Curatorial Dialogues: Black Ship Scrolls and Mary Queen of Scots’ Prayer Book

Two remarkable—and remarkably different—manuscripts from the Library's collections are the focus of this presentation and conversation with Li Wei Yang, Curator of Pacific Rim Collections, and Vanessa Wilkie, William A. Moffett Curator of Medieval Manuscripts and British History. Yang explores the dramatic encounters referenced in a recently acquired set of Japanese manuscript scrolls documenting Commodore Matthew C. Perry's maritime incursion into Japan in 1853 and 1854. Wilkie shares the story, opportunities, and dilemmas of caring for the 15th-century illuminated manuscript many scholars believe Mary Queen of Scots carried to her execution. Claudia Funke, Avery Chief Curator of the Library, moderates the post-presentation discussion and takes questions from the audience.