LIBRARY NEWSLETTER Figure with One Giant Foot at the End of Summer 2018 Its One Leg, Under Which It Supposedly Sheltered from the Sun
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The Monopod LINCOLN CATHEDRAL One of the illustrations in our display includes the monopod, a small human LIBRARY NEWSLETTER figure with one giant foot at the end of Summer 2018 its one leg, under which it supposedly sheltered from the sun. Monopods date back centuries and appear regularly in medieval books and manuscripts. They also appeared in C.S. Lewis’ “Voyage of the Dawn Treader”. Our monopod is from Sebastian Münster’s, “Cosmographia Universalis” printed in Basle in 1572. In reality the monopod was probably just a man, seen from a distance, carrying an early version of an umbrella to provide shelter from the heat. Here be Monsters Centuries ago the sea was bravest of medieval sailors: manuscript older than the regarded as a dangerous and giant serpents wrapping Cathedral itself; the Lincoln unknown place full of all themselves around ships; Chapter Bible; the Epistles of kinds of monsters. Medieval seven headed monsters; St Jerome, our earliest Monster Special maps show them roaming the giant man eating shrimp like printed book and a seas and unknown areas of creatures and scaly fish-man fascinating 17th century book Our summer exhibition of devils and a variety of sea capitals. To the modern the world were simply creatures that would not be on space travel. New for the manuscripts and rare early monsters. Did medieval reader, these monsters are a described with the words out of place in an old episode “closed season” this year will printed books entitled “Here people really believe in these fanciful flight of fantasy, but “Here be monsters”. Even of Dr Who. Although the be regular bookable library be Monsters”, has proved so fabulous creatures which to the medieval reader they today the deepest oceans monster exhibition finishes on tours. Details will appear on popular that it has been were supposed to live at the most likely represented evil or conceal many secrets from the 1st September, the the Cathedral website later in extended and will continue edges of the world, or did sinful behaviour or even us and we have a lot to learn library will still be open until the year: www. right through until the 1st they have symbolic people who did not conform about the creatures that live the end of October. Our final lincolncathedral.com/ September, giving visitors a meanings? From the earliest to their Christian beliefs. there. Our display contains display of the year will be education-learning/the- chance to see some of the days of manuscript writing, Whatever they signified in the several sea monsters which made up of "old favourites" library/ strange creatures that existed monsters and strange past, today we can simply would frighten even the including Bede's Homilies, a in the imaginations of creatures have decorated the marvel at their strangeness Medieval artists and writers. margins of the pages, quite and beauty and the artistic The books on display are often seemingly unrelated to talents of the artists who filled with dragons and the text that they accompany. painted them. wyverns, griffins, headless Serpents and dragons are men, cyclops, weird and often intertwined around the wonderful human beings, decorated and illuminated twitter @LincsCatherdal | www.LincolnCathdral.com INSPIRING PEOPLE IN DIFFERNT WAYS Dragons v Wyverns A Fishy tale Many of us have heard the being a physical between a dragon and a As well as the thousands of taken at Kingsale". Printed in friends doubted that he would story of Saint George and the representation of the wyvern? Basically it all books collected by Michael London in 1677, it tells the survive. Once the fish itself dragon. On display at the destructive power of Evil. In depends on the number of Honywood, the library's story of a monstrous twelve had died it was kept for all to moment is our 1487 copy of the East, on the other hand, legs. The wyvern had two greatest benefactor, the foot long fish caught at see in the town of Kingsale The Golden Legend, a particularly in China, dragons legs whereas true dragons library contains hundreds of Kingsale in Ireland. The fish “where it now remains for the compendium of the lives of represented power, strength had four. Dragons and short pamphlets. Many relate is described as having the wonderment of all its the saints, translated by and good luck. We all wyverns decorate many of to the English Civil War which head of a man with long numerous beholders”. William Caxton. It is open at imagine what we think a the Cathedral’s misericords in had such an effect on black hair, the face of a lion, Unfortunately there is no the life of St George whose dragon would look like but St Hugh’s choir and if you Honywood’s life but many the front legs of a bull and illustration of this amazing slaying of the dragon was they could easily be confused look closely above you in the seem to be totally random the back legs of an eagle. fish. We will just have to use symbolic of the struggle with other very similar cloister as you walk towards and in some cases rather Round its mouth were three our imaginations. between good and evil. In creatures called wyverns, the library, you might spot odd. One such pamphlet is long sharp horns with which it Western Medieval art and which possessed the same some more creeping out of called "Strange news from injured one of the men who literature, dragons were characteristics. So how can the stonework. Ireland: or a true and perfect had caught it. The man depicted as fierce creatures, you tell the difference relation of a famous fish became terribly ill and his Let this be a warning InIn MedievalMedieval artart andand literatureliterature thethe entranceentrance toto HellHell waswas oftenoften depicteddepicted asas thethe jawsjaws ofof aa hugehuge monstermonster withwith aa wide,wide, gapinggaping mouth,mouth, devouringdevouring humanhuman souls,souls, andand waswas intendedintended toto frightenfrighten peoplepeople intointo livingliving goodgood lives.lives. InsideInside HellHell werewere manymany torturedtortured soulssouls fromfrom allall walkswalks ofof life.life. NoNo matter how rich and powerful they were, nobodynobody waswas aboveabove judgement.judgement. OftenOften devilsdevils areare shownshown carryingcarrying thethe soulssouls towardstowards thethe jawsjaws ofof Hell,Hell, beforebefore throwingthrowing themthem intointo thethe fieryfiery depths.depths. ThisThis imageimage isis takentaken fromfrom ourour earlyearly 15th15th centurycentury copycopy ofof RichardRichard Rolle’s,Rolle’s, “Emmendatio“Emmendatio Vitae”Vitae” aa treatisetreatise onon repentance,repentance, whichwhich isis currentlycurrently onon displaydisplay inin thethe MedievalMedieval library.library. twittertwitter @LincsCatherdal@LincsCatherdal || www.LincolnCathdral.comwww.LincolnCathdral.com INSPIRINGINSPIRING PEOPLEPEOPLE ININ DIFFERNTDIFFERNT WAYSWAYS twittertwitter @LincsCatherdal@LincsCatherdal || www.LincolnCathdral.comwww.LincolnCathdral.com INSPIRINGINSPIRING PEOPLEPEOPLE ININ DIFFERNTDIFFERNT WAYSWAYS.