L`abbazia di Vezzolano by Bob Nyden

L’abbazia di Vezzolano
by Bob Nyden
If you set out to find a perfectly
charming old church in stunning Italian
wine country, you could hardly do better
than the Abbey of Santa Maria in
Vezzolano. The brick-and-sandstone
buildings rise naturally from the soil,
comfortable after 900 years on a verdant
hillside overlooking the hazy plains near
Asti. Approached from the east along a
minor local road, the antiquity is apparent
in the largely Romanesque style and
inevitable signs of alteration over the
centuries—a mismatched alignment, filled
window openings, variations in stone and
brickwork. But this is not just another old
building. It is one of the best-preserved
ancient monuments in the Piedmont
region of Italy, and has intriguing origins,
rare architectural features and engaging art.
L’abbazia di Santa Maria a Vezzolano
Although there is a founding document dated 27 February 1095, local
legend and well-preserved 14th-century wall art in the cloister give an older
origin. It is said that in 774, Charlemagne suffered a seizure (perhaps epileptic)
while hunting in the nearby forests of Albugnano and saw a terrifying vision of
three skeletons climbing out of a grave and dancing about. Cured after
appealing to Santa Maria, the Frankish ruler was inspired to found the abbey in
Her name in thanks. Whatever the truth about Charlemagne may be, it is likely
that a chapel existed on the site from the 8th c., perhaps as part of a castle or
private dwelling now lost. Later, the regular Augustinians of the abbey took in
pilgrims following one of the many pathways of the Via Francigena through
Piedmont to Rome and Jerusalem.
The present church grew unevenly through the end of the 12th century,
incorporating Romanesque and Gothic features. The original west front is still
to be seen, featuring three levels of blind Lombardian loggias and alternating
terracotta brick and creamy sandstone. The lunette above the portal shows the
Virgin enthroned, with Archangel Gabriel and a worshipper and the Holy Spirit
coming to her as a dove. Above them is Christ in majesty with Archangels
Michael and Raphael, and more angels of high order above them. There are a
number of glazed terracotta plates and pieces embedded in the façade, including
blue jewel-like roundels in Maria’s crown and brooch.
Western façade
Sarum Seminar News and Views
Vezzolano, p.1
Pearlies, p.4
Evelyn McMillan, editor
FALL 2011
Bells, p.7
In this issue:
Rembrandt, p.7
Bob Nyden, layout, co-editor
Program Notes, p.8
The church was
originally a three-aisle
basilica plan, but the
south aisle was walled
off in the 13th c. and
annexed to the adjacent
cloister, becoming its
north walk. The crossvaulted ceiling makes
striking use of red brick
Portal carving detail
stripes, as does the apse.
Though the body of the church is now asymmetrical, what surprises even
more is an unusually placed bridge and Gothic arcade cutting across the
nave, known as a jubè.¹ This is akin to an English rood screen or chancel
screen designed to separate the clergy from the laity. Because the body of
the church is not very long, this screen feels to the visitor as if it’s just
inside the door, leaving not much space for parishioners.
More interesting to me
than the placement is the
decoration on the jubè.
There are two rows of basrelief figures on the frieze.
Although blue and other
polychrome decorations
Chancel screen, or jubè
appear to be glazed or
enameled, the figures are actually painted and highly polished limestone. The
upper band shows three scenes from the tradition of the Dormition of the
Virgin.² From the left are the symbols for the evangelists John and Luke, then
the twelve apostles at the death of Mary. From the right are symbolized
Matthew and Mark and the corporeal as well as spiritual assumption of Mary to
heaven. At the center she appears in her triumphal arrival in paradise.
The lower frieze depicts 35 of the 40 traditional patriarchal ancestors of
Jesus, each carefully modeled and holding a banner with his name. The missing
five—Abraham, Isaac and Jacob from the beginning; another Jacob and Joseph
from the end—were once painted on the adjoining pilasters. Joseph is still
there. The omitted sculptures are considered evidence that the frieze was not
originally intended for this site but for one slightly wider. The style—which I
can only describe with the Italian term simpatico—is that of one Niccolò, who
was active in the mid 12th century. The inscription below the carvings includes Detail view of symbols for John and
notice that the work was completed during the reign of Federico Barbarossa,
Luke above three patriarchs.
1189. The subject, style and type of architecture used in the jubè are rare, and
likely represent the best, and best preserved, example in Italy.
Photomontage of the jubè frieze.
Overall about 6.66 m (21.8’) wide.
