ANNUAL REPORT FOR GIFTS MADE FROM JULY 1 , 2022 – JUNE 30 , 2023
Appraisals state the graduals were possibly written for a church choir at the San Remigio di Firenze in the 1350s .
THEY DID REMARKABLY WELL ,” SAID DIGIORNO . “ MOST OF THEM CAME WITHIN A CENTURY OF THE ACTUAL CREATION DATE . THE MEDIEVALIST IN ME WAS VERY PROUD OF THEM .”
— School archivist and Classics teacher , Louis DiGiorno ’ 88 P ’ 26
Western scripts from antiquity down through the late Middle Ages .
“ The boys were particularly fond of uncials ,” said DiGiorno , “ a style of script that was used for hundreds of years in the early Middle Ages . Sure , they got very good at reading reproduced uncial manuscripts , but I think they just really liked the name — after all : uncial is a very cool-sounding word . Thank you , St . Jerome !”
During the fourth quarter , as the final project for the course , each neophyte paleographer worked with one of the actual donated manuscript folios — transcribing the text , and doing his best to identify the style of script and time period that produced them .
Prep Rams reading the donated manuscripts in An Introduction to Latin Palæography , a course taught by DiGiorno .
The resulting course , which debuted during the 2022 – 23 school year , was called An Introduction to Latin Palæography , an enrichment course for students in the upper levels of Latin or Greek .
The course began with an overview of the history of writing in general — and of the Roman alphabet specifically — and then , for three quarters , moved down through the centuries week by week , as students learned the fundamental vocabulary , skills , and techniques required to attempt to read historical
“ They did remarkably well ,” said DiGiorno . “ Most of them came within a century of the actual creation date . The medievalist in me was very proud of them . And , in all fairness , they did a fairly good job translating the texts , too — actually not a requirement for paleographic work . Kudos to my fellow Prep Latin teachers , one and all !”
We asked DiGiorno if he had any plans for the Audubon pieces in the future .
“ I ’ ll work with the Visual and Performing Arts Department , sure — but a course that studies the historical and social forces that informed these 19th-century works seems a natural fit for a school that was founded in the middle of the 19th century .” n
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