Today at Manuscript, Rare Book & Archive Studies (MARBAS) we're highlighting the source of our little draconic logo, which comes from the codex British Library, Add MS 21160. This is a 13th/14th century manuscript of the Hebrew Bible and it contains multiple examples of micrography: an art form that creates representational or abstract designs from miniature Hebrew letters. This was a distinctive technique created by Hebrew scribes in medieval Christian Europe and the Islamicate world.

Our micrographic dragon appears on folio 19r, alongside Genesis 1:24–25's description of God's creation of the land animals. More examples of micrographic creatures abound through the manuscript -- take a look at its digitized reproduction on the British Library's Digitised Manuscripts webpage ( https://www.bl.uk/manuscripts/Viewer.aspx?ref=add_ms_21160_fs019r ) to see more!

@bookhistodons @medievodons #Manuscripts #HebrewManuscripts #Micrography #Medieval

#introduction

This is the account for Manuscript, Rare Book & Archive Studies (MARBAS) at Princeton. We're an initiative dedicated to sharing resources and techniques related to textual artifacts produced before 1600. That's manuscripts, archival documents, early printed books, papyri, inscriptions, the list goes on! We're all about premodern texts and the multitudes of materials that have carried them.

We'll be posting about #MedievalManuscripts, #BookHistory, and #SpecialCollections from a range of geographies and across #Antiquity, #LateAntiquity, and the #Medieval period.

Looking forward to connecting with @antiquidons, @histodons, @medievodons, @bookhistodons, and others!

https://marbas.princeton.edu/