The Pocket Pindar The Antinoupolis Codex and Pindar’s Readership in Graeco-Roman Egypt

The parchment codex published as P.Ant. II 76 and III 212 contains remains of Pindar’s Olympians 5 and 6 along with scanty traces of marginal notes. Further conservation and study allows us to now roughly reconstruct the format of the original manuscript, and new imaging techniques have revealed better readings of the marginalia. In this speculative article, I explore the Pindar codex’s form, content, and the particular context of Antinoupolis. In the process, I touch upon the question of Pindar’s popularity in Roman Egypt, book production in Antinoupolis, and the form and function of the early codex. Taking all available evidence into account, I propose that we might have a pocket codex of Pindar’s complete works – perhaps intended for casual reading.

Цифровые модели кодикологии тибетских книг

Goals. The article provides a codicological insight into Tibetan written heritage which gains certain relevance due to that extensive Tibetan collections are currently being introduced into scholarly circulation in Russia. The paper determines specific features of traditional Tibetan-Mongolian book production — the former being subject to codicological research — such as book types and formats, characteristics of paper, various design elements and marginalia, etc. Methods. Modern approaches to the study and attribution of Tibetan written monuments are examined through the analysis of most successful international initiatives advanced by the British Library, Harvard University, etc. Results. The work establishes main parameters of book description related to physical features, cultural and social contexts of its creation and existence. The obtained outcomes made it possible to enhance the digital codicological model for Tibetan book monuments at the Center of Oriental Manuscripts and Monuments. The accumulation of data collected during the codicological study of large Tibetan collections and their processing with digital methods (statistical, geoinformation ones, etc.) also yield some important quantitative indicators to determine key directions, intensity and features of cultural interaction between Russia’s East — and countries of East and Inner Asia largely influenced by Tibetan culture.

To Publish, Make Known and Sell or Promoting Printed Books in the Incunabula Period

The study To Publish, Make Known and Sell is based on verified existence of competition tensions between the 15th century typographers/publishers, related to the absence of functional regulatory tools of book production of the incunabula period. The increase in the number of book-printers within the relatively narrow geographical area, disregard of publishers’ privileges, the emergence of pirated reprints, as well as insufficient self-promotion on the book market through introducing novelties had concentrated typographers’ attention on devising new tools of securing their triumph in publisher’s competition – the so called book advertisements. The author has analysed 44 promotional posters of the incunabula period from several points of view and attempted to identify their design elements, which on the one hand showed signs of certain standardization, while on the other hand they were subject to personal creativity of their creator. She gives detailed overview of the circumstances of the origin, typographic design and contents of book advertisements of several kinds within the context of promoting either the existing or planned editions, of one edition or a group of books; specifically focusing on the unique types of advertising. In conclusion, the author cites the circumstances of the extinction of book advertisements related to the rise of the new promotional tool – booksellers’ catalogue and submits a bibliography of the book advertisements dating from the 15th century.

Aggiornamenti su Bartolomeo Varnucci

This article outlines the figure of the Florentine Bartolomeo Varnucci, an illuminator who for decades had his workshop in the Badia Fiorentina, where he was assisted by his brothers Giovanni and Chimenti. They where all cartolai, craftsmen able to take care of the production of manuscripts as a whole, from the preparation of the parchment to the binding. Active from the third to the eighth decade of the fifteenth century, Bartolomeo was able to interpret the rise of humanistic book production, with its typical decoration of white vine stems, but also to move through the vast requests of the devotional world, more inclined to conservative artistic solutions. This contribution gives a complete survey of the artist’s milieu and work, adding several new works to his catalogue.

A training on digital book production for teachers at Lab School of UPI, Purwakarta

The Community Service Program (PkM) is designed to provide practical training on digital book production for teachers at Lab School of UPI, Purwakarta. This project was conducted offline with 9 participants, under the COVID-19 health protocol. The material was presented in 3 forms, termed face-to-face, Zoom video conferencing and the training video. Also, 4 open-source web-based softwares were explored, including Canva for book covers, Vocaroo as an audio explainer and Animaker for motion graphics-based videos. The results of these three applications were combined by Sigil into an EPUB-formatted digital book. Subsequently, the training employed an interactive format, with a combination of classical and practical activities. Based on the overall results, the participants were known to obtain extensive knowledge and hands-on experience in digital book compilation. These teachers were able to operate the digital tools to create book covers, online audio recording and animated videos, as well as integrate the independent copies into digital books. Furthermore, the material content, delivery method and practical implementation showed a satisfactory outcome by 86.2, 85 and 88%, respectively. Therefore, the newly acquired skills are expected to reflect on the teaching materials for online learning at SD Lab School of UPI Purwakarta, during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Phases of the Moon: A Study of 19th Century Scientific Book Illustrations, Providing a Comprehensive Catalogue for the First Three Editions of James Nasmyth & James Carpenter's The Moon: Considered as a Planet, a World, and a Satellite

James Hall Nasmyth (1808–1890) was an accomplished engineer and amateur astronomer. The culmination of Nasmyth's drawings from telescopic observation, the advent of photomechanical print processes, and his interest in the causative features of the lunar surface, led to the 1874 publication of The Moon: Considered as a Planet, a World, and a Satellite. This thesis provides a comprehensive catalogue of the lunar illustrations in the first three editions, revealing the aesthetic variations in the illustrative plates due to reproduction and print processes used. These processes include: engraving, photogravure, heliotype, lithograph, chromolithograph, and four different variations of the Woodburytype. The editions are contextualized using scientific photographs as illustrations, through a discussion of astronomy, book production, and Nasmyth's biography. Through an examination of Nasmyth's use of photography and permanent print processes, this thesis argues that his lunar illustrations remain an important scientific contribution.

The making of Sun Pictures in Scotland : influences and themes in Talbot's second photographic book

William Henry Fox Talbot, an amateur scientist known for his invention of the calotype process, published two photographic books in his lifetime. The first, The Pencil of Nature, has received a lot of scholarly attention while Sun Pictures in Scotland, his second, has been largely ignored. There is little to account for this oversight, yet Sun Pictures has hardly registered in academic discourse. This thesis is primarily aimed at describing the contents of Sun Pictures in Scotland, but also considers the subjects photographed in light of the numerous biographical resources published on the character and artistic personality of Talbot. It is apparent Talbot had an artistic purpose in undertaking Sun Pictures in Scotland. He photographed subjects that reflected his own interpretation of the popular picturesque style, and he attempted to assemble his book in a manner that resembled the current fashion in art book production.

The making of Sun Pictures in Scotland : influences and themes in Talbot's second photographic book

William Henry Fox Talbot, an amateur scientist known for his invention of the calotype process, published two photographic books in his lifetime. The first, The Pencil of Nature, has received a lot of scholarly attention while Sun Pictures in Scotland, his second, has been largely ignored. There is little to account for this oversight, yet Sun Pictures has hardly registered in academic discourse. This thesis is primarily aimed at describing the contents of Sun Pictures in Scotland, but also considers the subjects photographed in light of the numerous biographical resources published on the character and artistic personality of Talbot. It is apparent Talbot had an artistic purpose in undertaking Sun Pictures in Scotland. He photographed subjects that reflected his own interpretation of the popular picturesque style, and he attempted to assemble his book in a manner that resembled the current fashion in art book production.