Meetings with Remarkable Manuscripts

Finished December 23

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. 

The Brothers York

Finished March 5 

The Brothers York: A Royal Tragedy by Thomas Penn

This history book covers the years 1461 to 1485 and looks at the British monarchy during this time, specifically the House of York. The book has a helpful family tree so that you can see where the royalty at this time fell within the larger royal lineage in Britain. 

As the book opens Henry VI is king, the last of the Plantagenets, but he is a weak king, addled in mind, and with only one child, a son that came later in life. 

Throughout this time, and beyond, questions are raised about whether the children in the official marriage of the king are actually his, and this is definitely one of the things that was raised with Henry VI. Henry's cousin Richard was not making a claim for the throne at first, but was attempting to rule in his stead due to his mental instability. It was Richard, who was Duke of York, whose three sons are the subject of this book. His oldest son became Edward IV, and his second son Edmund was killed when he was, before most of the action takes place. The third son, George, Duke of Clarence was never king although he had ambitions, and the last son became Richard III. 

All three of the brothers taking lead roles here, Edward, George, and Richard are strong-willed, ambitious men, but they had different ways of going about their public and private lives. 

This book is heavily researched, and goes into the details of their relationships with each other, with other European rulers of the time, and of the upper classes within England, who played decisive roles in the determination of who had control at any time. Coming late to a battle, or not showing up at all despite promises made, had impacts that were far-reaching.

It was also interesting to see how each handled the finances of both the nation and their personal household, and what their relationship was to Parliament. Although they didn't rule during this time, the women in the royal family also have decisive roles, whether it was bearing heirs or holding court while the king was absent. The women's reputation also impacted the reputation of the king for good and for bad. 

I enjoyed getting to know this part of history better than I had and seeing the ways that politics has changed so little over the centuries. 

Les Parisiennes

Finished October 11
Les Parisiennes: How the Women of Paris Lived, Loved, and Died under Nazi Occupation by Anne Sebba.

This is a fascinating look at history with a female focus. The book is set up chronologically, with each year getting a chapter up until 1944, which gets two chapters. 1947 to 1949 is one chapter. There were overviews on what was happening generally and then a focus on particular women that we see in more than one time period.
These individual women are mostly from higher social classes as more is known about them and thus available to researchers. They include women active in the Resistance, women resisting in less formal ways, women who collaborated at various levels and with various degrees of success, Jewish women targeted for their heritage, Jewish women who managed to fly under the radar of the authorities, and women who just tried to live their lives however they could manage.
Some women were driven by personal circumstances, some by love for a man, some by love for a cause, some really didn't seem to really understand the reality of their situation, even after the war was over.
I learned a lot about these women, and about the lack of support and recognition that they received. Whether it was the Red Cross refusing to approach the Germans about Ravensbruck because it wasn't a POW camp (even though many of the women held there had been sent into action by Allied forces), or the lack of recognition of the role women played by political leaders and historians until more recently, this is a story too of suppression of women's voices and accomplishments.
It is also a story of Paris, showing its role in history before this time and since, its role as a fashion capital of the world, and the ingenuity of many of its citizens.
Very readable and well-researched, an excellent addition to the history book collection for any library, academic or public.

The Longest Afternoon

Finished February 20
The Longest Afternoon: The 400 Men Who Decided the Battle of Waterloo by Brendan Simms

This slim history book looks at the decisive action that occurred at the farm of La Haye Sainte, the battle that was decisive in the action at Waterloo. The action began on June 18 1815 and the main players against Napoleon's troops were the King's German Legion, but the forces present also included British, Nassauers, Dutch, Belgian, Brunswickers, and Hanoverian regular army.
Simms shows us the timelines from both the French side and that of their adversaries. We see the men involved, their individual actions and reactions, their fates, and their interactions with each other. Simms also looks at their loyalty to the cause that shows in this battle and posits theories behind it.
Three maps are included: one of the farm, one of the troop positions the night of June 17-18, and one of troop placement across Europe. I would have liked more information on these, such as legends and text backgrounders, as the information on the maps wasn't always covered in the history given here.
The notes and bibliography are numerous, providing citations and further reading for those looking to delve deeper into this historic event.

Catherine the Great

Finished May 15
Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman by Robert K Massie, read by Mark Deakins

This biography is extensive and covers many aspects of Catherine's life and reign. She was born a minor Prussian princess and was named Sophie. She was born in 1729, and brought to Russia by the Empress Elizabeth as the potential bride for her nephew Peter (later Peter III). She was only 14, and was expected to marry as she was told. She had to convert to the Orthodox religion, against her father's wishes. Her husband Peter III, was a immature and many believe the marriage was never consummated. Catherine did have three children, but they are all believed to be illegitimate. She came to power in 1762 as a result of a coup d'etat, and what is believed to be an assassination of her husband Peter III. She was definitely more knowledgeable about politics, foreign affairs, and culture than Peter, although he was fascinated by the military, playing with toy soldiers even after their marriage.
This book covers her early life, her betrothal and marriage to Peter and how she gained the love and respect of the Russian people. Her lovers, her political maneuverings, the wars she was involved in, are all covered here. We see how she became Europe's biggest art collector, beginning a collection that eventually became that of the Hermitage Museum. We discover her interest in the enlightenment and her high goals for change in the country. Some of these she found she could not accomplish, such as the abolishment of serfdom, others took longer than she anticipated. Ruling until her death in 1796, she is still known along with Peter the Great, as one of Russia's best rulers. She expanded the Russian empire to the Crimea, into Poland, and the far east. She initiated lengthy correspondences with Voltaire, Diderot, and other members of the Enlightenment. She was an early adopter of inoculations against disease and was herself inoculated against smallpox as an example to her people. She was also a strong proponent of education for the people.
I found this book fascinating. Catherine was an extremely interesting woman.

The Hare with Amber Eyes

Finished February 27
The Hare with Amber Eyes: a family's century of art and loss by Edmund de Waal
My mother-in-law lent me this book, and said it was great. She was right.
Edmund finds out that he will be inheriting a collection of netsuke from his great uncle. This causes him to wonder about how the netsuke came into the family, and he ends up tracing back his family history, the collectors over the generations, and the wonderful things they collected. From Odessa to Vienna to Paris to London to Tokyo, he follows various trails, and makes his family come alive for us. There is much art history, history of Jewish intellectuals and their place in the arts world, and social history.
Edmund tells us how he starts with one question and gets interested in some of the other things he finds along the way. He spent a couple years of his life following this trail, and the world is richer for it.
A very interesting book