Kelin Michael
Emory University, Art History, Alumnus
This fascinating volume explores an important fifteenth-century illustrated manuscript tradition that provides a revealing glimpse of how western Europeans conceptualized the world. From the classical encyclopedias of Pliny to famous... more
This fascinating volume explores an important fifteenth-century illustrated manuscript tradition that provides a revealing glimpse of how western Europeans conceptualized the world.
From the classical encyclopedias of Pliny to famous tales such as The Travels of Marco Polo, historical travel writing has had a lasting impact, despite the fact that it was based on a curious mixture of truth, legend, and outright superstition. One foundational medieval source that expands on the ancient idea of the “wonders of the world” is the fifteenth-century French Book of the Marvels of the World, an illustrated guide to the globe filled with oddities, curiosities, and wonders—tales of fantasy and reality intended for the medieval armchair traveler. The fifty-six locales featured in the manuscript are presented in a manner that suggests authority and objectivity but are rife with stereotypes and mischaracterizations, meant to simultaneously instill a sense of wonder and fear in readers.
In The Book of Marvels, the authors explore the tradition of encyclopedias and travel writing, examining the various sources for geographic knowledge in the Middle Ages. They look closely at the manuscript copies of the French text and its complex images, delving into their origins, style, content, and meaning. Ultimately, this volume seeks to unpack how medieval white Christian Europeans saw their world and how the fear of difference—so pervasive in society today—is part of a long tradition stretching back millennia.
This volume is published to accompany an exhibition on view at the J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Center from June 11 to September 1, 2024, and at the Morgan Library & Museum from January 24 to May 25, 2025.
From the classical encyclopedias of Pliny to famous tales such as The Travels of Marco Polo, historical travel writing has had a lasting impact, despite the fact that it was based on a curious mixture of truth, legend, and outright superstition. One foundational medieval source that expands on the ancient idea of the “wonders of the world” is the fifteenth-century French Book of the Marvels of the World, an illustrated guide to the globe filled with oddities, curiosities, and wonders—tales of fantasy and reality intended for the medieval armchair traveler. The fifty-six locales featured in the manuscript are presented in a manner that suggests authority and objectivity but are rife with stereotypes and mischaracterizations, meant to simultaneously instill a sense of wonder and fear in readers.
In The Book of Marvels, the authors explore the tradition of encyclopedias and travel writing, examining the various sources for geographic knowledge in the Middle Ages. They look closely at the manuscript copies of the French text and its complex images, delving into their origins, style, content, and meaning. Ultimately, this volume seeks to unpack how medieval white Christian Europeans saw their world and how the fear of difference—so pervasive in society today—is part of a long tradition stretching back millennia.
This volume is published to accompany an exhibition on view at the J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Center from June 11 to September 1, 2024, and at the Morgan Library & Museum from January 24 to May 25, 2025.
Research Interests:
An exhibition curated by Dr. Sarah Bogue, Kelin Michael, and Emma C. de Jong. Devotion is a fully embodied activity that engages the senses as well as the heart and mind. The Materiality of Devotion: From Manuscript to Print provides... more
An exhibition curated by Dr. Sarah Bogue, Kelin Michael, and Emma C. de Jong.
Devotion is a fully embodied activity that engages the senses as well as the heart and mind. The Materiality of Devotion: From Manuscript to Print provides visitors with the opportunity to explore a variety of objects, texts, and images that supported devotional practices in the medieval and early modern world. The exhibition invites visitors to consider both the form and the content of these sources, which include traditional theological and biblical material as well as musical scores, cityscapes, and poetry. Though these materials have been removed from their original contexts (manuscript leaves excised from full books and books removed from their sacred or secular settings), the exhibition offers a glimpse into the rich and endlessly multimodal world of premodern devotion.
The exhibition draws on Pitts Theology Library’s medieval manuscripts as well as its world-renowned early print collection, and also benefits from generous loans made by the Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library and the Michael C. Carlos Museum.
This exhibition catalogue was in part funded by Mellon Humanities PhD Intervention Program and the Laney Graduate School New Thinkers/New Leaders Program.
Devotion is a fully embodied activity that engages the senses as well as the heart and mind. The Materiality of Devotion: From Manuscript to Print provides visitors with the opportunity to explore a variety of objects, texts, and images that supported devotional practices in the medieval and early modern world. The exhibition invites visitors to consider both the form and the content of these sources, which include traditional theological and biblical material as well as musical scores, cityscapes, and poetry. Though these materials have been removed from their original contexts (manuscript leaves excised from full books and books removed from their sacred or secular settings), the exhibition offers a glimpse into the rich and endlessly multimodal world of premodern devotion.
The exhibition draws on Pitts Theology Library’s medieval manuscripts as well as its world-renowned early print collection, and also benefits from generous loans made by the Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library and the Michael C. Carlos Museum.
This exhibition catalogue was in part funded by Mellon Humanities PhD Intervention Program and the Laney Graduate School New Thinkers/New Leaders Program.
