̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge - Lines of Thought

Cambridge reveals identity of new ̽��ֱ�� Librarian

sjr81 — Fri, 09 Dec 2016 09:46:10 +0000

Dr Gardner is currently Director of Library Services and ̽��ֱ�� Librarian at the ̽��ֱ�� of Bristol, and will take up her new post at Cambridge in April 2017. She follows in the footsteps of Anne Jarvis, who was ̽��ֱ�� Librarian at Cambridge from 2009 until September 2016.

Dr Gardner said: “I am delighted to have been elected as Cambridge ̽��ֱ��’s Librarian and to have the opportunity to build on the success of a long line, over 600 years, of my predecessors, most recently the wonderful Anne Jarvis.

“It will be an honour to join Cambridge and to lead one of the world’s great research and copyright libraries, rich with world heritage treasures.”

This year (2016) marks the 600th anniversary of the first mention of Cambridge ̽��ֱ�� Library. Older than the British Library and the Vatican Library, it was first mentioned by name in two wills dated March 1416 – with its most valuable contents stored in a wooden chest. Today, the Library is home to eight million books, journals, maps and magazines, as well as some of the world’s most iconic scientific, literary and cultural treasures.

Its priceless collections include Newton’s own annotated copy of Principia Mathematica, Darwin’s papers on evolution, 3000-year-old Chinese oracle bones and the earliest reliable text for 20 of Shakespeare’s plays (First Folio).

Earlier this year, a spectacular exhibition, Lines of Thought, put on display some of the most valuable, rare and important books and artefacts in the collections, attracting record audiences and interest from around the world.

Since 1710, the Library has also been entitled to one copy of each and every publication in the UK and Ireland under Legal Deposit. With two million of its volumes on open display, readers have the largest open-access collection in Europe immediately available to them.

Cambridge ̽��ֱ�� Library’s current exhibition – Curious Objects – takes a sideways look at the 600-year-old institution, showcasing its collection of weird and wonderful non-book items such as ectoplasm and paintings from Pompeii.

Acting ̽��ֱ�� Librarian, Professor Chris Young, said: “Dr Jessica Gardner’s experience, knowledge, vision and warmth make her an exceptionally qualified candidate to lead Cambridge ̽��ֱ�� Library. It has been a privilege to steer this extraordinary institution through this time of transition, and I am delighted to know I will be handing over to someone as capable as Dr Gardner.

“In my role as Deputy Head of the School of Arts and Humanities, I look forward to working with her to create closer links between the treasures of Cambridge ̽��ֱ�� Library and the outstanding research happening across the ̽��ֱ��.”

Dr Gardner added “ ̽��ֱ��collections held by Cambridge span more than 4,000 years of recorded human thought. I’ll want to develop a shared vision with staff and students of the ̽��ֱ�� to help build the Library’s global profile for its leading role in collection, shaping, preserving and inspiring world knowledge.”

Dr Jessica Gardner has been revealed as the new Librarian of Cambridge ̽��ֱ�� Library – becoming the second female in the history of the institution to hold the role.

It will be an honour to join Cambridge and to lead one of the world’s great research and copyright libraries.

Jessica Gardner

Dr Jessica Gardner

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Lines of Thought: Telling the Story of History

Anonymous — Fri, 16 Sep 2016 14:31:13 +0000

Since March, some of the world’s most valuable books and manuscripts have been on display as Cambridge ̽��ֱ�� Library celebrates its 600th birthday. This fortnight is the last chance to see this once-in-a-lifetime free exhibition of its greatest treasures.

̽��ֱ��objects in Lines of Thought: Discoveries that Changed the World, which will close to the public on September 30, communicate 4,000 years of human thought through the Library’s unique and irreplaceable collections. More than 70 per cent of the exhibits are displayed to the public for the first time.

̽��ֱ��exhibition investigates through six distinct themes how Cambridge ̽��ֱ�� Library’s eight million books and manuscripts have transformed our understanding of life here on earth and our place among the stars.

In Telling the Story of History, curator John Wells traces the way in which literature has treated the monarchs and heroes of history.

Long before the development of evidence-based history, this was done through story-telling. Stories that elaborate on myths, legends and folk memories accumulate down the years, connecting successive ages with their past, and influencing writers of the present. In the Western European tradition fables inherited from classical antiquity have been passed down the centuries to inspire countless reinventions and retellings. Themes and characters from Homer’s Odyssey, for example, surface again and again in literature, from James Joyce’s Ulysses to Margaret Drabble’s novel ̽��ֱ��gates of ivory.

"Homer stands at the head of the Western European tradition of narrative, and there are no epics older than the Homeric epics – the influence that these texts have had is really quite incalculable," says Wells.

