Lisa Fagin Davis
@lisafdavis.bsky.social
Medievalist, Paleographer, Codicologist, Voynichologist; Executive Director, @medievalacademy.bsky.social; Brown Univ. and Yale Univ. alum; PhD; Red Sox fan
Our money was on Damon, Affleck, or Wahlberg. Bon Jovi was defintely not on the Bingo card!
February 9, 2026 at 8:45 PM
Our money was on Damon, Affleck, or Wahlberg. Bon Jovi was defintely not on the Bingo card!
I love this! Here I am, hanging out at the intersection of Archaeology, Classical Studies, Academia, and Library Science. Zoom in, and there are my people! Interesting to see who lands near me whom I wasn't already following (but now am!) bluesky-map.theo.io
February 9, 2026 at 7:10 PM
I love this! Here I am, hanging out at the intersection of Archaeology, Classical Studies, Academia, and Library Science. Zoom in, and there are my people! Interesting to see who lands near me whom I wasn't already following (but now am!) bluesky-map.theo.io
Happening tomorrow night at the Boston Public Library! Join @associatesbpl.bsky.social in person or online and vote for your favorite. The event will be MC'd by the dazzling Kennedy Elsey from Mix 104.1. Don't miss it! Get your free tickets here: www.associatesbpl.org/events-and-p...
A century later, three literary classics go head-to-head - The Boston Globe
This year's Hundred-Year Book Debate pits Winnie-the-Pooh against Hughes and Hemingway.
www.bostonglobe.com
February 9, 2026 at 3:56 PM
Happening tomorrow night at the Boston Public Library! Join @associatesbpl.bsky.social in person or online and vote for your favorite. The event will be MC'd by the dazzling Kennedy Elsey from Mix 104.1. Don't miss it! Get your free tickets here: www.associatesbpl.org/events-and-p...
This is the way.
Bad Bunny’s closing messages during his Super Bowl performance:
“The only thing more powerful than hate is love”
“Together, we are America”
“The only thing more powerful than hate is love”
“Together, we are America”
February 9, 2026 at 3:43 AM
This is the way.
So...how soon until pitchers and catchers report?
February 9, 2026 at 3:38 AM
So...how soon until pitchers and catchers report?
I truly love teaching at Rare Book School, although I'm WRECKED by the end of the week!
February 9, 2026 at 12:10 AM
I truly love teaching at Rare Book School, although I'm WRECKED by the end of the week!
In more #SuperbOwl medieval content, here's a very #BadBunny:
(for more, see www.bl.uk/stories/blog...)
(for more, see www.bl.uk/stories/blog...)
February 8, 2026 at 7:42 PM
In more #SuperbOwl medieval content, here's a very #BadBunny:
(for more, see www.bl.uk/stories/blog...)
(for more, see www.bl.uk/stories/blog...)
It's that time again...Happy #SuperbOwl Sunday! LET'S GO PATS!
I love #SuperbOwl Sunday. Here's a wise little guy from a leaf of the Beauvais Missal (Cleveland Museum of Art Acc. 1982.141) www.clevelandart.org/art/1982.141
February 8, 2026 at 6:43 PM
It's that time again...Happy #SuperbOwl Sunday! LET'S GO PATS!
I can indeed read all of those crazy Latin scripts (except for Aquinas, obviously), but I'm a trained professional! Seriously, though, it's just a matter of training your eyes to see and decode different patterns than you are used to.
February 7, 2026 at 4:18 AM
I can indeed read all of those crazy Latin scripts (except for Aquinas, obviously), but I'm a trained professional! Seriously, though, it's just a matter of training your eyes to see and decode different patterns than you are used to.
Gotta love that beagle nose
February 6, 2026 at 6:53 PM
Gotta love that beagle nose
No question! I'm here speaking more generally about formal calligraphy, but of course will dig a little deeper. Not everyone could be Ibn al-Bawwab!
February 6, 2026 at 1:53 PM
No question! I'm here speaking more generally about formal calligraphy, but of course will dig a little deeper. Not everyone could be Ibn al-Bawwab!
And then there was that time when Frederick II of Italy apparently decided that Beneventan script was illegible and decreed it couldn't be used in official documents...
February 6, 2026 at 1:52 PM
And then there was that time when Frederick II of Italy apparently decided that Beneventan script was illegible and decreed it couldn't be used in official documents...
I'm not a linguist, but my understanding is that vowels weren't initially necessary in Hebrew or Arabic because transmission was oral and based on memory, at least at first. Eventually, vowel indicators were added to ensure correct pronunciation, although not in the Torah.
February 6, 2026 at 1:50 PM
I'm not a linguist, but my understanding is that vowels weren't initially necessary in Hebrew or Arabic because transmission was oral and based on memory, at least at first. Eventually, vowel indicators were added to ensure correct pronunciation, although not in the Torah.
