Anna Milne-Tavendale, PhD candidate, University of Canterbury

It was a real privilege to be able to visit Sydney University and the rare books collection at Fisher library to attend this PATS: The manuscript Book. I would like to thank ANZAMEMS for the bursary, without which I would have been unable to attend, and also the event organisers for putting together what was an extremely insightful and valuable workshop.

The workshop was well planned and organised. Over the two days the group (consisting of students and more established scholars from Australia and New Zealand) were thoroughly immersed in the making and study of medieval manuscripts. Our time was divided between viewing the collection at Fisher library, expert lectures on related topics and practical sessions that covered almost every aspect of manuscript production in which we benefited from the combined experience and knowledge of Margaret and Rod, who were both engaging and inspiring. As well as covering the ‘technical’ aspects of manuscript production, they each spent time establishing the social and cultural world in which the manuscripts operated. A particular highlight for me was the detailing and explanation of the complex and demanding tasks of the paleographer/codicologist.

Working in this digital age, in which our sources have often been transcribed into modern languages or are at least available in digital formats it is often easy to forget about the importance and centrality of the manuscript to what we do – and this is certainly also compounded by our geographical location. Rod’s ‘rules’ or ‘words of wisdom’ (interspersed through the two days) were particularly influential, especially his assertion that examining the manuscript will ALWAYS yield something new/different and will tell more about the text. After the workshop, I certainly feel equipped to undertake manuscript analysis and I would highly recommend this type of workshop to any medieval scholar. I hope that ANZAMEMS will consider running this again!