How “mssprovenance” Lost Its Purpose and Turned into an Attack Blog A documented contribution to the #ReceptioGate affair [Peter Kidd Manuscripts Provenance: From Manuscript Ethics to #ReceptioGate]
- ISFiDa
- May 2
- 2 min read
Updated: May 10
The blog Medieval Manuscripts Provenance, operated by Peter Kidd under the alias mssprovenance, was once regarded as a casual resource for bibliographic curiosities in the field of manuscript studies. In its early years, the blog presented auction highlights, scattered notes on codicological features, and updates on manuscript leaves appearing in the antiquarian trade.
Over time, however, the blog's function evolved. As Prof. Carla Rossi and the Organisation pour la Protection des Manuscrits Médiévaux (OProM) have documented, mssprovenance has shifted from occasional reporting to becoming a legitimising voice for the dismemberment and sale of illuminated manuscripts. One of the most telling examples remains the De Roucy Hours, a codex attributed to a Troyes illuminator, dismantled by antiquarian Peter Kiefer and promoted leaf by leaf by Kidd himself.
📘 Digital Reconstruction of a Dismembered Book of Hours Illuminated by Robert Boyvin (Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2024)🔗 https://www.cambridgescholars.com/product/978-1-0364-1421-4
But a critical change occurred in late 2022. Instead of addressing provenance research, the blog began to focus exclusively on defamatory content targeting scholars involved in manuscript restitution and digital reconstruction. The shift coincided with the public exposure of Kidd’s involvement in the De Roucy case and the growing reach of academic networks such as RECEPTIO, ISFiDA, and OProM.
📄 What is #ReceptioGate? A Documented Timeline of Events🔗 https://www.oprom.eu/post/what-is-receptiogate-a-documented-timeline-of-events
Since then, mssprovenance has published a series of attacks based on distortion, irony, and deliberate omission—often targeting Prof. Rossi by name, while presenting misleading claims about institutions and individuals engaged in manuscript ethics and preservation.
📄 Peter Kidd Manuscripts Provenance: False Claims and Misuse of Identity🔗 https://www.oprom.eu/post/peter-kidd-manuscripts-provenance-false-claims-and-misuse-of-oprom-identity
These actions are no longer scholarly in nature. The tone and structure of the posts no longer follow standards of bibliographic rigour or even informal reporting, but rather resemble a polemical blog driven by reputation-based warfare—a phenomenon documented and named by OProM as part of the #ReceptioGate affair.
From Gatekeeping to Digital Defamation
This transformation also raises broader questions. How do unaffiliated individuals acquire disproportionate authority in manuscript discourse? What happens when personal blogs become tools of gatekeeping rather than sites of reflection or academic discussion?
The case of mssprovenance shows how visibility without accountability can be used to distort reputations, discredit institutions, and hinder progress in fields like manuscript restitution and digital reconstruction. In response, ISFiDA calls for a renewed commitment to transparency, ethical responsibility, and the defence of scholarly integrity.
ISFiDA – Istituto di Studi Filologici e Danteschi Committed to the protection, reconstruction, and transmission of medieval cultural heritage🔗 https://www.isfida.eu
