Prof Bernard Muir
Professor, English Literary Studies
Biography
Bernard Muir was born in Toronto in 1951. He is Professor of Medieval Language and Literature in the English Department, where he has taught medieval studies since 1982; his area of specialization is the literature (Latin and vernacular) and culture of Anglo-Saxon England.
He graduated from the University of Toronto where he completed his tertiary training, taking out a BA (Hons.) in English and Latin (1973) and an MA (1974) and PhD (1981) in Medieval Studies. He has a Licentiate in Mediaeval Studies from the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies (Toronto, 1976).
His training is in medieval Germanic languages (Old and Middle English, Gothic, Old Frisian, Old Norse), Latin literature, hagiography and devotional literature, paleography and codicology.
Teaching
In addition to offering online courses in Latin paleography, he currently offers the following subjects at the University of Melbourne:
- 106-013 Beowulf
- 106-015 Backgrounds to English Literature
- 106-024 Introduction to Old English A: Prose
- 106-029 Introduction to Old English B: Poetry
- 106-213 Art, Ideology and Doctrine in the Early Middle Ages
- 106-405 Anthologies of Anglo Saxon Poetry
- 106-467 Latin Paleography and Codicology
Full subject descriptions are available on the University of Melbourne Handbook.
Research
Bernard Muir has a large ARC Research Grant ($250,000) for the next triennium, 2008-10, in support of a new scholarly digital facsimile edition of The Peterborough Chronicle to be published as the fourth volume in the Bodleian Digital Texts series.
Selected publications
- MS Junius 11. Bodleian Digital Texts 1. (Oxford, 2004)
- Eadmer of Canterbury: Lives and Miracles of Saints Oda, Dunstan and Oswald. With Andrew J Turner. Oxford Medieval Texts. (Oxford, 2006)
- The Making of a Medieval Manuscript. (Melbourne, Evellum.com, 2006)
- The Exeter Anthology of Old English Poetry. 2 vols. (Exeter, 1994; 2nd ed. 2000)
- Ductus: Digital Latin Paleography. Melbourne, 2000; revised 2002. Ductus is a program for teaching Latin paleography and codicology either locally or remotely via the internet. Ductus is a hybrid CD-ROM, suitable for both Macs and PCs; for information about the program and the pricing of individual copies and site licences see the Evellum homepage.
- The Life of Saint Wilfrid by Eadmer With Andrew J Turner. (Exeter, 1998)
- The Electronic Exeter Anthology of Old English Poetry. (Exeter, 2006)
- Reading texts and Images: Essays on Medieval Art and Patronage. (Exeter, 2002)
- The Art of the Book: Its Place in Medieval Worship. With Margaret M Manion. (Exeter, 1998)
- Medieval Texts and Images: Studies of Manuscripts from the Middle Ages. With Margaret M Manion. (Sydney, 1991)
- A Pre-Conquest English Prayer Book. The Henry Bradshaw Society, Vol. CIII. (London, 1988)
- Leoth: Six Old English Poems. (London, 1989)
The picture to the right shows Bernard in his office at the University of Melbourne; in front of him are the 1933 facsimile of the Exeter MS and the 47 CDs onto which the digital images of Exeter D&C MS 3501 were burnt for transport back to Australia, 28 gigabytes of information for the one manuscript, an invaluable resource for future generations of paleographers and literary critics. These images have been used to produce the new Electronic Exeter Anthology of Old English Poetry, which will replace the 1933 facsimile by Chambers, et al. (which appeared in a limited print run).
Current multimedia projects
Terence's Comedies: A Digital Facsimile Edition. Bodleian Digital Texts 2. (Due out June 2008)
A 45-minute TV-quality film on Ôø‡Ôø‡Ôø‡The Making of a Medieval ManuscriptÔø‡Ôø‡Ôø‡ (to be released in early 2008 Ôø‡Ôø‡Ôø‡ see evellum.com for details)
A multimedia presentation on the Ôø‡Ôø‡Ôø‡Medieval ScriptoriumÔø‡Ôø‡Ôø‡ (due for completion in late 2008 Ôø‡Ôø‡Ôø‡ see evellum.com for details)
Mac users will need Internet Explorer 5.2 in order to run the Ductus, Junius 11 and Exeter Anthology programs.
Download Internet Explorer 5.2 installer [6.7MB]
Community Relations
Bernard Muir is on the Executive of Ice Hockey Victoria and is President of the Saints Monarchs Ice Hockey Club. He also represents Ice Hockey Victoria on the Winter Olympics Committee.