Library Fires, Medieval English Manuscripts, and the Value of Old

Library Fires, Medieval English Manuscripts, and the Value of Old Books

Listen now

Description

Matthew Fisher, associate professor of English at the University of California, Los Angeles, discusses the earliest collections of medieval English manuscripts, the fires that almost destroyed them, and the radical changes in archival procedures that followed. This is part of the Zambrano Lecture Series at The Huntington.

More Episodes

See all »

Chop Suey, USA: How Americans Discovered Chinese Food

Yong Chen, professor of history at the University of California, Irvine, discusses the historical forces that turned Chinese food, a cuisine once widely rejected by Americans, into one of the most popular ethnic foods in the U.S.

Published 02/23/18

Miraculous Things: The Culture of Consumerism in the Renaissance

Martha Howell, professor of history at Columbia University and the R. Stanton Avery Distinguished Fellow, discusses the meaning attached to goods—both humble and luxurious—during the Renaissance. The era is considered by many to be the first age of commercial globalism.

Published 02/08/18

Decoding the Book: Printing & the Birth of Secrecy

Bill Sherman, director of the Warburg Institute in London, delivers the inaugural annual lecture honoring David Zeidberg, recently retired Avery Director of the Library. In his presentation, Sherman traces the modern field of cryptography back to the Renaissance and asks what role the invention...

Published 01/25/18