Will Noel, a leading librarian of medieval manuscripts, has passed away after being injured by a vehicle in Edinburgh, Scotland. He was 58 years old.
Police Scotland released details of an accident that took place on April 10th. They note that “Mr Noel was a pedestrian at the time of the collision, which happened on Trinity Crescent around 5.50pm, and also involved a white Citroen Relay van. He was taken to the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh where he died as a result of his injuries during the evening of Monday, 29 April.”
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The driver, a 40-year-old man, has been arrested in connection with the accident.
Will Noel will be remembered by many medievalists for his work in medieval manuscripts and finding ways to make them more accessible to scholars and the general public. In 2020, he was appointed Associate University Librarian for Special Collections at Princeton University Library. Prior to this he served as the Director of the Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies and the Curator of Manuscripts and Rare Books at The Walters Art Museum. He earned his PhD from the University of Cambridge in 1992.
Noel led several projects to digitize and provide access to medieval and pre-modern manuscripts. This includes the Archimedes Palimpsest Project and digital collections at the Walters Art Museum. He also helped to found Manuscript Studies: A Journal of the Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies – in this article he and Mitch Fraas write about its creation.
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Will also frequently spoke about his work and passion for this field, including this lecture from 2012:
Many of his colleagues have commented about Will’s passing:
He was a visionary and a leader in open-access, and believed passionately in the equity and sustainability of open-access images of pre-modern manuscripts and in the power of linked open data. As long as we keep doing this work, we can honor his life and legacy.
Will Noel hired me at Penn. He was an inspiration, my mentor, and my friend. I will miss him so much. https://t.co/c0jtzJwUPx
— Dot Porter, MA, MSLS ✨@leoba.bsky.social✨ (@leoba) April 30, 2024
Here to remember Will Noel, who I met in 2004 at a manuscript studies boot camp, and who died yesterday. From then on he championed my work and mentored me and was a dear friend. I learned so much from him, and treasured his vibrant energy, wit, and perspective on the world. 💔
Will Noel, a leading librarian of medieval manuscripts, has passed away after being injured by a vehicle in Edinburgh, Scotland. He was 58 years old.
Police Scotland released details of an accident that took place on April 10th. They note that “Mr Noel was a pedestrian at the time of the collision, which happened on Trinity Crescent around 5.50pm, and also involved a white Citroen Relay van. He was taken to the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh where he died as a result of his injuries during the evening of Monday, 29 April.”
The driver, a 40-year-old man, has been arrested in connection with the accident.
Will Noel will be remembered by many medievalists for his work in medieval manuscripts and finding ways to make them more accessible to scholars and the general public. In 2020, he was appointed Associate University Librarian for Special Collections at Princeton University Library. Prior to this he served as the Director of the Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies and the Curator of Manuscripts and Rare Books at The Walters Art Museum. He earned his PhD from the University of Cambridge in 1992.
Noel led several projects to digitize and provide access to medieval and pre-modern manuscripts. This includes the Archimedes Palimpsest Project and digital collections at the Walters Art Museum. He also helped to found Manuscript Studies: A Journal of the Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies – in this article he and Mitch Fraas write about its creation.
Will also frequently spoke about his work and passion for this field, including this lecture from 2012:
Many of his colleagues have commented about Will’s passing:
See also:
His article on The Syriac Galen Palimpsest Project: An Introduction
His article on The Archimedes Palimpsest: Old Science Meets New Science
His lectures on The medieval manuscript and its digital image
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