Dictaminal Attitudes: Transcribing and Compiling Peter of Blois

The Kim-Park Program for the Study of the Book is pleased to present Dictaminal Attitudes: Transcribing and Compiling Peter of Blois with Thomas C. Sawyer, Assistant Professor of Medieval Literature in the Department of English at Case Western Reserve University. In 1993, Lena Wahlgren enumerated over 250 manuscript collections witnessing the epistles of Peter of Blois. These witnesses had been categorized previously by Ethel Higonnet, whose 1973 thesis posited at least seventeen distinct manuscript groups. Whether and how Peter altered which of his own letters after their first inscription remains an open question, and the task of producing a complete edition of his works remains a feat of textual criticism few scholars might feasibly accomplish. He remains one of the most influential prose authors of over four-hundred years – and one of the least accessible to modern audiences. Bewildering though the manuscript record may be in sum, individual witnesses reflect how medieval scribes and readers customized their encounters with Peter's dictaminal ouevre. I will examine two manuscripts classified by Higonnet as "First Collection B Anomalous": Lambeth Palace 421 (c. xiiin) and Bodley 570 (c. xvin). Nearly identical material follows Peter's letter collection in both LPL 421 and BodL 570, including the ubiquitous Pergama flere volo, a collection of auctoritates, and some medical material. Examination of the production of these two manuscripts yields divergent views on the legibility of the epistolary collection as a genre and reflects changing motives for reproducing staggeringly popular texts in the weave of late-medieval scribal cultures. Comparison of LPL 41 and BodL 570 yields perspective on the grammatical poem Tres fuerant iuuenes, which offers insights into how different scribes may have conceived of the purpose of the letter collection. The flattening of manuscript features in BodL 570, in particular, suggests an overarching interest in preservation alongside of (or, perhaps, in substitution for) interest in the particular contents of the epistolary writing of Peter of Blois.This event is open to all with registration and will be held at Regenstein Library. Event attendees without a University of Chicago ID may obtain a library entry pass on arrial by checking in at Regenstein Library's entry desk and presenting a current, government-issued photo ID, such as a driver's license, CityKey (https://www.chicityclerk.com/about-citykey/citykey-faq), state ID, or passport to confirm identity. Get more visitor information (https://www.lib.uchicago.edu/borrow/access-privileges/visitors/).