̽��ֱ��plays of William Shakespeare, gathered here in the ‘First Folio’ of 1623, are a highwater mark of imaginative literature. Their fictional depiction of real people and real events, such as Henry V at the Battle of Agincourt, can shape our understanding of historical events.

" ̽��ֱ��'First Folio' of Shakespeare, the collection of his plays which was published soon after his death by his friends John Heminges and Henry Condell, collects many plays which never saw print in Shakespeare's lifetime," explains Wells. "If it hadn't been for the work of Heminges and Condell, so many plays which are at the peak of English literary tradition would simply not be known to us."

"Shakespeare's views and interpretations of his characters really have affected the way in which we now think of historical figures," says Wells.

Fantastical fictional writings such as Dante’s Divine comedy also draw on figures of the past for their protagonists, or use allusion to pass on subtle messages. Folk stories, whether written on ancient papyri or in a modern novel, weave their way through Cambridge ̽��ֱ�� Library’s collections and through our collective imaginations.

"Our line of thought, which we began with a papyrus fragment of Homer, leads right to the end of the 20th century now with Cambridge-educated novelist Margaret Drabble," says Wells.

"In her novel ̽��ֱ��gates of ivory, Drabble sets her characters against the great sweep of history, and in particular the revolution in Cambodia in the 1970s. ̽��ֱ�� ̽��ֱ�� Library is actively acquiring the archives of literary authors because we know that they are going to be subjects of study in the years to come - the notes and drafts which are accumulated are sources of scholarship in their own right."

Inset image: Homer, Fragments of the Odyssey, XII, ll. 250–304, Second century CE.

Shakespeare's 'First Folio', Dante's Divine Comedy, and fragments of Homer's Odyssey from the second century CE, are among the objects in our final film celebrating Lines of Thought at Cambridge ̽��ֱ�� Library.

̽��ֱ��influence that these texts have had is really quite incalculable

John Wells

Lines of Thought: Telling the Story of History

Mr. William Shakespeares comedies, histories, & tragedies: published according to the true originall copies (the ‘First Folio’) London: printed by Isaac Jaggard and Edward Blount, 1623

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Lines of Thought: Understanding Anatomy

sjr81 — Fri, 09 Sep 2016 16:54:37 +0000

Since March, some of the world’s most valuable books and manuscripts have been on display as Cambridge ̽��ֱ�� Library celebrates its 600th birthday with a once-in-a-lifetime free exhibition of its greatest treasures.

In Understanding Anatomy, curator Anna Jones reflects on some of the different ways in which the anatomy of the body has been represented over time and for different purposes, both on the page and in 3D.

“For many people the stand-out object of Lines of Thought is Vesalius’ Epitome, published in Switzerland in 1543,” said Jones. “Vesalius specially commissioned for the work to promote his thesis that the practice of dissection was essential to the study of anatomy.

“ ̽��ֱ�� ̽��ֱ�� Library’s copy of the Epitome is very special because it’s hand-coloured, probably for presentation to an important patron, and the colouring really brings out the detail in the different layers of the manikin.”

Dissection had been practised during ancient times by the great Roman physician Galen, but had fallen out of use as a teaching method in the west during the middle ages until it was revived during the European renaissance. Early 16th century English students commonly travelled to the great centres of medical education in Italy or France to benefit from the influence of Vesalius and others, and eventually the techniques they learnt there were adopted at home.

“In Lines of Thought we also have the earliest-known written record of a dissection in England,” added Jones. “ ̽��ֱ��book belonged to Thomas Lorkyn, who was Regius Professor of Physic in Cambridge. On 28 March, 1565, Lorkyn hosted one at Magdalene College, using the body of former criminal Richard or Ralph Tiple, recently hanged at Cambridge Castle just across the road.

“ ̽��ֱ��dissection was carried out by a professional surgeon from London, while Lorkyn, the ‘instructor’, read out from a book – quite possibly the one on display here – and the students gathered round to watch and learn.”

Lorkyn left his books to the UL in his will at his death in 1591, the same year that exquisite models of a skeleton and musculature, also on display, were presented to the Library by the leading London barber surgeon John Banister. Such objects highlight that from relatively early on the ̽��ֱ�� Library was a place to find current material for teaching and learning, as well as a repository for safe-keeping.

Learning from the body itself may be the ideal, but the limited supply of cadavers and challenges to preservation are some of the reasons people have looked to models to provide good substitutes for learning anatomy. Paper works well as a relatively cheap medium that you can fold, layer, and cut out, and the exhibits in the exhibition give a flavour of the variety across the ̽��ֱ�� collections as a whole.

