Raw Fish and Medieval Illuminations—Recent Digitisation in the Manuscripts Collection
Patrick White (1912–1990)
Notebook page with raw fish recipe
Manuscripts Collection, nla.ms-ms9982-2-7-s109
The Book of Hours
Manuscripts Collection, MS1097
Conservators Sophie Lewincamp
and Rowena Jameson positioning the medieval manuscript in the special stand
Photo: Greg Power
After an appetizing recipe for raw fish? Look no further than Item 7 of the recently digitised Patrick White literary notebooks, all 10 of which may now be viewed online at www.nla.gov.au/cdview/nla.ms-ms9982-2. The recipe is just one of the many fascinating images contained in the notebooks of the Nobel Prize-winning author, each of which adds a little insight (both quirky and scholarly) to our understanding of this intriguing personality.
White maintained the exercise books—with entries in pen and pencil and with many crossings out—over the course of his writing career, using them to record literary references, research notes and other minor oddities. Closer examination reveals that they are treasure troves, full of observations, first paragraphs, timelines and character descriptions containing the genesis of many works, across all genres. One notebook, kept in 1941, contains a passage that White reproduced almost verbatim in his autobiography, Flaws in the Glass, which was published 40 years later.
Leaping backwards 400 years, staff have also been engaged in the digitisation of two of the Library’s medieval Books of Hours. The volumes form part of the Clifford Collection (http://nla.gov.au/nla.ms-ms1097), which was purchased in 1963 from the Clifford family of Ugbrooke Park, Devon, one of the great Catholic families in England.
The items are currently on display at the State Library of Victoria as part of the The Medieval Imagination exhibition (March 2007–June 2008), and in preparation for their loan digital images were taken of the two volumes. The first, an Italian Book of Hours (late 15th or early 16th century), was judged robust enough to be photographed in its entirety, despite showing slight wear from use over the centuries. The volume contains some exquisite illuminated capitals and floral borders in the still vibrant colours of red, blue, yellow and green.
In consultation with staff from Manuscripts, Imaging Services, and Preservation Services, a special technique for photographing the volume was devised, using a stand, a bevelled glass sheet and special polyethylene straps. This proved very effective and has provided a model for future digitisation of other fragile or tightly bound volumes. An enthusiastic band of page turners was rostered for the important task of carefully strapping and positioning the volume for each of the 152 page turns for the photographer!
The second volume, a French early 15th century Book of Hours containing gold leaf, was deemed too fragile to be fully digitised at this stage, and only cover and page opening shots were able to be taken. At the time of writing, the images for both books are being compiled and we look forward with great enthusiasm to making them available online in the near future.Susan Thomas
Manager, Arrangement and Description, Manuscripts Branch



