Who can I blame for my latest late night obsession?

[threadwalker]

Stress + research jones = bad for sleep

I'm digging through my personal library for resources on 10th-12th century European culture. I have many more resources than I thought I had, which is a pleasant surprise. So all that time scrounging in used book stores hasn't been wasted. I'm still trying to get my brain around what I have, so I've got my notepad out and I am assessing what I have and where I think the holes are.

I've been prowling on line this evening and I've been pleasantly surprised at the number of websites that allow you to see real pages from real manuscripts. How cool is that?! I also found some cool titles of books I'll never own because I won't spend THAT much money on a book. "The Relics of St. Cuthbert" look very cool and thanks to Duchess L, I crave something on the Cuthbert embroideries. (Drat that embroideress - she's really got me craving to do some of that stuff). Ah, well, maybe when I win the lottery because $750 is outside my budget. And I couldn't find AG Christies' book on line tonight and it was listed at $3,500 about 6 months ago. I wonder who bought it? and why? (embroiderer? rare book collector?) I found a few books that appear to be "purchase from distributor from foreign country only". Hmmm. Not really interested in buying right now, but I'm book-marking sites.

Anyway, I need to drop some scribal friends a request for guidance on period-appropriate manuscripts because I think that's where I will eventually need to turn my attention. In the meantime, I'm enjoying J. Gies sarcastic take on previously published theories on the evolution of knighthood. I love a knowledgeable author who can poke fun at others. And he's pretty easy to read, which for a distracted mom is pretty cool. I'm finally reading about the crusades, too, which is completely fascinating.

Now who nudged me to start pulling books from my shelves right now? .... darn that "green cat mama"! She's so full of mischief. I wasn't supposed to be planning and reading up on THIS project until November.

Comments

[loup_noir]

11th and 12th century costuming. Well, we gotcher non-representational art right 'chere. The tapestry is really about it for 11th. And, for this particular span of time, it's pretty darn good. There was a museum catalog called "The Year 1200" that has some decent shots. I know Stacy has a copy. "The Becket Leaves" has decent images. There's Geoffrey the Fair's funerary enamel in Limoges. The effigies of Henry, Eleanor, Richard and John's wife (name escapes me this morning. Isabella? Sheesh. I need more coffee.) are glorious and lifesized.

My brain is blanking right now and I don't have time to rifle through my manuscript collection. I suspect, though, since nothing's leaping to mine - although you do have to discount the early hour and one of my insomniac nights - I suspect that most of the images are buried in those big book o' illuminations across the centuries.

I did get 30K+ hits when I googled "12th century illuminations" so you can blow a lot of time online, if nothing else.

[beanolc.livejournal.com]

*hugs*

Now stop it! This project doesn't begin 'til November 1st!!!!!!!!

:)

That's the problem with my muse

[thread-walker.livejournal.com]

My muse has tapped me and there it is. It's all I can think about when I'm not working at work (which has become somewhat combative and entertaining in its own right this week) or being excited about collegium. (having a site has done wonders for my mood.)

I'm remaining focused on my short term commmitments, but this is soooo inviting. Tonight I'm going to make a list of my relevant titles and probably post it here and then keep adding to it as I relocate books that have wandered through the rest of the house. That will help me with my web crawling. Then I need to figure out where/how to stash them so they don't get reabsorbed by the library or shuffled out of place.

I think my inner librarians next stop might be "tapestries" because my only tapestry book is a Flemish one from the 15th century. Maybe one on stained glass, too, based on looking through books over my cereal this morning. I did pick up a book on Spanish Illumination from 12-14th century. I couldn't resist - what a fascinating topic. I'm such a book slut.

Re: That's the problem with my muse

[beanolc.livejournal.com]

I'm such a book slut.

Appropriate replies:
1. You say that like it's a bad thing.
2. Hey! I resemble that remark!
3. The first step is admitting you have a problem. The second step is to stop looking at it as a problem.

:)