Meetings with Remarkable Manuscripts: Twelve Journeys into the Medieval World by Christopher de Hamel
This is a fascinating look at a selection of manuscripts, each with its own story. Some have well-documented histories, others much less so. The author is a paleographer, one who studies such rare items as a profession, and you can sense the passion he has for what he does. Here is an effort to share this passion beyond his peers, with others of us who love books and history.
He has chosen twelve manuscripts to discuss. In his introduction, he says that he thinks of them as celebrity interviews. These rare items are mostly inaccessible to the average reader, with access limited to experts who apply to view them. He talks about the things that those who do access them in person can notice, with every interaction bringing new details to light. He has deliberately chosen a variety of types of books, all ones that he has been able to see in person for the purpose of this book. Some he had accessed before, but he remained open to new revelations from them.
His writing style is very conversation for the most part, speaking to the reader and describing his experiences with the manuscripts as well as what he has been able to learn about their origins, histories, and travels. There is some specialist language that he uses when talking about books that have portions missing or otherwise changed.
The manuscripts he includes are:
* The Gospels of Saint Augustine, written in the late sixth century, located at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge University.
* The Codex Amiatinus, c. 700, located at Biblioteca Laurenziana, Florence. This is the oldest known surviving Latin Bible.
* The Book of Kells, late eigth century, located at Trinity College Dublin. This is a manuscript of the Four Gospels immersed in the Celtic world.
* The Leiden Aratea, early ninth century, located at Universiteitsbibliotheek, Leiden. This chapter looks at the practice of copying manuscripts.
* The Morgan Beatus, mid-tenth century, located at the Morgan Library and Museum, New York. This chapter looks at ideas looking forward to the year 1000 millennium.
* Hugo Pictor, late eleventh century, located in the Bodleian Library, Oxford. This chapter looks at the effects of the Norman Conquest of 1066.
* The Copenhagen Psalter, third quarter of the twelfth century, located at the Kongelige Bibliotek, Copenhagen. This is one of the finest psalters of the time.
* The Carmina Burana, first half of the thirteenth century, located at Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Munich. This is a small book of love songs of students and scholars.
* The Hours of Jeanne de Navarre, second quarter of the fourteenth century, located at the Bibliothéque nationale de France, Paris. This is a delicate book of hours created for a king's daughter and that became a political pawn.
* The Hengwrt Chaucer, c. 1400, located at the National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth. This copy of The Canterbury Tales is the beginning of recognizable English literature.
* The Visconti Semideus, c. 1438, located at the National Library, St. Petersburg. This manuscript is about warfare and armaments and modern Russia.
* The Spinola Hours, c. 1515-20, located at the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles. This book of hours is an object of luxury and money.
The book includes many colour illustrations from the book that show details of the manuscripts and their unique illustrations. It also includes an extensive bibliography and numerous references to other manuscripts that may interest the reader.
I learned a lot from this, and read this book over many months, pausing to reflect on and enjoy the contents.
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