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The Gilded Page: The Secret Lives of Medieval Manuscripts
A breathtaking journey into the hidden history of medieval manuscripts, from the Lindisfarne Gospels to the ornate Psalter of Henry VIII
Medieval manuscripts can tell us much about power and art, knowledge and beauty. Many have survived because of an author’s status—part of the reason we have so much of Chaucer’s writing, for example, is because he was a London-based government official first and a poet second. Other works by the less influential have narrowly avoided ruin, like the book of illiterate Margery Kempe, found in a country house closet, the cover nibbled on by mice. Scholar Mary Wellesley recounts the amazing origins of these remarkable manuscripts, surfacing the important roles played by women and ordinary people—the grinders, binders, and scribes—in their creation and survival.
The Gilded Page is the story of the written word in the manuscript age. Rich and surprising, The Gilded Page shows how the most exquisite objects ever made by human hands came from unexpected places.
Medieval manuscripts can tell us much about power and art, knowledge and beauty. Many have survived because of an author’s status—part of the reason we have so much of Chaucer’s writing, for example, is because he was a London-based government official first and a poet second. Other works by the less influential have narrowly avoided ruin, like the book of illiterate Margery Kempe, found in a country house closet, the cover nibbled on by mice. Scholar Mary Wellesley recounts the amazing origins of these remarkable manuscripts, surfacing the important roles played by women and ordinary people—the grinders, binders, and scribes—in their creation and survival.
The Gilded Page is the story of the written word in the manuscript age. Rich and surprising, The Gilded Page shows how the most exquisite objects ever made by human hands came from unexpected places.
352 pages, Hardcover
First published October 12, 2021
66 people are currently reading
2763 people want to read
About the author
Mary Wellesley
5 books23 followersDr Mary Wellesley is a British Library Research Affiliate. She did her undergraduate degree in English Literature at Lincoln College, Oxford before moving to University College London to pursue post-graduate research. Her doctoral thesis examined the manuscripts of the Life of Our Lady by the Benedictine monk and poet, John Lydgate (c. 1370–1450).
She has published book chapters and articles on aspects of medieval literature and manuscript study, and co-edited Stasis in the Medieval West: Questioning Change and Continuity for Palgrave in 2017. Alongside her academic work, Mary also writes and reviews for non-academic publications. Her work has appeared in The Times and The Telegraph amongst others, and she is a regular contributor to The London Review of Books and The Times Literary Supplement. She is writing a book about iconic manuscripts from medieval Britain, which is under contract with Quercus. In 2017 she worked as the writer and researcher for Discovering Literature: Medieval.
She has published book chapters and articles on aspects of medieval literature and manuscript study, and co-edited Stasis in the Medieval West: Questioning Change and Continuity for Palgrave in 2017. Alongside her academic work, Mary also writes and reviews for non-academic publications. Her work has appeared in The Times and The Telegraph amongst others, and she is a regular contributor to The London Review of Books and The Times Literary Supplement. She is writing a book about iconic manuscripts from medieval Britain, which is under contract with Quercus. In 2017 she worked as the writer and researcher for Discovering Literature: Medieval.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 112 reviews
February 11, 2022
Between the papyrus and the printed page lies the medieval manuscript.*
Before the fourteenth century, parchment, made from the skin of either a sheep or calves, was the main source for writing. It was a lengthy process of curing the skin, then cutting to size, folding into a bifolia (two leaves), and tiny holes were made for the “lines” for the text.
Then, after preparing an ink made from gallnut iron salts and tannic acid, the scribe could begin to write out text, in Latin or Middle English. It was usually of a religious book like a bible or missal. Colour images and gold leaf (hence, the gilded page) would be added depending on the funds available.
The bifolia was arranged into a spine, sewn together creating a booklets or quires. That book might take several years to complete.
The scribe, the author(s) and even the illuminators involved were rarely known. We know that the majority were men but women were also involved. They worked long hours. It is estimated that if a scribe was lucky, in their lifetime they might produce 10-20 books. That is a lot of work, for no recognition.
