Violet Pritchard
Violet Pritchard | |
|---|---|
| Born | Violet Bannerman May 2, 1899 |
| Died | October 20, 1993 (aged 94) |
| Occupation(s) | Historian, writer |
| Notable work | English Medieval Graffiti (1967) |
Violet Pritchard (née Bannerman;[1] 2 May 1899[2] – 20 October 1993)[3] was a British historian and writer who published the first full-length study in English of medieval graffiti.[4][5][6]
English Medieval Graffiti
Violet Pritchard published English Medieval Graffiti in 1967, the result of research undertaken predominantly in churches in and around Cambridge.[4] The book was the first full-length work in English to be written on church graffiti, and became the key study for scholars and enthusiasts in the following decades.[4][7] Although Pritchard herself, and scholars since, noted the shortcomings of the work, it is considered a groundbreaking study.[8][5]
The book contained more than 200 rubbings illustrating the graffiti, and was described as demonstrating "the remarkable richness and variety of medieval drawings and inscriptions on the walls of churches".[9][10]
In her introduction, Pritchard wrote:
The drawings are in some ways of greater interest than the inscriptions, for they invoke the past in a manner which no inscription could achieve. A picture arrests time and brings to life a lost moment in a century long past. Many of the drawings are hitherto unknown gems of medieval art: lost treasures refound, only to be lost again for ever if steps are not taken to preserve them.[11]
Antonio Castillo Gómez has noted the significance of Pritchard's approach, suggesting that her "work staked a claim for the importance of writings and drawings on walls for our knowledge of the economy, social structure and way of life of a given place and time, and she treated them as historical sources".[12]
Notable works
- English Medieval Graffiti (Cambridge University Press, 1967)[13]
References
- ^ "England & Wales Marriages 1837-2005". Find My Past. 1925. Retrieved 2024-10-06.
- ^ "England & Wales Deaths 1837-2007". Find My Past. 1993. Retrieved 2024-10-06.
- ^ "Deaths". Cambridge Daily News. 26 October 1993. p. 8.
- ^ a b c Champion, Matthew (2015-07-02). Medieval Graffiti: The Lost Voices of England's Churches. Random House. ISBN 978-1-4735-0363-2.
- ^ a b "Medieval Graffiti". www.medieval-graffiti.co.uk. Retrieved 2024-10-06.
- ^ "Graffiti". TLS. Retrieved 2024-10-06.
- ^ Olmert, Michael (1996). Milton's teeth & Ovid's umbrella : curiouser and curiouser adventures in history. Internet Archive. New York : Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-0-684-80164-3.
- ^ Matt (2011-06-16). "Reading the writing on the wall". Current Archaeology. Retrieved 2024-10-06.
- ^ "English Medieval Graffiti". Bookseller. 18 February 1967. p. 829.
- ^ "Art and Architecture". Bookseller. 18 February 1967. p. 673.
- ^ Pritchard, V. (2008). English medieval graffiti. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-08981-4.
- ^ Lyons, Martyn, ed. (2023). The common writer in modern history. Manchester, England: Manchester University Press. p. 23.
- ^ "Making your mark | The first National Symposium for the study of Historic Graffiti". Retrieved 2024-10-06.