¹ From the French jubé, a gallery or loft from which the words Jube, Domine, benedicere were spoken.
² Dormition or Assumption of the Virgin: The tradition holds that the Emperor Marcian and his wife Pulcheria [AD 450] wanted to
possess the body of Mary, Mother of God. St. Juvenal, at that time Bishop of Jerusalem, made known to the Emperor that Mary died in
the presence of all the Apostles, but her tomb, when opened at the request of St. Thomas, was found empty. After this, the Apostles
believed that Mary's body was taken up to heaven along with her soul. The belief in the corporeal Assumption of the Virgin is universal in
the East and in the West and is founded on an apocryphal treatise, written around the 4th or 5th century, and attributed to St. John. The
subject appeared in Byzantine art around the 6th century.
2
14th-century fresco in the cloister.
An intimate cloister provides a setting for comforting repose but also
shelters a fine collection of frescoed walls. The best preserved, pictured
here, is a 14th c. imagining of the Redeemer with symbols of the evangelists
in the upper part and the nativity of Jesus including the Magi in the center.
The bottom scene seems to show the legendary apparition of skeletons to
Charlemagne and two of his knights. A monk helpfully suggests asking
Santa Maria for help.
The former lodge of the abbey houses a small exhibition graphically
rendering geometrical and astronomical studies done recently about the
proportions and siting of the church. (See below) One panel shows the
relationships possible between a medieval builder’s square and the ratios
used in dimensioning the building, making clear how the various ratios can
be easily obtained. Another does the same for windows and arches using
only circles.
Other sections lay out how carefully the church was aligned with the
astronomical compass. Because Mary is associated with the Moon (as Christ
is with the Sun), a modern astronomy computer program was used to
determine the sight lines those two bodies would have provided in the 12th
century. It was found that the equinoctial sunset and matching moonrise
would have shown through the windows and internal openings of the
church as shown in the rendering below. A treatise by medieval
mathematician and astronomer Guido Bonatti da Forli is cited as evidence
for the strict application of astronomy in church planning.
However, my wife, Cyndy, and I found during our visit to the abbazia that
it is fine to ignore the specifics of history and analysis, to simply enjoy the
stillness enhanced only by birdsong, and to revel in the beauty of both
setting and structure. Aside from the endearing jubè statuary, there are
striking carvings throughout the building, from religious figures to delicate
foliage on column capitals. The building itself, from its alluring setting to
the arresting brick-and-cream palette and uncommon physical features
evoke for me the planners and builders from a past millennium, my favorite
way to make history real.
For more pictures of the church, visit this Italian Web-site:
http://www.medioevo.org/artemedievale/Pages/Piemonte/Vezzolano.html
Other references:
http://www.comune.asti.it/turismo/itinerari‐turistici/abazzia‐vezzolano.shtml
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13181a.htm
http://www.cultorweb.com/Vezzolano/V.html
http://tars.rollins.edu/Foreign_Lang/Russian/assumpt.html
Plan view, dimensioned in Roman
cubits (1 cubit = 44.4 cm = 17.4 in.)
Window layout
using only a
compass.
Sarum Seminar News and Views Fall 2011
La luce a Vezzolano, sun and moon alignments.
3
The Pearly Kings and Queens of London by Bob Scott
Our friend, Paul Rock, is a lifelong resident of London with whom we occasionally stay when we visit there. Paul's
knowledge of the city and its hidden treasures are encyclopedic, and during our visits he often plans outings to places and
events we would never otherwise know about. During one visit a few years ago he told us that his housekeeper, Carol Jolly,
would be coming by the next day to clean and mentioned that she is one of London's Pearly Queens. This was our
introduction to Pearlies.
We met Carol who told us that she was the Pearly Queen of Westminster having inherited this title from her mother,
whose family apparently traced its roots back to one of London's original Pearly Queens. She also revealed that on the first
Sunday of October the Pearlies hold an annual harvest festival at their parish church of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Trafalgar
Square. Last October Julia and I visited London and arrived in time to attend the annual gathering of Pearlies at St. Martin’s.
The accompanying pictures will give you some idea of the scene we encountered outside the church, unlike anything we had
ever seen before on the streets of London—or anywhere else.
