The illuminated page

Illuminated manuscripts are among the richest and most revealing relics of the pre-print Western world, and are central to our understanding of medieval social and cultural history. The British Library boasts the world's finest collection of medieval manuscripts, and in this new and lavishly illustrated survey, Janet Backhouse draws on these collections to provide a comprehensive introduction to these exciting and colourful materials.

The British Library boasts the world's finest collection of medieval manuscripts, due largely to the interest and enterprise of individual bibliophiles and connoisseurs over several centuries whose libraries have made their way, by a variety of routes, into the national collection. The manuscripts featured in this book range in date from the 7th to the 17th century, embrace both devotional and secular material, and span a geographical area bounded by the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem in the east and the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Northumbria in the north-west. Some of them, such as the Luttrell Psalter or the Bedford Hours, are already well-known but the majority remain unfamiliar to the general public. Most of the subjects chosen are reproduced here in colour for the first time.