Nicholas Sumrall, a Master’s Student in English and Medieval Studies Graduate Minor, will deliver a talk from his thesis: Demarginalizing Bede’s Margins: A Digital Codicological Reassessment of the Relationship between Marginalia and Body Matter in CCCC MS 41.

In his thesis, Nicholas conducted a paleographic study of an Old English manuscript that has recently been uploaded to an open-access digital database, the Parker Library on the Web. The manuscript is one of five surviving Old English translations of Bede’s Ecclesiastical History of the English People; in addition to this primary text, the manuscript also contains an eclectic assortment of charms, poetry, prayers, and homilies throughout its margins in a manner unparalleled in any other Old English manuscript.

Nicholas's talk is the final one in the Digital Scholarship Showcase for Spring 2024, hosted by the Digital Scholarship Interest Group, through the J.D. Williams Library.