Mellon Summer Institutes in Vernacular Paleography

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Legal document, 1584. French. Newberry Case 6A 46, collection of legal documents from 1515-1752, item 4, f. 1r

Funded by a major grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, these summer institutes provide intensive practical training in reading late medieval, Renaissance, and early modern manuscripts in European vernacular hands: English, French, Italian, and Spanish. The institutes emphasize the skills needed for the accurate reading and transcription of vernacular texts, but attention may also be given to the instruments of research, codicology, analytical bibliography, and textual editing, depending on the expertise of the instructors and the nature of the historical documents under consideration.

The institutes are hosted by the Newberry Center for Renaissance Studies, the Folger Institute at the Folger Shakespeare Library, the Getty Research Institute, and the Huntington Library.

Each institute enrolls 15 participants. First consideration is given to advanced PhD students and junior faculty at U.S. colleges and universities, but applications will also be accepted from advanced PhD students and junior faculty at Canadian institutions, from professional staff of U.S. and Canadian libraries and museums, and from qualified independent scholars. Advanced language skills are required. Applicants selected for admission receive a stipend to help defray the cost of attending the institute.

The Mellon paleography initiative is headquartered at the Newberry’s Center for Renaissance Studies. For general information about the program, please contact Carla Zecher, Director of the Center for Renaissance Studies, at (312) 255-3514 or renaissance@newberry.org. For application forms and more detailed information about individual institutes, please contact the host institutions.

Past Mellon Summer Institutes

Summer Institutes, 2013 - 2016

2013 - application deadline is March 1

Mellon Summer Institute in Spanish Paleography

June 3 - 21, 2013
Newberry Center for Renaissance Studies
60 West Walton Street
Chicago, IL 60610-7324
renaissance@newberry.org
312-255-3514
www.newberry.org

Mellon Summer Institute in French Paleography

July 22 - August 16, 2013
Getty Research Institute
1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 1100
Los Angeles, CA 90049-1688
kdecker@getty.edu
310-440-7402
www.getty.edu/research

2014

Mellon Summer Institute in English Paleography

The Folger Institute
Folger Shakespeare Library
201 East Capitol Street SE
Washington, DC 20003
institute@folger.edu
202-675-0333
www.folger.edu/institute

Mellon Summer Institute in Italian Paleography

The Getty Research Institute
1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 1100
Los Angeles, CA 90049-1688
kdecker@getty.edu
310-440-7402
www.getty.edu/research

2015

Mellon Summer Institute in Spanish Paleography

The Huntington Library
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108
slevin@huntington.org
www.huntington.org

Mellon Summer Institute in French Paleography

Newberry Center for Renaissance Studies
60 West Walton Street
Chicago, IL 60610-7324
renaissance@newberry.org
312-255-3514
www.newberry.org

2016

Mellon Summer Institute in English Paleography

The Huntington Library
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108
slevin@huntington.org
www.huntington.org

Mellon Summer Institute in Italian Paleography

Newberry Center for Renaissance Studies
60 West Walton Street
Chicago, IL 60610-7324
renaissance@newberry.org
312-255-3514
www.newberry.org

Upcoming Institutes

Monday, June 3, 2013 to Friday, June 21, 2013
Mellon Summer Institutes in Vernacular Paleography
2013 Mellon Summer Institute in Spanish Paleography
The application deadline has passed.

The institute will provide participants with practical training in reading and transcribing documents written in Spain and Spanish America from the late fifteenth to the early eighteenth centuries. Although the course sessions will be taught primarily in English, all of the documents will be in Spanish.

Monday, July 22, 2013 to Friday, August 16, 2013
Mellon Summer Institutes in Vernacular Paleography
2013 Mellon Summer Institute in French Paleography
Application deadline has passed.

Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles