By Heather Wacha
- 28 beaver fur hats.
- 6 panels of tapestries.
- Wool from Flanders.
- Silks, cloths and linens.
- Furniture, paintings, and sculptures.
- Gold and Silver.
- All manner of carriages.
If you had been an heir of the estate of Don Francisco Muñoz Carillo, a nobleman from Cuenca, Spain who died in 1687, you may have received some part of these items. However, before you get too excited, you would have also inherited the many debts that Don Francisco’s left his heirs.
In the past two weeks, graduate students from the University of Iowa have been participating in a paleography workshop entitled “Meet the Manuscript” and working intently on the transcription and translation of Don Francisco’s last will and testament, held in the University of Iowa’s Special Collections Library (xMMs.Doc2).
But this is not a simple project. Students have been working on multiple levels: transcribing, translating and TEI encoding each page of the document, with a view to providing an online digital edition and resource tool for a broad range of viewers who might benefit from using this document, as well as making a historic model of the document with which they are working. Thanks to the UI Center for the Book’s Tim Barrett, Melissa Moreton and Cheryl Jacobsen, eleven new books were born, filled with hand-made paper, held together with a tacketed binding with alum taw laces (case paper replaced the original parchment cover), and sporting examples of an Italic script.
Additionally, students from three Iowa high schools are interacting with the manuscript either through digital images and translations or through their visit with the original document in UI Spec Coll.
The work from both UI graduate students and high school students will be available on the Meet the Manuscript website.
What a wonderful collaborative experience with much thanks to UI Spec Coll, UI Studio, UI Center for the Book, Ana Rodriguez and Amber Brian from the UI Department of Spanish and Portuguese, and the multiple UI departments and divisions that sponsored the fellows! Muchas gracias from all of us and all of Don Francisco’s predecessors and successors.