Cambridge is the
depository of one of the greatest collections of illuminated manuscrips in the world. The
present volume is published to accompany the exhibition of some two
hundred spectacular Cambridge treasures – from the Fitzwilliam
Museum, the Cambridge University Library and the individual College
libraries – covering a unique array of outstanding but rarely
seen illuminated books.
The Catalogue spans over ten centuries of book production, from the
significant sixth-century Gospels of St. Augustine, to the great
Romanesque Bibles such as the Bury and Dover Bibles, the exquisite and
emotive devotional books of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, up
to the refined, classical elegance of the Humanist books of early
Renaissance Italy. Manuscripts are grouped thematically under eight
headings: 1. The Coming of Christianity, 2. The Bible and its Study, 3.
The Liturgy and the Offices, 4. Private Devotion, 5. History and
Literature, 6. The Medieval Encyclopedia, 7. The Humanist Manuscript,
8. Manuscripts and Documents for Cambridge University. The Catalogue
entries as well as the introductory essays to each section are by
well-known authorities in their field, among them the editors Paul
Binski and Stella Panayotova, and Jonathan Alexander, Christopher de
Hamel, Rosamond McKitterick, Nigel Morgan and Tessa Webber. All
manuscripts catalogued are illustrated in full colour, and there is a
Glossary, exhaustive Bibliography and detailed Index.
"The catalogue, (...), will retain its value as a work of
reference long after the exhibition closes. The standard of entries
is uniformly high and they display a welcome variety of approach."
(C.M. Kauffmann in The Burlington Magazine, CXLVII,
November 2005, p.767-768)
"Par la qualité, la variété et l'ampleur
quantitative des œuvres réunies, l'ouvrage
publié ne servira pas seulement de catalogue pour le
chercheur intéressé par l'un ou l'autre de ces
manuscrits, mais sera aussi un travail de référence
pour l'histoire du livre et de l'enluminure." (C. Heck dans
Bulletin Monumental, 165-IV, 2007, p. 405-406)