Research Paper Update

My trip to the DPL last Tuesday was awesome! I got to hold a bible that was printed in 1533. They actually let me touch it (with gloves on while they held on to my ID)! It was written in Latin, and I couldn't read it, but I did recognize some words. Nevertheless, it was pretty neat. It smelled like a campfire. So, what next? Well, I'm thinking that my paper is going to focus primarily on the function of Bibles within English society during the 16th century. The first Bible I looked at was in Latin, and I think I would prefer to view ones written in English, just so I can be more familiar with them. I decided to search the library's catalog for Bibles in the rare books collection, limiting it to ones printed in English. Going through the library's catalog, the titles of the bibles may give some hints as to changing cultural views:



Biblia Polyglotta
Publisher: Arnaldi Guillelmi de Brocario
Pub date: 1514-17.

This sounds pretty unassuming, right? Not much informationto be found just in the title, but let's look ahead in time to 1609:



The Holie Bible faithfvlly translated into English, ovt of the avthentical Latin. Diligently conferred with the Hebrew, Greeke, and other editions in diuers languages. With Argvments of the bookes, and chapters: annotations: tables: and other helpes, for better vnderstanding of the text: for discourerie of corrvptions in some late translations: and for clearing controversies in religion

Publisher: Printed ... by Lavrence Kellam

Pub date: 1609 - 10

Sooo.... all of that is the title?



But maybe there's something to be said about that huge title, especially because of the claims towards better understanding of the text, and clearing controversies in religion. Maybe something about how people's attitudes towards religion were changing/changed over the last century - in a particular place, in a particular time.

Here's the frustrating thing - the whole time I've been writing now, I've been attempting to find out more about these two books. AND ALL THE INFO IS WRONG! Published in France? Can't be. It's printed in English. Well, maybe that's possible but further detective work must be done... Also my next step is to search for any related articles about the subject of religion and bibles during the 16th C.

Readings

I enjoyed reading Monaghan's Literacy Instruction and Gender in Colonial New England. I already understood that women were not encouraged to write, and always just assumed a connection between selling one's work as equal to selling one's body. But the reading also brought up the fact that although women were not encouraged to write by hand, sewing was a core part of their instruction. Yes, sewing was important in order to repair clothing, which was more expensive then than now. But then I thought about thoses samplers that girls would have to sew to show off their skills. And they had words sewn on them. So then I thought of samplers as a way of writing. Most samplers I've seen always begin with the alphabet at the top, and usually the main area is filled by a scripture. In a way, it's like the girls' version of writing. They probably had specific instructors to teach them sewing skills, kind of like the boys had specific instructors to teach them how to write. Although trying to make some sort of equivocation between being taught how to write and being taught how to sew may not really have any merit, (because from our standpoint we believe that acquiring the skill of writing is better than, or more worthwhile) for the time, they may have thought the two skills were equally valuable, albeit the different skills were gendered.