Artist in Residence Brandon Graving, a sculptor and printmaker, was interested in the materials from which the early modern texts in our collection were constructed. She incorporated many of these papers, pigments, and processes into her original artwork.
Music with ink damage (c. 17th century)
Iron gall ink can be quite acidic in nature and over time it can corrode and leave holes in paper like this piece of 17th century music.
Held in the Kinney Center’s rare book collection.
Jean Bodin, De republica (1594)
Paolo Giovio, La prima parte dell'historie del svo tempo (1558)
Vellum (calfskin, treated and scraped but not tanned) was often used in book binding and sometimes for printing. Here, we see that the vellum binding has curled over time, revealing manuscript material used in the binding.
Held in the Kinney Center’s rare book collection.
Land Grant (1629)
Vellum was used for legal documents, as seen here, in addition to book binding as in the previous image. Note the creases from the original fold of the document visible here.
Held in the Kinney Center’s rare book collection.
Artist Brandon Graving highlight this original work printed on vellum using iron gall ink during her artist’s talk.
Visitors to the Elusive Prize exhibit discuss Brandon’s original works with Liz Fox, Arts & Academic Coordinator at the Kinney Center.
Antiphonal (c. 17th Century)
This Italian antiphonal is meant to be viewed by the entire choir and is a good example of manuscript on parchment. Parchment, like vellum, is animal skin that has been cleaned, dehaired, stretched, and dried to create a durable, surface for writing.
Held in the Kinney Center’s rare book collection.
French Book of Hours (c. 1375)
This single leaf from the Book of Psalms is written in Latin. The writing and decoration were done entirely by hand.
Held in the Kinney Center’s rare book collection.
Diego Nisseno, Quaresimale del Nisseno (1636)
It was common practice to bind books with leftover paper from other projects. This cover of this text is composed of two different manuscripts: one with portions of Tobias 6; the other from a missal.
Held in the Kinney Center’s rare book collection.
Artist Brandon Graving gives an artist’s talk to an engaged audience at the opening reception for the exhibit.
The University of Massachusetts-Amherst occupies the traditional homelands of the Nolwottog or Nonotuck Nation. For actions beyond statements of recognition of Native lands, see MCNAA.