So I will say this book was a treat to read. Living up to its subtitle, The Secret Lives of Medieval Manuscripts, Mary Wellesley paints a vivid story of the English manuscript. We have the story of the oldest Bible in England (dates to the sixth century), a fire in the late 18th century that almost destroyed a vast collection of books and in doing so, created the British Museum, to Henry VIII commissioning a book that he could reflect on, and later, by his own decree, purged the books after creating the Church of England.
Thankfully, this book has full colour images of these rare books. There are the strangely beautiful beasts and strange animals of the Luttrel Psalter. Or the beauty of the Lindisfarne Gospels. Or even the self-portrait of John Soferwas, a most rare illustrator.
At the heart of the book are tales of women. I first heard about this book in a podcast by the London Review of Books on Encounters with Medieval Women, narrated by Wellesley and Irina Dumitrescu (worth the listen). Queen Emma of Normandy, the anchorite Julian of Norwich, or the saucy Welsh poet Mechain, all add a new perspective to the period of history so dominated by men.
This is a welcome and very enlightening read into a period, that on the surface seems to be something lost to the past. Even myself, when I saw manuscripts in a museum, I would take a quick look and move on. Obviously I was wrong.
There is much to appreciate in the secret lives of Medieval manuscripts. Quoting Richard de Bury, “in books I find the dead as if they were alive.” The Gilded Page does this.
* for more on the papyrus read “El infinito en un junco” by Irene Vallejo and to further fictional reading on Ottoman miniature painting (another form of manuscripts), read “I am Red” by Orhan Pamuk. Neither disappoint.
Here is the link to the podcast:
https://www.lrb.co.uk/podcasts-and-vi...
Before the fourteenth century, parchment, made from the skin of either a sheep or calves, was the main source for writing. It was a lengthy process of curing the skin, then cutting to size, folding into a bifolia (two leaves), and tiny holes were made for the “lines” for the text.
Then, after preparing an ink made from gallnut iron salts and tannic acid, the scribe could begin to write out text, in Latin or Middle English. It was usually of a religious book like a bible or missal. Colour images and gold leaf (hence, the gilded page) would be added depending on the funds available.
The bifolia was arranged into a spine, sewn together creating a booklets or quires. That book might take several years to complete.
The scribe, the author(s) and even the illuminators involved were rarely known. We know that the majority were men but women were also involved. They worked long hours. It is estimated that if a scribe was lucky, in their lifetime they might produce 10-20 books. That is a lot of work, for no recognition.
So I will say this book was a treat to read. Living up to its subtitle, The Secret Lives of Medieval Manuscripts, Mary Wellesley paints a vivid story of the English manuscript. We have the story of the oldest Bible in England (dates to the sixth century), a fire in the late 18th century that almost destroyed a vast collection of books and in doing so, created the British Museum, to Henry VIII commissioning a book that he could reflect on, and later, by his own decree, purged the books after creating the Church of England.
Thankfully, this book has full colour images of these rare books. There are the strangely beautiful beasts and strange animals of the Luttrel Psalter. Or the beauty of the Lindisfarne Gospels. Or even the self-portrait of John Soferwas, a most rare illustrator.
At the heart of the book are tales of women. I first heard about this book in a podcast by the London Review of Books on Encounters with Medieval Women, narrated by Wellesley and Irina Dumitrescu (worth the listen). Queen Emma of Normandy, the anchorite Julian of Norwich, or the saucy Welsh poet Mechain, all add a new perspective to the period of history so dominated by men.
This is a welcome and very enlightening read into a period, that on the surface seems to be something lost to the past. Even myself, when I saw manuscripts in a museum, I would take a quick look and move on. Obviously I was wrong.
There is much to appreciate in the secret lives of Medieval manuscripts. Quoting Richard de Bury, “in books I find the dead as if they were alive.” The Gilded Page does this.
