Evellum was founded nearly twenty years ago; it is based at The University of Melbourne, where Bernard J Muir is Professorial Research Fellow and where he taught manuscript studies for thirty years. He is also Research Consultant and Fellow of the MCD University of Divinity (Melbourne).
The Evellum Group consists of a number of research staff and another group of specialists who work from time to time on projects when their expertise is needed. Nicholas Kennedy and Graeme Smith (†2009), who have specialist computing skills, have been there from the beginning. Dr Andrew Turner, classicist and colleague, has been co-editor of three major editions. Dr Nicholas Sparks has written essays for several publications and is currently co-editing the new digital facsimile edition of The Peterborough Chronicle for the Bodleian Digital Texts series. Abby Robinson is Project Manager and also a Research Assistant on various projects; she has been involved for 10 years. Craig McArthur ('Whirled Records') is a sound technician and is now also involved in other aspects of DVD development and production. Shannon Swan's company ('Resolution Media') produces the DVDs in the Evellum Scriptorium Series. Other specialists that have been involved in various projects include:
- John Stinson, medieval musicologist and bookbinder;
- Ruth Wilkinson, musician specializing in medieval and Renaissance music;
- Alexander Stinson, sound technician;
- David Coles, expert on the manufacture of paints and pigments;
- Deirdre Hassed, scribe and illuminator;
- Terry Pepperell, scribe;
- Ursula Betka, scribe;
- David Currell, research assistant;
- Adam Burnell, graphic designer.
Evellum is an established leading producer of digital facsimiles, editions and pedagogical tools. Many major universities around the world today use Evellum products; some hold site licences for publications such as Ductus, but arrangements can be made for a site licence for any publication. Its productions include:
-
Ductus 2.0: Handwriting and Bookmaking in the Middle Ages [DVD; Evellum Scriptorium Series 1];
- The Electronic Exeter Anthology of Old English Poetry [Exeter, Dean & Chapter MS 3501];
- The Life of Saint Wilfrid 2.0 [a facsimile edition and translation of Ballarat Fine Art Gallery MS Crouch 10] [DVD; Evellum Scriptorium Series 5];
- The Making of a Medieval Manuscript [DVD; Evellum Scriptorium Series 2];
- MS Junius 11 [Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Junius 11; Bodleian Digital Texts 1].
- Inside the Scriptorium 1: Inks, Paints and Quills [DVD; Evellum Scriptorium Series 3];
- Inside the Scriptorium 2: Writing and Illuminating [DVD; Evellum Scriptorium Series 4];
- Terence's Six Latin Comedies [Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Auct. F. 2. 13; Bodleian Digital Texts 2];
- The Vernon Manuscript [Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Eng. Poet. A. 1; Bodleian Digital Texts 3]
In Progress:
- Stones Shall Speak: The Vikings in England and Europe [DVD; Evellum Culture and Language Series 1];
- The Peterborough Chronicle [Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Laud Misc. 636; Bodleian Digital Texts 4].
- Runes [DVD; Evellum Culture and Language Series 2];
- English Etymology [DVD; Evellum Culture and Language Series 3].
Participants' profiles:
Dr Nicholas Sparks:
"I gained my first degree in Australia, in English Language and Literature,
where I developed a strong interest in Anglo-Saxon and Anglo-Norman history
and culture. I read Anglo-Saxon History at the University of Cambridge,
where I went on to get a PhD for my work, 'Textual histories of the
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle: the Alfredian Common Stock'.
With a proven record in education, several years of teaching experience,
and a growing list of research articles, notes, digital essays, book
reviews, plus invited conference appearances, as well as a monograph in
preparation, I have devoted myself to the study of England, Ireland and the
Continent during the Middle Ages. My research strength chiefly lies in the
study of manuscripts, textual scholarship and the transmission of texts in
the Middle Ages; also, of course, paleography, historical bibliography,
and the provenance and survival of manuscripts. I have a love for the
language, philology, and art of medieval England, and possess particular
skills in utilizing artefacts and objects to illustrate the flowering of
medieval learning and culture in the British Isles."