Though it was hard to estimate their numbers as
they were milling about on the front porch and steps of
St. Martin's prior to the service, there were probably
close to 40. There were Pearly Kings and Queens (we
learned later that each borough has one or more of
each), but also Pearly Princesses and Princes, some of
them in their twenties and thirties, and even one young
Cockney boy who looked to be six or seven. As you
can see from the photos, their costumes were lavishly
adorned with what look to be thousands of pearl
buttons sewn onto the fabric of their clothing, covering
their hats and shoes and adorning their handbags and
other accoutrements. Many proudly displayed their title
and borough on the back of their costumes.
This event peaked my curiosity and led me to do
some research about London Pearlies. I discovered a
complicated story about a charitable institution whose
members, while generous in doing good deeds, are now
a community full of conflict, rivalries, bitter divisions,
Pearly Kings, Queens, Princes and Princesses
allegations of corruption, even a lawsuit. Most
in front of St. Martin-in-the Fields, London
surprising of all, the story ended with a direct
connection to Salisbury Cathedral, which I will get to
eventually. But first the story: who are the Pearlies and
where do they come from?
Pearlies date to the late 19th and early 20th centuries
and originated among the Cockney costermongers
(street traders) of London. Like everything about them,
how they originated and who started them is a matter of
dispute. One widely accepted version claims that
Pearlies were the inspiration of Henry Croft, an orphan
street urchin born in 1860 who wanted to help some of
the needy he encountered on his daily rounds as a street
vendor and rat catcher. Croft decided to establish a
charity that would collect money to help those who
were down-and-out. His organization combined three
elements of Cockney sub-culture: 1) the practice of
sewing mother-of-pearl buttons on the seams of their
trousers and jackets (one version of the origin of that
custom is that mother-of-pearl buttons became available
in abundance because in the 1860s a large cargo from
Japan was apparently dumped overboard in London and
landed on the banks of the Thames); 2) the naming of
Kings of particular vending areas in the streets of
London to protect other Cockney venders from
potential intruders on their turf; 3) the custom of
passing the hat to help people in need. Croft's idea was
to bring attention to his new charity by sewing vast
4
quantities of pearly buttons on his suit, recruiting "Kings" and
"Queens" from each of London's 32 boroughs, and sending
members out to collect money for charitable purposes.
The original Pearly association was established in Finchley in
1911. Each borough was allowed to appoint multiple kings and
queens but with the apparent understanding that one couple
would hold a kind of "uber" title of king and queen representing
each borough. In addition, by custom there was to be one "uberuber" king and queen for the whole of the city. Thus was born
the Pearly Kings and Queens of London.
Members who were designated as Kings and Queens
adorned their clothing with ever more elaborate designs and
quantities of mother-of-pearl buttons to the point that it was not
unusual for some members to have as many as 12,000 mother-ofpearl buttons on their attire. There was even one costume that
reportedly held 30,000 buttons and weighed more than 60
Pearly King and taxicab
pounds. And one photo I found on the Internet shows a Pearly
King London taxi driver standing next to his elaborately adorned pearly cab.
These early Pearlies attended public events throughout London to raise money for their charity. One source reports that
during his lifetime (Croft died in 1930) the society of Pearlies raised £5,000 for charity, most of it going to help support those
who were suffering in London's hospitals or who were otherwise in need of financial relief. This custom of raising money for
charity continues; at the ceremony we attended at St. Martin-in-the-Fields, members worked the crowd passing the bucket to
collect donations for the needy.
By the time of Croft's death there were Pearly Kings and Queens in each of London's
boroughs, with more than 400 members—all of whom attended his funeral. Croft was buried
in Finchley cemetery, and in 1934 a statue recognizing him as the original Pearly King was
placed at his gravesite, paid for by the charities his work helped to support. It remained there
until 1975 when it was vandalized, at which time it was removed to the crypt of St. Martin-inthe-Fields, where it presently resides. Perhaps this explains the connection between the
Pearlies and St. Martin's.
With exceptions, most contemporary Pearlies seem to agree on this account of how the
Pearlies began. That said, they now disagree about nearly everything else related to Pearlies,
making the details of their current history difficult to correlate. Much of the information that
survives appears in advocacy pieces written by proponents on all sides of an increasingly
rancorous series of disputes that has divided the community into warring factions. Knowing
who to believe is no easy matter, so with apologies to any Sarumistas who may be closet
members of one faction or another of the London Pearlies, here is my take on where matters
presently stand.
There is not one Pearly society but three, united only by rabid disagreement among
themselves and a common infatuation with mother-of-pearl buttons. One major source of
conflict between two of the three factions surrounds an allegation of misappropriation of
funds dating back to the 1970s involving a member of the "Original" Pearlies, one Margaret
Hemsley, treasurer and Pearly Queen of the Borough of Harrow. Repeated investigations of
her activities have produced no evidence of wrongdoing, but the fact that such allegations
were made resulted in hard feelings among rival groups of Pearlies that continue to fester.
