Call for Contributions: edited volume After the Carolingians: Manuscript Illumination in the Tenth–Eleventh Centuries
Deadline: Jun 1, 2016

A great deal of research remains to be done on the substantial and
wide-ranging corpus of illuminated manuscripts produced in continental
Europe between the late ninth and late eleventh centuries. Whether
tucked away in footnotes or relegated to the status of comparanda, the
extant manuscripts from this difficult period of history — particularly
from the regions of modern-day France and Flanders — rarely receive the
focused attention they deserve. Yet many manuscripts from the tenth and
eleventh centuries have the potential to challenge our understanding of
fundamental issues of historical inquiry, including the nature of
artistic originality, various processes of transmission, the working
relationships between artists, patrons and scribes; even the essential
character and functions of illumination.

We seek papers that offer new perspectives on the culture of
illuminated books produced between c. 900 and c. 1050 outside the
established centers of art-historical focus in Anglo-Saxon England and
the Ottonian Empire. Studies of manuscripts originating beyond the
traditional geographic boundaries of the Carolingian Empire are most
welcome, as are studies that coordinate manuscripts with their physical
environment or with works of art in other media, and studies that
reflect upon relationships of “center and periphery” or questions of
regionalism, problematize the issue of artistic quality, or investigate
connections between tenth–eleventh century manuscripts and illumination
of other periods.

Papers will be collected in a volume to be published in the series
“Sense, Matter and Medium: New Approaches to Medieval Culture” (De
Gruyter). We wish also to propose a session on the topic of the volume
at the Annual Meeting of the Medieval Academy of America (Toronto,
April 6–8, 2017), which will double as a contributors’ meeting.

Submission: Please send an abstract of your proposed contribution (ca. 300 words) and let
us know whether you would be able to attend the MAA conference.
Deadline: June 1, 2016. Please contact us with any questions.

Beatrice Kitzinger (Princeton University, bkitzinger@princeton.edu)
Joshua O’Driscoll (The Morgan Library and Museum,
jodriscoll@themorgan.org)