Illumino explores the history of medieval Britain through the biographies of twelve remarkable illuminated manuscripts and their creators. Each manuscript serves as a gateway into the lives of its makers and commissioners, and as a springboard into the era of its creation. Illuminated manuscripts are among the most intricate and fascinating forms of medieval evidence, blending literature, art, science, faith and human thought with the materiality of their production. By undertaking the detective work needed to determine the nature of each project and the underlying human-interest stories, this book reveals their social, economic and cultural contexts and charts the exchange of ideas and materials across time and space. Featuring over a hundred beautiful illustrations, this is a unique and accessible introduction to Britain's history, art history and book history over a thousand years.
Preface
1 The Eighth Century: Bishop Eadfrith’s Desert of the Book
The Lindisfarne Gospels (British Library, Cotton ms Nero d iv)
2 The Ninth Century: Bishop Aethelwald’s Prayerbook
The Book of Cerne (Cambridge University Library, ms ll.1.10)
3 The Tenth Century: King Athelstan’s Offering to a Shrine
Bede’s Lives of St Cuthbert (Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, ms 183)
4 The Eleventh Century: Queen Emma’s ‘Apologia’
Encomium Emmae Reginae (British Library, Add. ms 33241)
5 The Twelfth Century i: Christina of Markyate’s Gift
The St Albans Psalter (Hildesheim Dombibliothek)
6 The Twelfth Century ii: Gerald of Wales and the Topography of Ireland
Topographia Hibernica (British Library, Royal ms. 13 b viii)
7 The Thirteenth Century: Matthew Paris’s Chronicle
Chronica Majora (Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, mss 16 and 26 and British Library, Royal ms 14 c vii ff. 157–218)
8 The Fourteenth Century i: John Fifhide’s ‘Poor Man’s Bible’ Picture Book
The Holkham Bible (British Library, Add. ms 47682)
9 The Fourteenth Century ii: Sir Geoffrey Luttrell’s Pyramid
The Luttrell Psalter (British Library, Add. ms 42130)
10 The Fifteenth Century i: Abbot Bruyning’s Mega-Missal
The Sherborne Missal (British Library, Add. ms 74236)
11 The Fifteenth Century ii: Anthony Woodville’s Present for Doomed Royals
The Dictes and Sayings of the Philosophers (Lambeth Palace Library, ms 265)
12 The Sixteenth Century: Musician, Monarch, Womanizer
The Psalter of King Henry viii (British Library, Royal ms 2 a xvi)
Bibliography
Acknowledgements
Photo Acknowledgements
Index
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