Archive and Special Collections Field Trip!
Today, our class went to the archives at the SCU library and it was lots of fun! I liked hearing the background history of just some of the many different types of artifacts in our collection. It's so interesting to me to see how over the centuries, the way of exchanging ideas through physical mediums has evolved.
In particular, I noted the importance of the accordion fold, which according to the staff, can be seen as the bridge between the ancient scroll and the standard book form of today aka "codex." I also noticed the various different materials in which words were recorded on. I saw examples of cuneiform, papyrus, parchment, and even paper made out of plant pulp. I was even made aware that sometimes animal skin was used as a writing medium! I was first surprised to hear how this material could hold up so well over the years, but after hearing the process to how it was converted into a sort of "paper," I can now see why it would preserve so well.
The piece of text that I found the most fascinating to learn about was perhaps The Epic of Gilgamesh, which is apparently the oldest piece of literature. Even though I could only see the epic through the screen, I though it really interesting to see how an entire story could be carved into stone and hold up over the years! In contrast, I loved the tiny books and found it crazy that I could even read the writing. I can't believe our library just received such a large donation of those tiny novels - over 3,000!
Overall, I enjoyed my visit and found it to be a very enriching and engaging experience. It was full of relevant information that I will be able to apply as we continue learning about these different books from different time periods and cultures as well as book history in general.
Hi Catalina! That trip to the Archives & Special Collections was actually super fun! I too was surprised by the fact that animal skin was used as a writing medium and how durable it is. I'm happy to hear that someone else also liked the tiny books! The tiny books are so cute but also carry information!
ReplyDeleteHey Catalina! I actually really enjoyed this experience too! I thought seeing the Epic of Gilgamesh was interesting too.I also liked seeing the little stone that had been carved as a receipt for a cattle transaction. It's really interesting to see that receipts were even used back then and how much they've changed and been updated.
ReplyDeleteHi Catalina, I never saw the codex, but it sounds like a pretty unique creation from what you said. I also agree that it is really cool to see how the writing of the epic of Gilgamesh is still holding up today after being carved onto stone. I'm interested to see just how much effort it takes to carve things into stone and what happens if they misspell a word.
ReplyDeleteI also found the whole Epic of Gilgamesh tablet to be very interesting. The idea that we have so much of a story that is the oldest recorded literature is fascinating to me. Even though there was that one cuneiform receipt that we got to see, I think it would be really cool to see the actual Gilgamesh tablet and its scale.
ReplyDeleteHi Catalina! I also loved how our visit to the library was super engaging! I was a little scared of handling such valuable pieces of art, but holding the text and flipping through the pages really made me appreciate books for the complete art form they are. So much hard work was put into preserving these messages and I think its awesome that we have so many pieces in our library!
ReplyDeleteI had no idea the Epic of Gilgamesh is the oldest piece of literature in the world! It just goes to show the diversity of interesting topics that were at the archives. It's so cool to me that this modern era even has something like that.
ReplyDeleteWhen we move to our last book this quarter and consider indigenous storytelling, the issue of how literature is preserved becomes even more complicated!
ReplyDelete