At the beginning of the thirteenth century a new type of Bible emerged from Paris and southern England and spread rapidly throughout Western Europe.  Innovations in script and parchment enabled the creation of single volume Bibles, some of which could easily fit a modern pocket; other features, such as the modern chapter division, introduced unprecedented ease of usage.  These Bibles became the template for Gutenberg’s celebrated 42-line version and have had an influence on printed Bibles ever since. Today, hundreds of these manuscripts survive, bearing witness to one of the most popular books of the Middle Ages.  The ubiquity of these Bibles has only recently been met by scholarly interest, and questions remain regarding their evolution as well as their place within the medieval university, pulpit and priory.

The above information is from the Call for Papers of a conference organised by the University of Edinburgh and the National Library of Scotland set to take place in Edinburgh next July, which sounds most interesting.  It is called “Form and Function in the Late Medieval Bible” and will take place at the Centre for the History of the Book, University of Edinburgh, 12-14 July 2010.  It will bring together experts in medieval liturgy and sermons, art, religion and manuscripts, to examine the material culture of the Late Medieval Bible and its setting.  Presentations, discussions and two workshops would draw on the wealth of manuscripts in the University Library and the NLS in analysing variants of text and layout, imagery and addenda. 

So if any of you is in Scotland at that time, you might consider attending.

To see the Call for Papers click here.

Tags: Books