Latin: Whether it's New Roman Cursive or Visigothic or Gothic Quadrata or Aquinas' own handwriting, we start with the same fundamental question: "WTAF?" [this is Aquinas, in case you were wondering]
February 6, 2026 at 1:44 PM
Latin: Whether it's New Roman Cursive or Visigothic or Gothic Quadrata or Aquinas' own handwriting, we start with the same fundamental question: "WTAF?" [this is Aquinas, in case you were wondering]
Arabic: Ibn-Muqla, who developed the six post-kufic script types, was called "a prophet in the field
of calligraphy" & his letters were often compared to flowers. [this is a later ms explaining Muqla's rhomboid system for composing letters of correct proportions] iiif.lib.harvard.edu/manifests/vi...
of calligraphy" & his letters were often compared to flowers. [this is a later ms explaining Muqla's rhomboid system for composing letters of correct proportions] iiif.lib.harvard.edu/manifests/vi...
February 6, 2026 at 1:44 PM
Arabic: Ibn-Muqla, who developed the six post-kufic script types, was called "a prophet in the field
of calligraphy" & his letters were often compared to flowers. [this is a later ms explaining Muqla's rhomboid system for composing letters of correct proportions] iiif.lib.harvard.edu/manifests/vi...
of calligraphy" & his letters were often compared to flowers. [this is a later ms explaining Muqla's rhomboid system for composing letters of correct proportions] iiif.lib.harvard.edu/manifests/vi...
Hebrew: Judah Ibn Tibbon, 13th c: “Hast thou not seen R. Shesheth’s son, a boy of twelve, whose writing so resembles that of his teacher…that the scripts are indistinguishable? ...with attention, intelligence, and practice, anyone can imitate his model." [this is the Sarajevo Haggadah]
February 6, 2026 at 1:44 PM
Hebrew: Judah Ibn Tibbon, 13th c: “Hast thou not seen R. Shesheth’s son, a boy of twelve, whose writing so resembles that of his teacher…that the scripts are indistinguishable? ...with attention, intelligence, and practice, anyone can imitate his model." [this is the Sarajevo Haggadah]
Here are a few medieval quotes that exemplify the narratives of Hebrew, Latin, and Arabic paleography: 🧵
February 6, 2026 at 1:44 PM
Here are a few medieval quotes that exemplify the narratives of Hebrew, Latin, and Arabic paleography: 🧵
Oh of course the stories are much more complicated than that! This is just the setup for a much longer exploration. There are drivers of paleographical change that are religious, political, economic, environmental, aesthetic, cultural, and more.
February 6, 2026 at 1:08 PM
Oh of course the stories are much more complicated than that! This is just the setup for a much longer exploration. There are drivers of paleographical change that are religious, political, economic, environmental, aesthetic, cultural, and more.
In Arabic, the development of the kufic lettering system in the 1st/7th century specifically to record the Qur’an manifests in later centuries as graphic font design, with letters that are carefully and intentionally composed to maximize aesthetics, proportionality, and grace.
February 6, 2026 at 12:13 PM
In Arabic, the development of the kufic lettering system in the 1st/7th century specifically to record the Qur’an manifests in later centuries as graphic font design, with letters that are carefully and intentionally composed to maximize aesthetics, proportionality, and grace.
In Hebrew, this manifests as a conservative writing system in which scribes are encouraged to copy their exemplars as closely as possible.
February 6, 2026 at 12:13 PM
In Hebrew, this manifests as a conservative writing system in which scribes are encouraged to copy their exemplars as closely as possible.
Writing a book chapter comparing the narratives of medieval Hebrew, Latin, and Arabic script. Just wrote the following:
The Hebrew and Arabic character sets are scriptural alphabets and so developed a sacrality that the Latin alphabet never achieved. 🧵
The Hebrew and Arabic character sets are scriptural alphabets and so developed a sacrality that the Latin alphabet never achieved. 🧵
February 6, 2026 at 12:13 PM
Writing a book chapter comparing the narratives of medieval Hebrew, Latin, and Arabic script. Just wrote the following:
The Hebrew and Arabic character sets are scriptural alphabets and so developed a sacrality that the Latin alphabet never achieved. 🧵
The Hebrew and Arabic character sets are scriptural alphabets and so developed a sacrality that the Latin alphabet never achieved. 🧵
Reposted by Lisa Fagin Davis
MAA 2026 Publication Prizes
We are very pleased to announce the winners of the 2026 Medieval Academy of America Publication Prizes:
The Haskins Medal: Travis Zadeh, Wonders and Rarities: The Marvelous Book That Traveled the World and Mapped the
www.themedievalacademyblog.org/maa-2026-pub...
We are very pleased to announce the winners of the 2026 Medieval Academy of America Publication Prizes:
The Haskins Medal: Travis Zadeh, Wonders and Rarities: The Marvelous Book That Traveled the World and Mapped the
www.themedievalacademyblog.org/maa-2026-pub...
February 4, 2026 at 6:08 PM
MAA 2026 Publication Prizes
We are very pleased to announce the winners of the 2026 Medieval Academy of America Publication Prizes:
The Haskins Medal: Travis Zadeh, Wonders and Rarities: The Marvelous Book That Traveled the World and Mapped the
www.themedievalacademyblog.org/maa-2026-pub...
We are very pleased to announce the winners of the 2026 Medieval Academy of America Publication Prizes:
The Haskins Medal: Travis Zadeh, Wonders and Rarities: The Marvelous Book That Traveled the World and Mapped the
www.themedievalacademyblog.org/maa-2026-pub...