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4 August 2005 :: Posted by Victoria Main

Trace the social lives of European royalty with Renaissance Festival Books

A fully searchable database of more than 250 rare Renaissance festival books is available for the first time on the British Library's website at www.bl.uk/treasures/festivalbooks/homepage.html. Drawing from the British Library's existing collection of over 2,000 volumes of festival books, Users can access and read over 14,000 pages which describe 300 years of festival entertainments in Renaissance and Early Modern Europe.

Funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and directed by Professor Ronnie Mulryne, former director of the Centre for the Study of the Renaissance, University of Warwick, The Festival Books Digitisation Project features 253 books from the late 15th to 18 th centuries, photographed and presented in full with preliminary material, title pages, illustrations and dedications.

Important events in the life of a princely dynasty, such as marriage, the birth of an heir, christenings, coronation or a funeral, were celebrated by mounting a public festival. Festival books were official accounts of these occasions, issued by or with the approval of court, city or religious authorities and often contained eye-witness accounts and moral and philosophical reflections. Religious festivals took place on saints' days and significant dates in the Church calendars and festivals were often mounted to mark the formal entry of a prince into a city, either at home or abroad. A range of artistic elements such as theatrical, operatic or ballet performances would often accompany a festival.

Each book is catalogued on threes levels. The first is a traditional library catalogue that allows users to access detailed biographical descriptions of each book and information about the copy held at the British Library. An introduction to each book and a description of the festival, the names of those involved and relevant historical background information is available at the second level. Finally a page-level description allows users to search the texts using a wide range of search terms, such as participants (named in the titles of the books), places, topics, bibliographical details and elements of the visual and performing arts. Expert commentary and essays provide background information for general readers and academic researchers alike.

Highlights of the collection include:

• the earliest festival book in the collection, a description of the eight-hour banquet for the marriage of Costanzo Sforza and Camilla of Aragon in 1475
• a presentation copy, most likely belonging to Catherine de Medici, of Charles IX's 1571 entry into Paris
• a fine copy of the book known as the Rubens Triumph, describing the entry of the Infante Cardinal Ferdinand into Antwerp in 1641 and illustrated with Rubens plates
• the first and second printings of Wynkyn de Worde's 1520 edition of the festivities held at the Field of Cloth of Gold.

The site can be viewed on the British Library's website www.bl.uk/treasures/festivalbooks/homepage.html

For further information, contact Victoria Main at the British Library Press Office: +44 (0)20 7412 7112 or Victoria.Main@bl.uk

Notes for Editors

The Festival of Books Digitisation Project, funded by the AHRC is a result of the collaboration between the AHRC Centre for the Study of Renaissance Elites and Court Cultures at the University of Warwick and the British Library.

The University of Warwick - British Library Festival Books digitisation project was directed by Professor Ronnie Mulryne and Dr Margaret Shewring of the University of Warwick, with input from Dr Kristian Jensen and other expert staff at the British Library.