Lecture to Celebrate Acquisition of 15th-Century Manuscript Produced by Female Scribes

A lecture and reception next week will celebrate the Bryn Mawr College Library's recent acquisition of an early 15th-century manuscript that offers important insights into the role of women in late medieval Europe. The lecture will be delivered by Bert Roest of the University of Groningen on Thursday, Feb. 22, at 4:30 p.m. in Carpenter Library 21. The title of his talk is The Perfect Life for Women: The Recourse to Jerome in the Spiritual Edification of Female Religious in Fifteenth-Century Italy.

Following the lecture there will be a reception in the Rare Book Room of Canaday Library, where the manuscript will be on display. The event is free and open to the public; it is sponsored by the Friends of the Library and the Department of Greek, Latin and Classical Studies.

Roest is one of the foremost scholars of Franciscan religious life in the late Middle Ages. He is the author of Franciscan Literature of Religious Instruction Before the Council of Trent and A History of Franciscan Education (c.1220-1517).

The library's newly acquired manuscript appears to have been produced in a Franciscan convent in northern Italy by female scribes in the early 15th century. The 400-page volume consists of texts by and about Saint Jerome, as well as several pieces by important Franciscan writers of the 14th century. Among the Jerome texts is his influential letter to Eustochium, in which he advises her on the proper way of life for a Christian woman. The book is written in an elegant hand, with decorated initials at the beginning of each text. There are also marginal notes and maniculae (pointing hands) added by early readers of the book.

"It's a treat to be able to show classes how a manuscript was actually used - and this one, with its idiosyncratic selection of texts, its marginalia and rubrication, makes an excellent example,” said Associate Professor of Greek, Latin and Classical Studies Catherine Conybeare. “That it was probably produced by and for women is a bonus!"

The acquisition of the book was made possible by Howard Lehman Goodhart Memorial Fund, an endowed fund in the library for the acquisition of early books and manuscripts, established by his daughter, Phyllis Goodhart Gordan, '35, and her husband, John D. Gordan, Jr. Howard Goodhart and Phyllis Gordan donated more than 1,000 15th-century printed books to Bryn Mawr, along with many medieval manuscripts. As a result of their gifts, Bryn Mawr has one of the nation's most important collections of early books.

For additional information, contact the Special Collections Department: 610-526-6576.

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