I'm reading Meetings with Remarkable Manuscripts by Christopher De Hamel, a journey through the middle ages through 12 medieval manuscripts.
It's a beautiful book with wonderful images of the manuscripts, and it is a joy to feel the author's excitement about the subject. It is wonderful that someone who has been working with precious manuscripts for most of his life, and may have handled more of them than anyone else in the world, is not in the least jaded and still feels such excitement arriving in a new library, opening a book for the first time and turning the pages. He does veer into the realm of wild speculation on occasion (and freely admits to it himself), but it is not an academic work and he has such fun doing it that it's easily forgiven. And it makes for a great read. There are some really interesting nuggets of information about medieval book production, handwriting and illumination, but also history in general, in the book as well. There's also a good bibliography at the end.
I have had the privilege of working with some old manuscripts myself (although not quite as old and valuable as these ones), so I can relate to the excitement of handling them, discovering little details and making new connections.
I'm only halfway through so far, but am really enjoying it. One criticism I do have, is that they should have hired a more thorough proofreader. There are just too many mistakes left in there for a book about books, which is a shame.
It's a beautiful book with wonderful images of the manuscripts, and it is a joy to feel the author's excitement about the subject. It is wonderful that someone who has been working with precious manuscripts for most of his life, and may have handled more of them than anyone else in the world, is not in the least jaded and still feels such excitement arriving in a new library, opening a book for the first time and turning the pages. He does veer into the realm of wild speculation on occasion (and freely admits to it himself), but it is not an academic work and he has such fun doing it that it's easily forgiven. And it makes for a great read. There are some really interesting nuggets of information about medieval book production, handwriting and illumination, but also history in general, in the book as well. There's also a good bibliography at the end.
I have had the privilege of working with some old manuscripts myself (although not quite as old and valuable as these ones), so I can relate to the excitement of handling them, discovering little details and making new connections.
I'm only halfway through so far, but am really enjoying it. One criticism I do have, is that they should have hired a more thorough proofreader. There are just too many mistakes left in there for a book about books, which is a shame.