Library Special Collections welcomes its third Ahmanson Research Fellow this fall, Lorenza Iannacci, who will study medieval documents in the Orsini family papers (Collection 902), specifically a “quaternus” of 1353, which contains the inventory of properties and feudal rights belonging to Napoleone I Orsini, count of Manoppello. The principal aim of her research is to produce a critical edition of the document, and to analyze it from different points of view: historical, paleographic, diplomatistic and codicological. Her work is part of a larger project in Italy undertaken by the Universities of Bologna, Napoli and Lecce and the Engineering School of Milano, Territory organization, land occupation and perception of the space in the Southern Middle Ages (XIIIth-XVth c.): digital systems for a new historical cartography.  Through its participation in the project, the University of Bologna is studying and editing sources useful to define the feudal geography in Abruzzi --the Iustitiariatus Aprutii-- during the Angevin age (1266-1442). Lorenza received her degree in Modern Literature in 2005 from the University of Bologna; a part of her dissertation in Latin Paleography and Diplomatics, The cartulary of San Salvatore monastery: documents from 1012 to 1070, was published in 2012 as an essay in the journal Studi medievali. In 2005, she also completed her archival training at the School of Paleography, Diplomatics and Archival Sciences of the State Archive of Bologna. Lorenza has a Ph.D in Medieval History from the University of Bologna, where she wrote her dissertation on the 14^th-century Italian jurist Giovanni da Legnano, producing a critical edition of his juridical tractate, the De pace. Since 2008 she has been editing 9^th-century charters of Nonantola, Arezzo and Reggio Emilia for Urs Graf Verlag, publisher of the Chartae Latinae Antiquiores, 2nd series Ninth Century. As an expert on Latin paleography and diplomatics, she collaborates with faculty on the teaching of paleography and diplomatics at the University of Bologna; and from 2008 to 2012, she worked as a freelance archivist at banking foundations in Bologna. Lorenza has a post-doc fellowship at Department of History, Culture and Civilities of the University of Bologna. She is also an active member of the RAM (Research and Analysis of Manuscripts) Study Center of the University of Bologna (www.ram.unibo.it), and her research focuses on the study of documentary writings in Central and Northern Italy during the 9^th through 12^th centuries, the “chronicles-cartulary,” Angevin documentation, formularies in private acts, the Bolognese notarial school, and the inter-relationships of paleography, historical contexts, and legislation.

Students make immense daily contributions to the work we do and the services we provide in Library Special Collections (LSC).  Employment in LSC provides students an opportunity to work directly with a globally-recognized collection of cultural heritage resources, including rare books, manuscripts, maps, photographs, and artworks, to name but a few.  Working in LSC is not merely a job for students, but an opportunity to learn on a continual basis—and to have fun and work in a supportive team atmosphere. LSC staff thought it would be nice to share these unique student experiences periodically, in the hopes of illustrating how “special” Library Special Collections is to them, and to celebrate the contributions that each and every one of them makes to our Department, the Library, and the larger UCLA academic community.  We begin with the following post by our own Grace Song, a fourth-year student majoring in Art History. Thanks LSC students—we couldn’t do it without you!

Grace Song and Simon Elliott review items from the A. Quincy Jones Papers

 

There I was, in the copy room, surrounded by boxes of materials and faced with that poster on the wall that has a graphic of a guy pointing at you, saying, “Admit it. You love making copies.” Every time I see it, I feel like I might be getting brainwashed. But it’s true; I do love making copies. (Should I second-guess this statement?) I was completing a duplication request on who, at the time, was “just some architect” named A. Quincy Jones. I shamefully regret that I ignorantly called him “Quincy A. Jones” for several months thereafter. There was much material covering his plans and projects, all compiled neatly into minimalist-looking books—very reminiscent of modernist architecture. I quietly attended to my business and got into a nice rhythm of pressing the appropriate buttons to get the right settings, flipping the book over (gently!), aligning it on the machine, pressing the ‘Start’ button, turning the page, and repeating the monotonous but thrilling process (I guess I really do love making copies). Then along came Simon Elliott, Library Special Collections’s very own Visual Materials Specialist & Licensing Coordinator. Simon knows basically everything about everything, in my humble opinion, and has been at LSC for many years. He saw what I was making copies of and began to tell me a story of how the materials on A. Quincy Jones came to LSC. Some time after the architect’s passing, Simon helped Jones’s wife compile all the materials from his various projects and ideas into the books that I was photocopying at that very moment. She apparently wanted all of her husband’s works, ideas, and drawings to be put to use as resources for anyone to use. While working together, she very generously told Simon many stories about every little thing in the Jones collection, and I can imagine that she was someone who was very passionate and supportive of her husband’s career. Several months later I visited the Getty Center and walked through their “Overdrive: L.A. Constructs the Future, 1940-1990” exhibition. Having taken a class on American Houses with Professor Dell Upton at UCLA, I had a newfound appreciation for architecture, especially that of California. In the galleries was a corner dedicated to college campuses, and I scurried over to see if there was anything about UCLA’s campus. And there it was, a pencil drawing in that distinct architect style, with the words, “Charles E. Young Research Library” written beneath in all capital letters. My heart squealed with delight (or something of that sort) and I turned my attention to the label, which read, “A. Quincy Jones” as its architect! At this point my heart was all squeals, one after another, and then I stopped to look at the picture in a contemplative way (you know, in that art museum contemplative way where people stand in front of monochrome paintings for 10 minutes to think deeply about the meaning of life). Then I remembered Simon’s story quite clearly and realized that that seemingly very ordinary day where I was making photocopies was the day I learned about A. Quincy Jones in the very building that he, with architect Frederick E. Emmons, originally designed. I had no idea was my only thought. It suddenly felt like I knew the library better as I faced the original drawing of it. It also seemed fitting that his wife was such a strong proponent of making his plans available to the public with the fact that he designed a library, which is a place where materials go to be accessed by not only scholars but regular people like me who just want to learn. It was brought to my attention that it’s a great thing to be so close to the materials at LSC because they are wonderful resources to not only enrich one’s brain but also one’s life. Being able to work in such a place as this is humbling to me, because I am realizing more and more that the amount of knowledge out there in this world is so much vaster than I could ever conceive. So, now, A. Quincy Jones is not “just some architect,” but one who designed the very library I work in, study in, and pass by almost every single day. And I consider that to be a privilege. By Grace Song, Public Services student