CLST Professor William Johnson Presents “From Bookroll to Codex”

CLST Professor William Johnson Presents “From Bookroll to Codex”

On December 2, Professor William Johnson presented “From Bookroll to Codex” to an interdisciplinary group of students and faculty at the year-long Mellon-Sawyer seminar, Cultural and Textual Exchanges: The Manuscript across pre-modern Eurasia, at the University of Iowa.

The seminar included top scholars getting deep into the technical aspects of medium and book for early books in both the Western and Eastern traditions, including books on papyrus and the earlier paper scrolls from central Asia (such as those found at Dunhuang).

Johnson also participated the following day in two hands-on workshops, one on papyrus manufacture, where the participants made papyrus sheets from the raw plant, and another on ancient Chinese paper scrolls and calligraphy.

For more on the Mellon-Sawyer seminar and on the presentations (including a video of his lecture, coming soon), see: https://obermann.uiowa.edu/programs/andrew-w-mellon-sawyer-seminar