Uncover the secrets of a forgotten medieval text, revealed through cutting-edge technology and scholarly insight in Professor Arthur Bahr’s latest book.
Decoding a Medieval Mystery Manuscript
The Pearl-Manuscript is a singular bound volume from the 1300s containing some of the most renowned medieval poems, including ‘Pearl,’ ‘Sir Gawain and the Green Knight,’ and two other poems. Its formal name is ‘British Library MS Cotton Nero A X/2.’ This manuscript is a carefully crafted volume with bespoke illustrations and the skilled use of parchment, making it its own work of art.
The Pearl-Manuscript is a rare and valuable historical artifact, believed to have been written in the 10th century.
It is a collection of illuminated manuscripts containing Arabic calligraphy and intricate illustrations.
The manuscript's name originates from its former owner, a wealthy merchant who used pearls to bind the pages together.
Few fragments of the original text remain, making it difficult for scholars to decipher its meaning.
The Physical Object
Professor Arthur Bahr’s new book, ‘Chasing the Pearl-Manuscript: Speculation, Shapes, Delight,’ sheds light on the original volume. Bahr explores the manuscript’s physical qualities using technologies such as spectroscopy, which has revealed some secrets about the manuscript’s past. However, he emphasizes that there is no substitute for reading books in person.
The Pearl-Manuscript is written on parchment, animal skin. At a key point in the ‘Patience‘ poem, the parchment has been reversed, so that the ‘hair’ side of the material faces up, rather than the ‘flesh’ side. This unusual reversal highlights the importance of touch and physical experience when reading medieval texts.
The Texts
Most scholars believe that the Pearl-Manuscript was written by a single author, although this is not certain. The manuscript contains four texts: ‘Pearl,’ ‘Cleanness,’ ‘Patience,’ and ‘Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.’ Bahr finds connections between these texts, analyzing the ‘connective tissue’ through which they cohere into a ‘wrought, imperfect, temporally layered whole.’
Materiality Matters
Bahr explores how materiality affects our understanding of medieval literature. He argues that the physical construction of books matters and can change their meanings. The Pearl-Manuscript is an exemplary case of this, with its unique illustrations, decorated initials, and reversible parchment.
The book has received praise from other scholars, including Jessica Brantley and Daniel Wakelin, who appreciate Bahr’s adventurous and multilayered reading of the texts and his bold model for studying material texts and literary works together.
- mit.edu | Decoding a medieval mystery manuscript