A second source of conflict involves the issue of who can and who cannot lay claim to
being a "true" Pearly king or queen. As members of the original late 19th and early 20th
century families of Pearly Kings and Queens of London died off, their titles were handed on
to sons and daughters generation after generation to the present day. This practice made
Pearly titles hereditary. The source of the current dispute between two of the three main
Henry Croft’s statue.
factions (see below) over inheritance of titles came about as a consequence of World Wars I
and II. During the Great War, there were high casualty rates among British soldiers, many of
them young men from London Cockney communities. During WWII, there were additional casualties among those serving in
the military and also among the civilian populations of London during the Blitz who were either killed or made homeless and
dispersed to communities outside of London. In consequence a number of Pearly titles became vacant and went unclaimed.
To fill them, people who considered themselves original Pearlies began recruiting new members from among people who were
regarded as friends of the Pearlies, individuals who had helped promote the Pearly cause but had no hereditary claim to Pearly
titles. A problem arose between the Originals and the new recruits when some of these newly named members of Pearly
royalty began to appear at public events representing themselves as "true" Pearlies, rather than mere agents of the originals.
Sarum Seminar News and Views Fall 2011
5
Over time the original Pearlies and what some originals dismissively call "pretenders" were at each other's throats, hurling
insults, questioning faux claims to titles, confronting one another at public gatherings, calling one another out as fraudulent
and so on. It was in this context that the factions solidified. To set themselves apart from pretenders to the throne, original
Pearlies created a new organization called "The Original Pearly Kings and Queens Association" (the "Association") with St.
Martin-in-the-Fields its parish church; the rival group responded by organizing itself as the "London Pearly Kings and Queens
Society" (the "Society") and adopted St. Paul's, Covent Garden, as its parish church. A third group, the Pearly Guild, was
formed by members of both camps who were disgusted by actions of members of the other two groups and therefore
announced that they wanted nothing to do with either of them.
This war between and among them continues, further fueled by a practice adopted by the Society of reaching out to the
larger Cockney community in London. In an apparent effort by Society members to locate and ultimately lay claim to
unoccupied original royal titles, the webpage of the Pearly Society features the following invitation: "ARE YOU A PEARLY
FAMILY RESTING YOUR FAMILY TITLE. IF SO, CONTACT US.”
Periodic calls for understanding and detente by saner heads in all three organizations have come to naught, as have
periodic invitations for Pearlies of all stripes to come together in communion at events such as the October Harvest Festival
or their memorial service held each May in honor of the founder, Henry Croft. One such gathering held in 1975 at St.
Martin-in-the-Fields began on a civil note but quickly deteriorated into highly visible squabbling that ended with pushing and
shoving among the warring parties. Based on e-mail exchanges that have been posted on the Internet, there is every indication
that relations between the members of the Association and the Society remain frosty and occasionally turn downright ugly
with colorful exchanges of insults richly laced with Cockney aphorisms. Some “Originals" have taken to referring to members
of the Pearly Society dismissively as "Plastic Pearlies" who have lost their senses by being "hit over the head with a bag of
buttons.” One media report about the Pearly wars mentions a lawsuit (evidently still pending) in which the Society and the
Association have gone to court to settle the question of who should have rightful ownership of a collection of original Pearly
costumes, including Croft's original suit, and there continue to be allegations of impropriety in spending of funds raised by
different groups of Pearlies.
Perhaps the most heated debate centers around one Pearly King, George Major, who, depending on who is writing,
belongs either to the Society or the Guild. Major laid claim to the title of Pearly King of Peckham and managed to gain
considerable prominence by posing as spokesman for the larger Pearly community. Members of the warring camp began to
investigate his background and discovered that he had spent time in prison for public welfare fraud. This gave rise to a form
of character assassination that in turn drew defenders to his aid. The whole matter took a decidedly tawdry turn when two of
Major's stepdaughters began publicly exchanging hostile messages about him. One daughter portrayed him as a fine father
and role model for his children; the other countered by revealing that as youngsters local authorities had the two sisters
removed from their home because of concerns about child abuse on his part. All in all, fairly ugly stuff.
This is where matters presently stand, a kind of frostiness among the three groups, whose only bond appears to be that
they all wear attire covered in buttons.
