Edits, Additions, and Historical "Conservation"

This exhibit provides an account of previous attempts at "conservation," or areas where additions or corrections were otherwise made to the manuscript. Barnard 1 has a long history and has changed hands many times. Its earlier history naturally involved actual use in the liturgy, and some additions or corrections reflect this purpose and the priorities of those needing to use the manuscript for worship. Other corrections and certainly efforts at "conservation" (scare quotes used intentionally here) undoubtedly date from this manuscript's life as a collector's object. The primary purpose here is to merely document aspects of the manuscript that are presumably unoriginal, and especially those which appear to have been made with the purpose of "preserving" it. Issues of Barnard 1's provenance and history are explored here, in a digital project curated by Claire Dwyer and Alina Shubina.

One particular kind of addition or annotation that is not addressed in this project are the various vertical lines that can be found throughout Barnard 1. A detailed account of these barlines has been compiled by Gareth Cordery, and can be found here.