“ ̽��ֱ��study and practice of anatomy – seeing and doing – remains an important strand in ̽��ֱ�� teaching and research today,” added Jones. “Lines of Thought reminds us of some of the significant points in the development of our understanding of our bodies and how they function, and crucially how the books and objects on display have played a part in shaping the present.”

A hand-coloured copy of Vesalius’ 1543 Epitome – one of the most influential works in western medicine – and the first written record of a dissection carried out in England are among the objects in our latest film celebrating Lines of Thought at Cambridge ̽��ֱ�� Library.

̽��ֱ��study and practice of anatomy – seeing and doing – remains an important strand in ̽��ֱ�� teaching and research today.

Anna Jones

Lines of Thought: Understanding Anatomy

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Lines of Thought: From Darwin to DNA

sjr81 — Fri, 29 Jul 2016 13:05:27 +0000

̽��ֱ�� ̽��ֱ�� Library is celebrating its 600th anniversary with an exhibition of priceless treasures communicating 4,000 years of human thought. As part of the celebrations, they have commissioned six films on the six distinct themes featured in the exhibition Lines of Thought.

In the latest film, we travel from Darwin to DNA, demonstrating how Cambridge and the Cambridge collections have been crucial to the history of how we have understood heredity.

From Darwin’s provisional hypothesis of pangenesis to William Bateson’s work on animal variation, right the way through to Crick, Watson and Franklin, Cambridge has been at the forefront of understanding our place in the world.

Dr Alison Pearn, who curated the Darwin to DNA theme of Lines of Thought, said: “Darwin understood that natural variations, could over time, give rise to completely new forms and this is clearly demonstrated by the stuffed pigeons we have in the exhibition: the rock dove and the almond tumbler. ̽��ֱ��almond tumbler was one of Darwin’s favourite birds and you are able to see very clearly the differences between the two.

“We also have on display Darwin’s draft of the hypothesis of pangenesis, which is very much a tentative working idea for how variation might be passed on through generations. It’s a model for how inheritance might work.”

Other objects in the exhibition and film include a watercolour of Darwin staring at his ape predecessors in the Gallery of Ancestors, the working notes of Rosalind Franklin, and the 1905 letter by William Bateson where he first coins the term ‘genetics’ in its modern sense.

Added Pearn: “Bateson spent his career studying variation and said that the laws of inheritance would change man’s outlook on the world more than any advance in the history of knowledge. We are thrilled to have his work and so many other world-class exhibits on display at Cambridge ̽��ֱ�� Library this year.”

Lines of Thought runs until September 30, 2016. Entry is free. To see the other films in the series, visit our YouTube channel.

Darwin’s stuffed pigeons, the letter which first coined the term ‘genetics’ and a paper by Crick and Watson which helped decode DNA all feature in the latest film to celebrate Cambridge ̽��ֱ�� Library’s 600th anniversary.

Darwin understood that natural variations, could over time, give rise to completely new forms.

Alison Pearn

Lines of Thought: From Darwin to DNA

Charles Darwin

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Lines of Thought: Communicating Faith

sjr81 — Fri, 27 May 2016 14:43:49 +0000

As part of its 600th celebrations, the ̽��ֱ�� Library has made a series of six films – one for each of the six themes explored in Lines of Thought – with the latest film: Communicating Faith taking a close look at some iconic religious treasures across all the major faiths including Christianity, Islam and Judaism.

̽��ֱ��oldest item in Communicating Faith is a text for prayer, the so-called Nash Papyrus. Dating from the second century before Christ, the fragments on display in Cambridge contain the Ten Commandments and until the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, it was the oldest surviving manuscript of any part of the Hebrew Bible.

However, one of the oldest and perhaps the most valuable items in the Library’s collections – and perhaps one of the stars of Lines of Thought – is a recovered text called the Codex Zacynthius.

Codex Zacynthius is a parchment book where the leaves have been scraped and rewritten (a palimpsest). What they rewrote was an 11th or 12th century text from the gospels, but underneath it is a very early text of the gospel of St Luke. This very early undertext was first deciphered in the 19th century. It’s now possible, using modern imaging techniques, to get a much more precise image of what this book would have looked like when it was written in the 6th or 7th century. Work will continue on the codex when the exhibition comes to an end in September.

̽��ֱ��translation of religious texts has always been central to the transmission of faith across barriers of religion and culture, but could be a perilous activity. William Tyndale’s English translation of the New Testament ultimately cost him his life. His pioneering translation survived, however. In 1611, the team of Cambridge scholars and theologians tasked with helping to prepare the text of the authoritative King James Bible drew heavily on Tyndale’s work.

