[log in to unmask] wrote:
> <SNIP>
>
> Relatively few items out of this once very rich collection survived the war,
> unless...unless... some of these MSS. were spirited away at the very last
> moment... Or is this just a medievalist's fantasy?
Unfortunately, Gary, you are correct. When I was researching there in 1997 a
librarian at the Bibliotheque municipale told me that on May 26,1944 they lost
approximately 80% of their manuscript holdings. Many of the manuscripts that have
survived are badly charred; the archivists will not allow anyone to handle them. As
of 1997 there were no immediate plans to begin microfilming the fragile remains
since both the bibliotheque and the archives work on shoestring budgets and don't
have the capability. In addition, Chartres' repositories - like so many other local
archives in France - are reluctant to send the damaged MSS to Paris for
microfilming (or anything else) because places like the Bibliotheque nationale are
notorious for not returning what they receive.
In Jan van der Meulen's massive bibliography on Chartres he notes that since the
archives was spared, the chapter's archives probably remains one of the richest in
Europe. He also reminds us of an important point: although we no longer have many
of the medieval MSS, thanks to the library of the Societe Archeologique
d'Eure-et-Loir we have many transcriptions of manuscript material. (The staffs at
both the Bibliotheque and the Archives are lovely and eager to assist.) Another
possibility to reconstruct the past: looking to some of the works written by
chartrain historians who had access to the originals.
One day I had the opportunity to speak with a man from Chartres who runs a shop
located near the cathedral's south side. He was 7 years old the day the bombs fell
and says he remembers running from his grandmother's house after hearing the
explosions and seeing near the Bibliotheque what seemed to him like thousands of
sheets of burning paper drifting through the sky. It was a sad day for the town, he
said. It was also a sad day for medievalists and others who have a love for the
cathedral's history. Unfortunately the majority of chartrain manuscripts were
casualties of the Allied war effort.
Dawn
--
Dawn Marie Hayes, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of European History
Department of History and Political Science
Iona College
10 President Street
New Rochelle, New York 10801
Telephone: 914-633-2519
Facsimile: 914-633-2019
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
WWW: http://www.iona.edu/faculty/dmhayes/
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