1410. The British Library catalogue record indicates that it is uncertain who the original owner/patron was. However the arms and motto of René d’Anjou (1409-1480), King of Naples, have been added in several places, indicating that it fell into his hands. Later, it ended up in the hands of George Strangways, Archdeacon of Coventry and chaplain to the King of England. He presented it as a gift to Henry VII (1457-1509). By the mid seventeenth century it was in Krakow in the library of the city’s Jesuit College, presumably having been sold/removed from England following the Reformation. Eventually, after a few more twists and turns, the book was purchased in 1844 by the British Museum for the library (now the British Library)

Image source: British Library MS Egerton 1070. Image declared as public domain on the British Library website.

#history #books of hours #religious art #christian art #life of christ #adoration of the magi #christmas #middle ages #medieval #art #medieval art #illuminated manuscripts #manuscript art #british library #provenance #stockpiled post

ladykrampus reblogged

theossuary

A few weeks ago I heard this story on NPR about the St. Cuthbert Gospel, Europe’s oldest intact book, which the British Library recently paid $14 million to acquire.

The book is thought to date from seventh-century England and is in astonishingly good condition. This may be due to the fact that for four of its many centuries the book was not in anyone’s hands, but rather tucked away inside the coffin of Saint Cuthbert. From Wikipedia:

The book takes its name from Saint Cuthbert of Lindisfarne, North East England, in whose tomb it was placed, probably a few years after his death in 687. Although it was long regarded as Cuthbert’s personal copy of the Gospel, to which there are early references, and so a relic of the saint, the book is now thought to date from shortly after Cuthbert’s death. It was probably a gift from Monkwearmouth-Jarrow Abbey, where it was written, intended to be placed in St Cuthbert’s coffin when his remains were placed behind the altar at Lindisfarne in 698. It presumably remained in the coffin through its long travels after 875, forced by Viking invasions, ending at Durham Cathedral. The book was found inside the coffin and removed in 1104 when the burial was once again moved within the cathedral. It was kept there with other relics, and important visitors were able to wear the book in a leather bag around their necks.

Image: Miniature from Bede’s Prose Life of St Cuthbert (late 12th century), depicting the discovery of St. Cuthbert’s incorrupt corpse, via Wikipedia.

#books #history #medieval #npr #posthumous #rare books #saint cuthbert #saintly #st cuthbert #libraries #british library #queued