Category: Manuscripts & Archives

Prof Nikolay Dobronravin, St Petersburg State University, will deliver a lecture on the West African manuscripts in Trinity College Library on Monday 28th January. Prof Dobronravin conducted his research in M&ARL during his term as a Visiting Research Fellow at the Trinity Long Room Hub in 2012. Here he writes on how this collection opens new horizons in his field:

‘The West African manuscripts of Trinity College Library are not just curios; they certainly deserve more attention from those interested in African and Islamic art, history, languages and theology. A few manuscripts are unique in content – for example, the creation story of the ‘ten Adams’ (from ‘Adam of birds’ to the first human being in MS 2689) – or had a dramatic acquisition history (as in the case of MS 2258 which was found on a battlefield in modern Nigeria).

Two manuscripts (MS 2179 and part of MS 2689) represent a standard reference work on Islamic law, ‘Risala’ of Ibn Abī Zayd al-Qayrawānī. But even these texts are of particular interest, as they contain a number of glosses, both in Arabic and in an African language which has been described as ‘Old Mande’ (close to, but different from, modern Mande languages spoken in Mali, Senegal, Mauritania and other West African countries) . Some of the glosses remain enigmatic, such as an Arabic commentary to kanā’is ‘(Christian) churches’,  masjid al-h[i]yūd[u]s (literally, ‘mosque of al-Hiyudus’, MS 2179, f.26a). Other marginalia tell us about the history of the Caliphate, Islamic cosmology, and give examples of West African calculation techniques (MS 2179, f. 25a).’

The lecture ‘African and African Diaspora Manuscripts in the Trinity College Library: Authors, Scribes and Collectors’ will take place in the Long Room Hub 19.00 Monday 28^th January

Nikolay Dobronravin and Estelle Gittins

If you were to conjure an image of a drawing room in a great Irish house circa 1822, what would spring to mind? Book shelves stacked with very fine bindings, perhaps? An orderly arrangement of expensive furniture and ornaments, maybe? An elegant chaise longue, a clutter free writing desk and neatly arranged cupboards? Not quite the case at the residence of the Earls of Courtown, County Wexford.  A tongue-in-cheek letter, with an accompanying numbered room plan sketched by Lady Charlotte Stopford, describes something a little different. Among other descriptions of junk and clutter she writes‘…Bookcase the height of Door, only two shelves kept with books, the rest filled with James’s rubbish…; …Green chairs with the backs knocked off, & thus gives a careless effect to the whole…; …A long couch, no particular shape, or character except that of being very ugly… ‘My writing table, usually chaos; …A most blackguard table with painted legs, & pepper & salt jacket, devoted to rubbish; …A huge ugly cupboard, painted a sickly yellow…’ Bizarrely, she also records ‘2 wooden sculls (sic), one under jaw of a real man with a real tooth in it and a buzzard’s foot…’ resting atop ‘a very handsome Glass over the Chimney.’ (TCD MS 11183/V/119a-b/58). The original letters can be consulted in the Manuscripts & Archives Research Library, and the full transcription of IE TCD MS 11183/V/119a-b can be consulted on our online catalogue.

Aisling Lockhart

For many of us the highlight of the festive season is Christmas dinner. The Trinity College archives contain a series of accounts detailing the ingredients sourced for banquets, in particular the annual Christmas dinner, and they make for lip-smacking reading.

This bill, from the Bursars’ accounts, is for the dinner celebrated in 1699, a feast for over 100 of the staff and students, provided for the princely sum of £7.9.6 ½, more than a servant’s annual wage.

Despite being over 300 years old, the menu is more familiar than you would expect.

The new-world turkey had become established as a favourite as early as 1550 having ousted the less-tasty swan, peacock, bustard or heron as the Christmas bird of choice. Recipes for turkey appear as early as 1600, with the influential cookbook The Closet of the Eminently Learned Sir Kenelme Digbie Kt. Opened (1669) giving several recipes for boiled, pickled and roast turkey.

Mince pies had been newly introduced evolving from the larger ‘great Christmas pye’. They became a popular part of the feast; Samuel Pepys’ diary entry for Christmas day 1666 records that his wife ‘sat up till four this morning seeing her mayds making mince-pies’.

We tend to think of the Stuart diet as being heavy on meat and poultry, but it also nice to see that ‘sallet and pickles’ are included on the Christmas menu. ‘Sallet’, or salad, formed a whole chapter in the standard cookbook of the day, Robert May’s Accomplisht Cook (1660).

It is also cheery to see that sprouts were given the Jamie Oliver treatment with bacon and butter!

Estelle Gittins

Medieval books, or codices, form a very significant element of the Library’s research collections. The Manuscripts & Archives Research Library collection was founded on the medieval religious books which had originally been collected by Archbishop James Ussher (1581-1656); he acquired many of them to assist with his investigations into the early transmission of biblical texts. The Library continues to build this collection, which represents the only significant body of medieval Irish and European religious works in Ireland.

Our most recent medieval acquisition is an illuminated breviary; it is Italian, written in Latin on vellum, and dates from the 15^th century. A breviary is a service book containing texts used in church ceremonies; in this case it contains prayers for the Office of the Dead which would be read on All Saints’ Day, November 1^st, or for a particular funeral Mass. The illuminated detail of the Virgin and Child has been selected to grace the Library’s 2012 Christmas card.

The original owner of this manuscript is unknown; if the coat of arms, which is included in the first-page illumination, could be identified, it might reveal the first owner’s name. It may of course simply be a design element made up by the artist.

Jane Maxwell