This semester, Professor Anne Stanton meets her undergraduate and graduate students weekly in Special Collections located in Ellis Library to study illuminated manuscripts for a course called “Art of the Book: Special Collections.”

After thorough conversation with her students, it is clear they are very interested in their work. One student mentioned the class isn’t necessarily about reading the book, but rather about studying the physical elements that allow them to uncover the artifact’s past.

Anne adds, “As an art historian who specializes in medieval manuscripts, I enjoy the opportunity to engage with books in our collection, and particularly LOVE working with students as they do primary research! Most of them had never seen a manuscript or very old printed books in person, and they’ve spent the semester getting to know their project books each week.”

For example, one of Anne’s students is trying to reconstruct the history of a book’s journey. Through the text and what I assume to be notes, the student was able to discover the book was possibly stolen at some point. It was not until the 19th century that the book was found at Mizzou. I guarantee the text didn’t tell the student this, but context did.

Another student showed me her book that dates to the 15th century. The text had large margins, this told her the owner was well off since they had page space to spare given the price of parchment at the time!

Finally, a student was analyzing a book about the performance of mass. Given its missing pages, physical bookmarks, and fingerprints, he could tell which pages were used the most and which were not needed at all! (Since they must have been memorized by the preacher)

I asked Anne if her students have been able to highlight details in an artifact (in this case, a book) that teaches her more about its history. Anne answers, “Yes, the students have indeed found new things about some of these books. Much of their research has focused on the books’ material qualities.”

The texts these students are covering range from mythology, religious practice, social rules, etc. All the books have something to say about their many owners and the books lifetime, and Anne’s students will continue to uncover more!