Will Hale, who curated Communicating Faith, said: “Our copy of Tyndale’s New Testament was printed in Antwerp in 1534. Translating the Bible was an act of heresy at the time according to the mainstream church who thought the one true translation was the Vulgate into Latin and only the church had the right to interpret it to the people. Tyndale felt that even the ploughboys at the plough should be able to recite scripture in their own language. And of course, for his pains, he was strangled and burnt as a heretic two years after this translation was published.

“Today’s academics are exploiting digital technology to unearth new secrets from documents penned in antiquity. Cutting-edge multispectral imaging allows us to read texts erased from a seventh-century manuscript of the Gospel of Saint Luke, whilst dispersed collections of fragments of manuscripts from a Cairo synagogue are being painstakingly reunited in the digital realm.”

Some of the world’s most important religious texts are currently on display in Cambridge as part of Cambridge ̽��ֱ�� Library’s 600th anniversary exhibition – Lines of Thought: Discoveries that Changed the World.

For his pains, Tyndale was strangled and burnt as a heretic two years after this translation was published.

Will Hale

Lines of Thought: Communicating Faith

Cambridge ̽��ֱ�� Library

Detail from the Codex Zacynthius

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World first as 3,000-year-old Chinese oracle bones go 3D

sjr81 — Mon, 21 Mar 2016 15:06:43 +0000

Cambridge ̽��ֱ�� Library, which is celebrating its 600^th anniversary this year, holds 614 Chinese inscribed oracle bones in its collection. They are the oldest extant documents written in the Chinese language, dating from 1339-1112 BCE. Inscribed on ox shoulder blades and the flat under-part of turtle shells, they record questions to which answers were sought by divination at the court of the royal house of Shang, which ruled north central China at that time.

̽��ֱ��inscriptions on the bones provide much insight into many aspects of early Chinese society, such as warfare, agriculture, hunting, medical problems, meteorology and astronomy.

Among the latter is a record of a lunar eclipse dated to 1192 BCE, one of the earliest such accounts in any civilisation.

Charles Aylmer, Head of the Chinese Department at Cambridge ̽��ֱ�� Library, said: “Some of the bones have already been included in the Cambridge Digital Library but now new technology provides readers around the world an even closer look at these precious artefacts.

“In what is believed to be a world first, one of the bones (which features in the 600^th anniversary exhibition Lines of Thought) has been digitised in 3D thanks to the work of archaeologist Professor Dominic Powlesland, one of the leading pioneers in this area.”

Cambridge UL Chinese Oracle Bone (CUL.52) by Professor Dominic Powlesland on Sketchfab

̽��ֱ��high-resolution image of the bone, which measures about 9x14 cm, knits together 1.3 million aspects to allow a seamless view of its entire surface.

̽��ֱ��image brings into sharp focus not only the finely incised questions on the obverse of the bone, but also the divination pits engraved on the reverse and the scorch marks caused by the application of heat to create the cracks (which were interpreted as the answers from the spirit world). These can be seen more clearly than by looking at the actual object itself, and without the risk of damage by handling the original bone.

In collaboration with the Media Studio of Addenbrooke's Hospital (part of the Cambridge Biomedical Campus), the scanned data were used to make what is believed to be the first 3D print of an oracle bone.

̽��ֱ��print was made with a printer whose main function in the hospital is to assist in planning maxillofacial and orthopaedic surgery. ̽��ֱ��print comprises 350 superimposed layers of a fine powdered plaster compound hardened with cyanoacrylate (superglue).

3D prints such as this enable students and researchers to obtain a ‘hands-on’ impression otherwise impossible for conservation reasons. It is hoped to create images of more bones from the Library's collection as funding permits.

Aylmer added: " ̽��ֱ��oracle bones are three-dimensional objects, and high-resolution 3D imagery reveals features which not only all previous methods of reproduction (such as drawings, rubbings and photographs) have been unable to do, but which are not even apparent from careful examination of the actual items themselves.

“In particular, the reverse sides of the bones, which are crucial to understanding the process of divination but have hitherto been neglected because of the difficulty of representing them adequately, can now be studied in detail thanks to this new technique.

“To hold a 3D print of an oracle bone is a very special experience, as it provides the same sensory impression as that obtained by the people who created them over three thousand years ago, but without the risk of harm to the priceless originals."

A 3000-year-old ox bone - inscribed with the earliest-known example of Chinese writing - has become the world's first 'oracle bone' to be scanned and printed in 3D.

To hold a 3D print of an oracle bone is a very special experience, as it provides the same sensory impression as that obtained by the people who created them over three thousand years ago

Charles Aylmer

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