As is fitting for an expanding resource dedicated to the study of early modern book history, BASIRA was represented in full force at the bi-annual meeting of the Early Book Society, held at New York University from June 23rd to 27th, 2025. Over the course of a week, approximately 100 scholars gathered to explore a fascinating theme: Readers, Makers, and Medieval Consumer Culture: Manuscripts and Books from 1350–1550. Papers ranged in topic from clerical education in Transylvania to Court records of the King’s Bench in England; from paleography to woodcut re-use to Jewish custom books. In between sessions packed full of insightful papers and stimulating lectures, EBS members also enjoyed visits to three of New York City’s finest cultural heritage institutions: the Morgan Library, the Grolier Club, and the Cloisters Museum.
EBS leaders Martha Driver, Martha Rust, and Megan Sullivan organized a compelling program consisting of panel sessions composed of over 65 papers, given by scholars from Europe, North America, Asia, and the Middle East. At the elegant Roosevelt House, Kathryn Smith of NYU delivered the first of two plenary lectures, “Their World in a Book: Scripture as Family History in the Welles-Ros Bible.” Successive generations annotated this late-medieval English family Bible to such an extent that the artifact expanded both temporal and medial bounds. The following evening, at the bibliophilic haven of the Grolier Club, Daniel Wakelin, of the University of Oxford, explored connections between the precision required by accounting records with the training requisite for propagating literary works. Examples that extended list formats from accounting tallies with “line for line” poetry layouts were especially convincing of this rather contrarian history of textual creation.
The BASIRA Project made two appearances during the week. Firstly, as part of the panel entitled “MSS in Art / Art in MSS,” Barbara Williams Ellertson presented “Piety, Patronage, and Prestige: Artistic Representations of Books, 1350–1550.” This survey traced the democratization of lay portraiture from the early trecento to the mid-sixteenth century. In a later workshop session, Barbara was able to demonstrate features of the recently enhanced BASIRA public search interface to about fifteen attendees.
Thanks to the generosity of Roger Wieck and John McQuillen of the Morgan Library, attendees were given exquisitely close views of treasures of the collection, including manuscripts, letters, and incunables. Similarly, at the Grolier Club, Jamie Cumby and Scott Ellwood gave visitors insider looks at some of the remarkable volumes in the Grolier collection. A highlight for Barbara was a tiny Book of Hours, printed by Nicolas Jenson on vellum in 1475 and illuminated in the style of a late 15th-century northern Italian manuscript (pictured below).
Although many EBS scholars work with materials prior to the 1300–1600 focus of BASIRA, a week in their company provided perspectives both interesting and inspiring. Perhaps future BASIRA team members will help expand our project’s scope to include more artworks from earlier periods.
