Rare Books and Special Collections
Upon the completion of my PhD, I was selected to be the 2024-2025 Hesburgh Library Rare Books and Special Collections Postdoctoral Research Fellow. This fellowship combines intensive material research - namely, the cataloguing and arrangement of over two hundred medieval and early modern charters - and practical library and curatorial experience.
The Hesburgh Library has a large collection of hitherto undescribed medieval and early modern private charters (legal documents, often pertaining to land). As part of my fellowship, I am describing, arranging, transcribing, and cataloguing these charters. These charters range in type from feoffements, gifts, grants, and indentures, in language from Latin, French, Italian, Middle English, and Early Modern English, and in script from English court hands, various cursives, and early modern secretary and italic scripts!
Some charters are damaged or faded, which requires the constant use of UV light to see the ink
Many charters are "docketed," or folded and summarized
The majority of the charters were made in England - see the distinct English "W" here in Wyrksall
Some charters retain the personal seals of those involved
Interestingly, the majority of our English charters come from Lancashire and Yorkshire. In fact, many of the Yorkshire charters pertain to land surrounding the city of Sheffield and the civil parish of Bradfield. Many of these charters were witnessed by the same men, or their sons, and concern generations of the same families. For instance, we have grants from Thomas Furnivall (s. xiv) and his descendent, George Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury (s. xvi) and a series of documents relating to the Percivall copper mine in Canterbury.
In addition to the charter project, I am also gaining practical experience in different departments relating to specialized collections.
I spent a few weeks in the preservation lab learning from the Hesburgh Library's amazing Preservation team. I learned how to make custom clam-shell boxes for books large and small, how to mend paper with Japanese tissue, how to make tuxedo boxes from scratch, how to sew pamphlets into protective bindings, how to analyze environmental monitoring data, and so much more.
I explored the Hesburgh Library's bindery, discussed our preservation standards and procedures, and found myself very envious of the lab's giant box cutters.
Here are a few pictures of what I made and how I made them!