How AI could reveal secrets of thousands of handwritten documents – from medieval manuscripts to hieroglyphics: Have you ever struggled to read what that scrawl between “carrots” and “potatoes” is on your shopping list? Soon, artificial intelligence (AI) may be able to help. Over the last ten years, researchers have gradually been working out how …
Why medieval manuscripts are full of doodles of snail fights: Battle in the margins from the Gorleston Psalter (1310-1324). British Library The doodles found in the margins of very old manuscripts are often just as interesting as the content of the manuscripts themselves. One such example is the frequently recurring – and extremely odd – …
Cats in the middle ages: what medieval manuscripts teach us about our ancestors’ pets: Cat king, Germany, circa 1450. Scheibler’sches Wappenbuch – BSB Cod.icon. 312c Cats had a bad reputation in the middle ages. Their presumed links with paganism and witchcraft meant they were often treated with suspicion. But despite their association with the supernatural, …
Why so many medieval manuscripts feature doodles – and what they reveal: a drawing of the Italian poet and court writer Christine de Pizan writing. BNF Archives, CC BY-SA To “doodle” means to draw or scrawl aimlessly, and the history of the word goes back to the early 20th century. Scribbling haphazard words, squiggly lines …
Timbuktu manuscripts placed online are only a sliver of West Africa’s ancient archive: MICHELE CATTANI/AFP via Getty Images The ancient Timbuktu manuscripts of Mali were back in the headlines following internet giant Google’s initiative to host a collection of them at an online gallery. The images of the documents, text in Arabic, can be found …
Dead Sea Scrolls: two scribes probably wrote one of the manuscripts: Shutterstock/Lerner Vadim Ever since the Dead Sea Scrolls were accidentally discovered over 70 years ago in a cave in Israel, they have been a source of fascination. The scrolls are famous for containing the oldest manuscripts of the Hebrew Bible. But exactly who wrote …
Check out this Paternoster image: Image from page 5 of “The key to the family deed chest : how to decipher and study old documents : being a guide to the reading of ancient manuscripts” (1893) Image by Internet Archive Book Images Identifier: keytofamilydeedc00thoy Title: The key to the family deed chest : how to …
SCM About Music: Manuscripts and Music: the Sydney Spanish Liturgical Chant Manuscript Collection – a Music interest event taking place on 2016-10-10 17:00:00 in Australia You are invited to an Sydney Conservatorium of Music About Music Lecture given by Jane Hardie (University of Sydney). Over the last ten years Sydney University has been building a collection …