General Information

Research Interests

The history of freemasonry has been neglected by professional historians in Britain, but is a very rich field of investigation. Andrew is focussing initially in the history of freemasonry during the period 1789-1832. Andrew is also one of the country's leading experts on the application of new technologies to humanities research, and during his secondment is working closely with the University's Humanities Research Institute. Andrew is active as a medieval historian, with a particular interest in The Peasants' Revolt of 1381 and in the history of the library of Sir Robert Cotton.

Other Information

Andrew has been an editor of the British Library's Studies in Medieval Culture series. He was a member of the ACO-HUM Working Group on History and Historical Informatics from 1996-99. Among the advisory panels on which he currently serves are: History On-line, Institute of Historical Research, University of London; SCONUL Special Collections advisory panel; and History Courseware Board Advisory Panel, University of Glasgow. Andrew is currently programme chair for the Digital Resources in the Humanities conference.

Selected Publications

The Benedictional of st Aethelwold : A Masterpeice of Anglo-Saxon Art

"The Benedictional of St Aethelwold", a book of ceremonial blessings made for St Aethelwold, Bishop of Winchester from 963-984, is one of the most lavishly decorated manuscripts to have survived from Anglo-Saxon England. St Aethelwold was one of the leaders of the movement of ecclesiastical and cultural renewal in 10th-century England, which led to the foundation of new monasteries, the building of great cathedrals and the production of magnificent works of art, initiating the "Golden Age" of Anglo-Saxon art. The benedictional is the most important surviving artistic product of these movements. This facsimile reproduces the complete manuscript in full colour (with special gold), and to actual size, for the first time. In this introduction, Professor Andrew Prescott explores the historical and liturgical context of this remarkable manuscript, and provides translations of some of the blessings.

Towards the Digital Library : The British Library's Initiatives for Access Programme

(Editor with Leona Carpenter & Simon Shaw)

This book gives a detailed account of the projects in the form of individual case studies set within introductory and linking text, which draws together technical standards and service issues. It also looks at the likely needs of a future information environment in which so much of what has recently been developed will be taken for granted. There will be much here to interest anyone involved in computing, telecommunications, library technology, information science, publishing, or any aspect of network communications.

The British Inheritance: A Treasury of Historic Documents

With Elizabeth Hallam Smith.

This work encompasses a tradition of British democratic freedom, governmental and legal systems which have been adapted in many countries, and world figures in science, literature and the arts. Britain's rich historical heritage is witnessed in the archives contained in The British Library and Public Record Office. From King Arthur, Alfred the Great and William the Conqueror, to the end of Empire and the Commonwealth, the swinging 60s and multi-cultural Britain, the volume displays, in chronological order, treasures and key documents from these and other sources which illuminate defining moments in British history. The documents are accompanied by commentaries by curators placing the material in context and explaining its significance. Alongside the major treasures (for example the Domesday Book and Magna Carta) are many less well-known items.

English Historical documents

Paperback published by University of Toronto Press 1988, ISBN 0712301585.

Their Present Miserable State of Cremation: the Restoration of the Cotton Library

in ed. C. J. Wright, Sir Robert Cotton as Collector: Essays on an Early Stuart Courtier and his Legacy, (London: British Library Publications, 1997), pp. 391-454

The Electronic Beowulf and Digital Restoration

Literary and Linguistic Computing 12 (1997), pp. 185-95

History and Computing

in ed. M. Deegan, C. Mullins and S. Ross, Computing in the Humanities, (London: Bowker Saur, 1997), pp. 310-347

The Panizzi Touch: Panizzi's Successors as Principal Librarian

British Library Journal, 23 (1997), pp. 194-236

Writing about Rebellion: Using the Records of the Peasants: Revolt of 1381

History Workshop Journal, 45 (1998), pp. 1-27

The Ghost of Asser

in ed. P. Pulsiano and E. Treharne, Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts and their Heritage (Ashgate: Aldershot, 1998), pp. 255-291