{"id":1525,"date":"2018-06-08T08:31:41","date_gmt":"2018-06-08T08:31:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staffblogs.le.ac.uk\/specialcollections\/?p=1525"},"modified":"2025-02-26T13:22:03","modified_gmt":"2025-02-26T13:22:03","slug":"the-beast-in-me-guest-post-by-armand-de-filippo-museum-studies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staffblogs.le.ac.uk\/specialcollections\/2018\/06\/08\/the-beast-in-me-guest-post-by-armand-de-filippo-museum-studies\/","title":{"rendered":"\u00a0The beast in me, guest post by Armand De Filippo (Museum Studies)"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

1. Immersive experience installed in the David Wilson Library, May 2018, as part of PhD research undertaken by Armand De Filippo.<\/p><\/div>\n

MS210 is a manuscript held in the Special Collections of the David Wilson Library, University of Leicester. This manuscript is the focus object of a PhD research study being undertaken by Armand De Filippo at the School of Museum Studies and funded by a CSSAH scholarship.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Manuscripts are an enduringly popular feature of exhibitions, yet, they are always contained in vitrine and often we cannot see them well, let alone touch them. This research project explores what happens when we do get to engage with manuscript materials using multiple senses and asks whether this has any potential implications for how museums and libraries exhibit manuscripts in the future. With heightened attention to the manuscript\u2019s materiality and by utilizing the potential of multimedia to enable physical and sensory encounters with manuscript materials, this study seeks to discover if more potent emotional and imaginative visitor reactions can be inspired.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>A life-thief stole my world strength,<\/em>
\nRipped off flesh and left me skin,<\/em>
\nDipped me in water and drew me out,<\/em>
\nStretched me bare in the tight sun;<\/em>
\nThe hard blade, clean steel, cut, <\/em>
\nScraped \u2013 fingers folded, shaped me.<\/em>
\nNow the wind-stiff joy <\/em>
\nDarts often to the horn\u2019s dark rim,<\/em>
\nSucks wood stain, steps back again \u2013<\/em>
\nWith a quick scratch of power, tracks<\/em>
\nBlack on my body, points trails.<\/em>
\nShield-boards clothe me and stretched hide,<\/em>
\nA skin laced with gold.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\nhttps:\/\/staffblogs.le.ac.uk\/specialcollections\/files\/2018\/06\/Old-English-Riddle-1-.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

Text from the Exeter Book <\/em>reproduced in Scraped, Stroked and Bound, <\/em>ed. Jonathan Wilcox (Turnhout: Brepols, 2013), pp.viii-ix. Read and translated by Dr Chris Monk.<\/p>\n

This extract, although from a collection of Anglo-Saxon poems and riddles, written in the 10th<\/sup> century, could just as well apply to a much later manuscript, one replete with its own set of mysteries and uncertainties, held in the University of Leicester\u2019s Special Collections. The manuscript enigmatically known as \u2018MS210\u2019, has been with the University since shortly after it was founded. Bequeathed to the University College in the 1920s, it has rested in its case, quietly guarding the details of its life and experiences. Indeed, it is with its slipcase, that the mystery begins.<\/p>\n\n\t\t