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Manuscript Treasures of Durham Cathedral
Edited by Richard Gameson

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"For the number and quality of the reproductions, this book is a bargain. Richard Gameson proves to be an informative guide to these treasures of Durham Cathedral."
Speculum Journal of Medieval Studies, April 2011

Durham possesses the finest collection of medieval manuscripts of any English Cathedral. This book, printed in colour throughout, presents the highlights of this supremely important collection in lavish illustration, accompanied by authoritative and accessible commentary.

Lavishly illustrated and accompanied by authoritative and accessible commentary, Manuscript Treasures of Durham Cathedral presents the highlights of this supremely important collection.

Ranging from part of a sixth-century Italian Bible that was almost certainly used by the Venerable Bede to a unique sixteenth-century account of monastic cathedral life that was compiled in the aftermath of the Reformation, the featured items include:

• the ‘Durham Gospels’ (a sister manuscript to the Lindisfarne Gospels)
• the Carilef Bible (the first illuminated Romanesque Bible in England)
• a rare illuminated medical and scientific compendium
• entertainingly illustrated Bolognese lawbooks
• fine Parisian Bibles of the thirteenth century
• elaborately decorated Oxford University manuscripts of the fourteenth century.

A general introduction traces the growth of the collection from the early days of Anglo-Saxon monasticism through to the Reformation, exploring its place in the history of Durham Cathedral and the North-East, while highlighting its importance for Anglo- Saxon, Norman, Medieval, and Renaissance culture in general.

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