I'm leaving in 36 hours or so

... for a month-long research trip, and my to-do list (see sidebar) has far too many items on it, many of which have to be done in the office, the morning of the day I leave (afternoon departure).

Lord help me.

Note to self: don't let laptop computer get stolen this time.

UPDATE: The Sunday to-do list is done! I mean, I've been living on diet coke all day, but I should be okay, provided I can get up at a decent hour tomorrow.

Image Interpretation: The Answer

Thanks so much to everyone who weighed in with comments on the last post.** Many people wanted the "answer," so I thought I'd post it here.

So, the first image is from a c. 13 MS of an illuminated copy of Justinian's Digest, depicting a manumission of a slave (rootlesscosmo got this, but cheated by actually reading the text -- pfftt!). People were certainly correct about the status difference between the two women, but had the relationship a bit backwards. I think the left two figures are a married couple. The right-hand figure is a judge, rather than a king -- Squadrato, good call on the ermine-trimmed robes, but they are also linked with particularly high-ranking justices, it seems. Either that, or the illuminator thinks that they should be.

The second image depicts a mother and her child coming before... who? Squadrato says a king, because of the crown and sword (both symbols of royal or at least high-ranking administrative authority), but the description I have describes the authority figure as a judge. Personally, I agree with Squadrato's assessment. On the other hand, this is from another Justinianic MS, so perhaps the illuminator just threw in whatever symbols of authority he could think of.

As for which is "best," I think the comments by Susan and GoodEnoughWoman are right on target: it depends on the type of interchange I'm trying to depict here. Is justice top-down, or is there the possibility of input from both sides?

In any case, I've also dug up a couple of other illustrations, but these are more colorful. I'm still not sure what I'm going to go with. But your comments have really helped me sort out how I feel about them. So thanks!


**Previous post poofed to avoid copyright issues.

Image Interpretation: A Bleg

::poof!::

Can you stand more good news?

I have tenure.

This has been a Very Good Week.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to do a couple hours of grading, then meet for lunch with the redoubtable Historiann!

Something I Hadn't Even Considered

Well now. Now that I've got the contract, it turns out there is a whole new world of things I haven't even considered yet, so I'm going to send up a cry for help. And it boils down to two words:

Cover art.

I mean, really. All I was thinking of was writing something that looked vaguely like a book. Make sure the argument is there. Check the references. Satisfy the readers. But cover art? Furthest thing from my mind. But now it seems like I've got to think about it.

There seem to be two types of cover art for a book on some aspect of the Middle Ages: the photograph of some medieval-y building, or a manuscript illumination. My camera isn't good enough to take one of the former (my best work tends to be close-up details, but I suppose that I might -- MIGHT -- run across something on my trip). As for MS illuminations, I work with texty stuff, rather than pictures, so I haven't even been looking for these things.

Anybody out there had to deal with this? What were your best sources? Really, any and all suggestions are welcome, because I don't even know where to start. Oh, and just by the way, I'm going to be the one responsible for getting the permissions, so I'm looking for something relatively straightforward.

Oh my my, Oh hell yes

...honey, put on that party dress.


I have a book contract.

Other things

No post today. Just a picture, to remind me that I used to be able to leave the apartment and walk around.