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illuminated manuscript exhibition
Posted by Dr. Margaret Zeegers on 2008/06/30
It was years ago that I first fell in love with the old books produced by hand in scriptoria when I saw the Book of Kells in Dublin, and experienced what is for me a most unusual desire to possess it for myself. I visited a most wonderful illuminated manuscripts exhibition held in Melbourne, Australia. Called ‘The Medieval Imagination’, it surprised me a good deal in that it had such a wonderful collection of books available in Antipodean libraries and museums. I really did not expect to see such a collection at all in this part of the world ever, obviously assuming that anything before 1788 (when The First Fleet arrived) would just not be around. I thought that I would only ever see such things in Europe. This exhibition, though, was supplemented by works provided through the Melbourne Museum’s strong connections to Cambridge University, and also its links to institutions in New Zealand. The books of days, the breviaries, the bestiaries…what a wonderful experience! It was free to all comers, but I just had to purchase the catalogue: a truly magnificent production of nearly 300 pages detailing the wonderful works on display. The books themselves, and then of course reproductions of them as they appear in the catalogue, provided me with an experience that I will not get over in a hurry.
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