So what has all this got to do with Salisbury Cathedral? Well, more than you might think. Nicholas Holtam has been the
Rector of St. Martin-in-the-Fields for some time, and in 1997 he stepped into the middle of the Pearly wars in an effort to
make peace among the three warring factions. He invited members of all three organizations to St. Martin's to attend a
consecration service that proved to do little more than provide yet another occasion for the public spewing of venom.
And who, you may wonder, is Nicholas Holtam? Well, later this fall he will be installed as Nicholas, the next Bishop of
Sarum! Small world.
6
A Tour of the Whitechapel Bell Foundry
by A. Richard Jones
Tours of the Whitechapel Bell Foundry on Whitechapel Road in
London are extremely popular: tickets go on sale 1 September for the
following year and usually sell out in a few days. This foundry has been
in business probably from 1420, and surely from 1570, to the present.
It cast Big Ben and the Liberty Bell (although the colonists had to recast
the Liberty Bell twice). In recent times, its business has suffered because
bells seldom wear out, and most churches have all the bells they require.
To stay in business, the foundry has turned to hand-bells and bell frame
renovations. Nevertheless, they still cast large bells in the traditional
way. Naturally, they are big fans of hand-bell choirs and change ringing
—the more bells in the peal, the better.
The process for large bells begins with making molds—an exterior
mold and an interior mold—from loam, a mixture of sharp sand, clay,
horse manure, and goat hair. The bell is cast by pouring a molten tin/
copper alloy between the inner and outer molds. Once cooled, the bell
is removed from the molds and tuned. This fascinating process involves
removing metal from various locations inside the bell so that the
Exterior mold with template still inside.
fundamental, or ‘buzz tone’ and the first four overtones become the
desired fundamental note and its first four harmonics. Long experience and some sophisticated math during tuning achieve an
accuracy of a hundredth of a semitone for all five of these notes, usually in less than a day’s work. One customer demands a
much higher accuracy: 1/100 of a cycle per second. That requires tuning at a controlled temperature and takes days to
accomplish, but they do it.
Besides the founding operation for large bells, shops scattered about the building make the accoutrements to bells: frames,
wheels, ringers, ropes, etc., and make the smaller bells with a simpler casting process using sand frames. The very
knowledgeable guide discussed everything anybody asked in depth, with apologies to the uncomprehending.
Several videos at http://www.projectexplorer.org/ms/se/whitechapel.php provide an excellent tour substitute.
The foundry’s website is http://www.whitechapelbellfoundry.co.uk/index.htm
Photo: A. Richard Jones
Rembrandt’s Power by Asa Mittman
My wife and I travelled to the Netherlands for the first time
in June. We stayed in a lovely flat in Amsterdam, adjacent to the
Prinsengracht, and travelled to Haarlem and the Hague. While
standing before the Rembrandt self-portrait in the Mauritshuis, I
was struck nearly to tears. Painted in the last year of his life,
and possibly his last of nearly 100 self-portraits, it is a
breathtaking work. This had as much to do with context as
with the work, of course—I had seen only the day before his
earliest surviving painted self-portrait, that from 1628 in the
Rijksmuseum. The youthful work is a whirl of self-confidence,
of promise and bold exploration of new techniques to
render not only three-dimensional form but also light, and the
moods it can convey.
1628
The late work is heartrending not because
Rembrandt’s powers of
representation are
diminished. Quite to the
contrary, it is because they are
so clearly in evidence. By this
point in his life, Rembrandt
had lost everything—his
1669
parents, his brothers, two wives,
three of his children, and also his great wealth, culminating in the auction of his
home and furnishings. Everything, that is, except for that which made him great in the first
place: his ability to render, through subtle manipulations of tone, not only form, light, and
shadow, but a tremendous, almost overpowering sense of individual character and emotion.
Sarum Seminar News and Views Fall 2011
7
Sarum Seminar’s 2011-12 Season
By Julia Fremon, Program Chair & Treasurer
We have an exciting line-up of Sarum seminars and events
this year—you can mark your calendar now for dates all the
way through March. Late spring details will follow soon.
We’ll kick off the year with a party! Lynn Carr has
generously offered once again to host the Members’
Potluck in her lovely Los Altos garden. (The address will be
included in the invitation e-mailed to dues-paying Sarum
Seminar Members closer to the date.)
