Orsolya Medyanszky is a graduate student in the Department of the History of Art. She had been following the auction of an illuminated manuscript that was of special interest to her in her research, and was dismayed to see it had sold to a private buyer. To her surprise, it had been purchased by Johns Hopkins, and was presented with the book in person during a class she took with rare book curator Earle Havens. The new collection contains approximately 425 rare books, manuscripts, and other materials that detail the lives of early modern nuns and women who lived in convents. The majority of the items were printed between 1600-1800, and share biographical details of these women, such as age of first religious experience; age at marriage or refusal of marriage; medical afflictions; death of children; and overall lifespan (an astonishing number did not reach the age of 30). There is also a chilling account of the trials and public executions of heretics, accompanied by a series of fold-out etchings depicting the line of hundreds of bishops and nobles who attended the spectacle and the execution by burning itself. These women were able to preserve their histories through their unique access to printing presses provided by their convents and their status as holy women.
From the Judges
This entry presents a tiny thriller with scholarship at its core, celebrating the book as object, and also as repository of precious information. The well-told narrative brings heart and life to a subject that might otherwise seem dry.
