Anne Gaëlle Churin, a student at the École du Louvre in Paris, spent the fall semester 2015 studying at the University of Illinois and held an Art History internship at Krannert Art Museum under the supervision of KAM's Curator of European and American Art Maureen Warren. In this blog post, she outlines the practice of breaking ancient and medieval manuscripts into pieces for distribution to and study at academic institutions. While on campus, Churin studied manuscripts housed at the museum and at the University of Illinois Rare Book and Manuscript Library.
Krannert Art Museum at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign owns six beautiful illuminations that were part of larger medieval manuscripts and early printed books. Although, for conservation purposes, works on paper and vellum are rarely exhibited, remarkable examples of medieval book embellishment are present on the University of Illinois campus. In addition to those at Krannert Art Museum, the Spurlock Museum presents a few manuscripts in its current displays, while the most precious leaves and volumes remain in storage, and the Rare Book and Manuscript Library possesses an even richer collection.
A selection of illuminated medieval books and maps will be displayed at Krannert Art Museum later this year in an exhibition co-curated by KAM’s Curator of European and American Art Maureen Warren and Anna Chen, curator at the Rare Book and Manuscript Library.
Upon viewing these collections, one might wonder why certain leaves have been isolated from the larger works in which they were created. The presence of leaves cut from early books and manuscripts should not be solely regarded as the deed of inconsiderate booksellers. Instead, their existence may attest to changing attitudes over time.
Rather than indicating a lack of respect for manuscripts, the extraction of an illumination from its original volume may have been motivated by an appreciation for its aesthetic qualities. Making manuscripts was a lengthy process; the decoration, in many instances, was not realized at once, but elaborated, modified, and augmented, sometimes with miniatures cut out of other books.[1]
Over time, many manuscripts gradually lost their original function as new technologies for printing and illustrations emerged. As these changes took place, amateurs gathered their favorite illuminations to conserve and display them as admirable examples of craftsmanship.[2]
Ancient writing and initials have also retained the attention of collectors. Beautiful letters have thus been compiled in order to study their evolution and as a reservoir of inspirational decorative patterns. During the last century, appreciation of these designs shifted from individual illuminated capitals toward the layout of whole pages; accordingly, the fragmenting of manuscripts evolved from extracting letters to the separation of entire leaves.
Of course, the financial aspect of these practices cannot be omitted. Because of the very high value of manuscripts—even mutilated—very few individuals and institutions could afford to acquire entire books; the transaction for both parties evidently became much easier and more profitable when dealing with fragments.
Although we can perceive the motivations that led manuscript owners to “break” precious books, art historians consider these practices highly harmful. The most obvious implication of the mutilation of artifacts is the destruction of their significant unity. Indeed, the arrangement of the book as a whole comprises meaningful relationships between text, images, and later additions, binding or comments, which retain art historical information on the purpose and context of creation, as well as on the manuscript’s usage and treatment. It is therefore the role of museums and libraries to preserve and study these precious artifacts to prevent further damage.
Nonetheless, as a consequence of the scattering of book fragments, many universities and public libraries throughout the world possess illuminations that they could not have afforded otherwise.
The practice of breaking up books and distributing original fragments to the largest audience, was the primary aspiration of Otto F. Ege, who provided some of the most remarkable ornamented leaves held at the University of Illinois. At the turn of the century, Ege was a professor at the Cleveland Institute of Art, where he gathered an impressive collection of European manuscripts and printed books, mostly damaged or incomplete, and worked to spread these precious artifacts throughout North America. Aware of the controversy concerning this practice, he published comments on his educational motivations and the ethics of this practice.[3] The most notable legacy of Ege’s didactic ambitions lies in the realization of portfolios compiling leaves of early printed books and manuscripts, annotated to facilitate their comparison and study.[4]
The conflict between the preservation of artifacts and the facilitation of their accessibility is one of the main challenges of museums and libraries. The significant loss resulting in the dismantling of precious books may seem less relevant today, as high quality digitization provides access for the purposes of study while reducing the risk of damage. Nevertheless, manuscript breaking continues to occur.
However accurate, digital images never quite reproduce the material qualities, impressive precision, and effects of light playing on the gold that produce the delight of being in front of a unique work of art. Which is why the upcoming exhibition of medieval manuscrips at Krannert Art Museum in Fall 2016 will provide a rare opportunity to admire the most remarkable of these works housed at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
[1] de Hamel, Christopher “Cutting Up Manuscripts for Pleasure and Profit,” The 1995 Sol. M. Malkin, Lecture in Bibliography, (Chalottesville: Book Art Press, 2011) 5.
[2] Wieck, Roger “Folia Fugitiva: The Pursuit of the Illuminated Manuscript Leaf” The Journal of the Walters Art Gallery, Vol. 54, Essays in Honor of Lilian M. C.Randall (1996), 233-254.
[3] In the article “I am a Biblioclast”, he enumerates as a code of honor his “Five commandments for a honest book breaker”
Ege, Otto F., “I am a Biblioclast,” Avocations: A magazine of Hobbies and Leisure 1 (March 1938): 516.
[4] The Rare Book and Manuscript Library on the UIUC campus possess one portfolio of 25 leaves entitled “Original leaves from famous books, eight centuries, 1240 A.D.-1923 A.D.” and released in 110 copies by Otto Ege.