Saturday, September 24, 5:00-8:30 pm
The seminar season begins in October with a special
appearance by Sarum Seminar’s old friend, Tim TattonBrown. Tim was the Cathedral Archeologist at Salisbury
Cathedral for many years, and also works on other great
churches in England as well as writing books and scholarly
articles on his findings. Besides lecturing in our courses in
Salisbury and at Stanford in the early years, some of you will
remember that he led us around Romsey Abbey and
Winchester Cathedral, sharing his extensive knowledge of
Gothic architecture and English history. For this seminar he
will tell us about two of his more recent projects, Westminster
Abbey—The Marble and Porphyry Pavements & Deconstructing the
West Front.
Thursday, October 13, 7-9 pm at CASBS, 75 Alta Road,
Stanford (6-7 brown-bag).
In November we move down to campus for the first of this
year’s free public lectures in the Medieval Matters series
that we co-sponsor with Stanford Continuing Studies and
other University departments. We are delighted to host
Anthony Grafton, the noted Princeton University historian.
If you Google him, you will see his long list of books on a
wide range of subjects and his many awards. His Stanford
talk is titled, Jewish Ritual in Christian Eyes: Crossing Cultures and
Religions in the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries.
Wednesday, November 2, 7:30 pm at Geology 105,
Stanford.
☞ This lecture will be preceded by a Medieval Matters
Reception hosted by Sarum Seminar and the Office for
Religious Life, in the beautiful Round Room at Memorial
Church, where we can meet the speaker and the other
Medieval Matters sponsors. This event will be open to all
our own paid-up members and faculty. ($10 drop-in fee for
Basic Members—another reason to sign up for a Full
Membership where all seminars and receptions are pre-paid!)
Wednesday, November 2, 5:15-6:30 at Memorial Church
Round Room, Stanford.
Then what better holiday treat than an evening with our own
Virginia Jansen, where we’ll hear what she has been
learning in her travels around the cities of Central Europe
and Italy. An architectural historian and Professor Emerita
at UC Santa Cruz, Virginia specializes in the history of
medieval cathedrals and secular buildings, and lately has been
8
focusing on urban planning. She was in Poland earlier this
year and is off to Croatia this month, whose cities will be
new to most of us. Her talk is, Chaotic or Planned? City
Development in the Middle Ages—A Discussion Masquerading As a
Travelogue.
Tues., December 13, 7-9 pm at CASBS (6-7 brown-bag).
In January we will hear from our fellow Sarum Seminar
Members with short talks about their researches, reading,
and interesting travels. Start thinking about what you’d like
to present and zap me a note.
Monday, January 9, 7-9 pm at CASBS (6-7 brown-bag).
Then it’s time for another Sarum Seminar tradition, the
January Potluck at the Joneses' house in Los Altos Hills.
Ann is hoping to include a musical program of some sort.
Stay tuned for details.
Saturday, January 7, 21 or 28, 5-9 pm
The Medieval Matters lecture that was postponed last May
due to illness of the speaker has been rescheduled for Winter
Quarter. Robert Durling, Emeritus Professor of Italian &
English Literature at UC Santa Cruz, will talk about his work
of many years, the acclaimed translation of Dante’s entire
Divine Comedy into English. His lecture is titled, Dante Now.
Thursday, February 2, 7:30 pm at Annenberg
Auditorium, Stanford.
☞ The lecture will once again be preceded by a Medieval
Matters Reception, 5:15-6:30 at Memorial Church
Round Room. See November for details.
The popular evening hosted every year by John Mustain,
Stanford’s Special Collections Librarian, will be held in
March this year. For his presentation of Medieval Treasures
and Other Delights, John assembles a fascinating display of rare
books and manuscripts from the Stanford collection,
focusing on a particular theme that he knows will be of
interest to our members.
Wednesday, March 7, 7-9 pm at Green Library, Stanford.
We are still working on seminar plans for April and May.
We expect to have another Medieval Matters lecture and
reception during this time, plus a seminar at CASBS. Stay
tuned.
Our June speaker is set, thoughKerry McCarthy, a Stanford
Ph.D. and Early Music Singer now on the music faculty at
Duke University. Kerry traveled with us to Salisbury several
times and spoke to our group while she was developing her
dissertation. It will be exciting to see her and to hear what
she’s working on now.
June date to be announced, 7-9 pm at CASBS (6-7
brown-bag).
Finally, it’s always fitting to end the year as it began, with
another party. Can you host the Members' Potluck in late
May or June? If it seems a daunting task to take on alone,
consider teaming up with another member you’ve gotten to
know over a brown-bag supper on seminar nights.