Summer School: Manuscript Studies – Codicology and Digital Techniques (5 ECTS)
Manuscripts are full of traces left by their makers and users. Their material features provide clues about their date and place of origin, their cultural contexts, and their social lives during their long existence. In this course, we will explore these material features from this perspective.
The field of manuscript studies has been transformed by the digital turn. Only a few decades ago, scholars could study the materiality of manuscripts solely in special collections, relying on catalogue descriptions and secondary literature to guide their research. Today, it is possible to access thousands of digital images and conduct research in distant and quantitative ways. At the same time, new non-invasive techniques have been developed to reveal features that were previously invisible: marks and drawings scratched into parchment, the faint traces of fingers that once touched the book, and even residues of bodily fluids. The second major theme of this course focuses on precisely these innovations: which new techniques have been developed to study medieval handwritten materials, and how are they reshaping manuscript studies as a discipline?
Course schedule
The course will take place over three full days (16–18 June 2026) at the Huygens Institute and the Special Collections of the KB, the National Library of the Netherlands. It will feature presentations by the coordinators, Mariken Teeuwen and Irene van Renswoude, together with invited guest speakers. Alongside these presentations, the course will include a strong hands-on component: through exercises and assignments, participants will practice the art of observation and description and experiment with an eye for the new possibilities of digital and forensic techniques.
Course coordinator
Prof. dr. M.J. Teeuwen (Leiden): mariken.teeuwen@huygens.knaw.nl
More information
- Aimed at: Research MA-students and PhD students.
- Provisional dates: 16-18 June 2026
- Location: Amsterdam, Huygens Institute/Den Haag, KB National Library
- Language of instruction: English
- Course load: 5 ECTS
- Maximum number of participants: 20