'Marvelous Medieval Marginalia' exhibit set for Spencer Library debut

LAWRENCE — Pens, markers and highlighters are among the items not allowed in Kenneth Spencer Research Library’s Reading Room due to their ability to damage materials, but a new exhibit set to debut in March welcomes an observation of the scribbles and doodles made years ago in medieval manuscripts. 

“Marvelous Medieval Marginalia: Drawings, Doodles, and Notes on the Edges of Readers’ Imaginations,” organized by Special Collections Curator Eve Wolynes, will be installed in Spencer Research Library’s exhibit space by the end of the month and officially open to the public with a curator talk and reception at 10 a.m. March 8. 

While modern markings on KU Libraries’ public holdings are, of course, frowned upon, the marginalia exhibit acknowledges and celebrates historic notes and the larger context they provide about the people who penned them and the times they lived in. 

“Doodling is a time-honored tradition across the centuries, and it's one that visitors have probably participated in themselves," Wolynes said. “I want to show how medieval people were humans, too. They added fun flairs to their work in moments of boredom and were active thinkers who argued, agreed and reflected on the books they read.” 

Via an interactive component, exhibit visitors are invited to add their own scribbles to the display, which will be open to the public during regular hours through the end of the semester.  

“I hope visitors can see themselves as active 'readers' of the exhibit and that it's a space where they can add their own doodles,” Wolynes said. “But also that it's something they can do more than 'consume' — that they can, like medieval readers, debate, discuss and annotate the exhibit as well.” 

Wolynes’ selections for display span a wide variety of books from “elite products illuminated with real gold and vibrant hues” to more practical, everyday tomes such as an early veterinary guide to horses. 

“I wanted to pay tribute to the everyday doodler and the anonymous reader rather than the professional artist and esteemed author,” she said, noting the whimsy and fun of some of the informal additions to the manuscripts’ margins. “There are silly little (doodles) like fat ponies, or weird faces and hands. And they're often very sneaky, like a tiny face in an otherwise very serious text about the law, or a plump, round bird on the last page of a codex about theology.” 

Wolynes hopes the exhibit will help inspire the KU community and public to further explore the world-class collections at Spencer Research Library.  

“We have a really exceptional collection of medieval and early modern manuscripts,” Wolynes said, noting the Spencer Research Library houses more than 200 medieval manuscripts. “The vast majority of American universities are lucky to have a single codex or a handful of fragments and leaves.”  

Spencer Research Library is located behind Strong Hall on the University of Kansas main campus in Lawrence. The easiest way to reach the library is from Jayhawk Boulevard. Visitors can walk through the rotunda of Strong Hall and cross the terrace connected to the library. Snow and icy conditions may close the terrace during the winter months, when visitors are encouraged to use Spencer's ground floor entrance, beneath the terrace. The closest parking option during regular weekday business hours is the Mississippi Street Garage, adjacent to the Kansas Union.