* for more on the papyrus read “El infinito en un junco” by Irene Vallejo and to further fictional reading on Ottoman miniature painting (another form of manuscripts), read “I am Red” by Orhan Pamuk. Neither disappoint.
Here is the link to the podcast:
https://www.lrb.co.uk/podcasts-and-vi...
October 25, 2021
https://sarahsdeepdives.blogspot.com/...
It’s hard for me to put into words how much I loved reading this one. That really is all you need to know about it right there. Part history, part love letter to books, The Gilded Page really has everything I’ve ever wanted to read right here in one very neat, very well formatted, very well written package.
Wellesley takes readers on a journey through history, exploring some remarkable manuscripts and what various clues left in them says about the authors of said historical gems. Detailing how the manuscript is discovered is only half the fun, but she takes a microscopic look at the clues left in the manuscript, echoes of history, and explains what they say about not just those who wrote it, but the time period itself.
These details are often tantalizing in the extreme, telling readers just enough, without ever going overboard on weighty infodumps loaded with scholarly jargon. The Gilded Page never stops being a passionate book about books. Replete with valuable information, I never felt like I was being hit over the head with important facts, but rather led by the author through a twisting, turning maze of history and discovery, and insights provided by the clues left behind. In a strange way, reading this book made me feel like I was part of the process of discovery, and that made everything I learned feel that much more personal.
Perhaps what surprised me the most about The Gilded Page was how accessible it was. I’ve tried to read books about medieval manuscripts before, but I often get weighed down by jargon, by things I feel like I should understand before going into the book. I’ve had a really hard time trying to find an entry-level nonfiction book that is both interesting and not held back by all the things I should already know.
I was almost surprised, in fact, by how accessible Wellesley kept this book. Discussing history through a lens of both discovery and insinuation based on clues, and information scholars already have, The Gilded Page took me by the hand and led me through the winding corridor of knowledge that I have previously found too burdened by meaning for my blood, and helped me understand what I was reading. Wellesley gave me information that is applicable, in a way that made it matter. This book gave me a fantastic overview of medieval manuscripts without making me feel like I should have at least taken on university level course first.
It’s not just the books she picks apart that kept me rooted in place, but how she used them as a jumping off point to often explore the world they came from, the time period, the people, and things that might have happened to the books along the way to the modern era. Editing is touched on, and how later editors perhaps modified the original author’s intent. Why some books were preserved and others weren’t. Who wrote the book, who sold it, why it was both written and sold is often as interesting as the manuscript itself.
There is a lot of information we just don’t know about this time period, and some of what I learned was surprising. For example, how many women were involved in the manuscripts discussed here was unexpected. I also was surprised by many of the details about the art itself, from the tools used, the inks, the papers, and the like. Again, part of the reason why this was so impactful to me was because it was written in a way I understood, by an author who knew how to not just lecture about a topic but connect with her reader.
Some of the books Wellesley covers are well known, and some less so. Instead of focusing solely on the books themselves, she takes a wider approach to all of them, and manages to show how time and place possibly influenced content. How tools of the trade changed over the years, and then tells stories of the things that likely happened around the manuscript that impacted how it was lost/found/damaged/disappeared/etc.
Wellesley keeps her voice and passion throughout and peppers the book with interesting and often humorous stories. From Henry VIII scribbling in the margins of a psalter, to medieval poets writing odes to genitalia, The Gilded Page keeps a certain remarkable wit about it which is balanced perfectly on the edge of the author’s obvious passion.
In the end, The Gilded Page was a book that was nearly impossible to put down. I read it in a few days, and then spent a few more days doing research to learn more about any number of the things I read about. Still, I find myself sitting here thinking, “Maybe I should re-read that book…”. It’s history the way it was meant to be written, engaging, fascinating, and informative, this book is one of those unforgettable marriages of passion and knowledge that sucked me in and refused to let me go.
5/5 stars
It’s hard for me to put into words how much I loved reading this one. That really is all you need to know about it right there. Part history, part love letter to books, The Gilded Page really has everything I’ve ever wanted to read right here in one very neat, very well formatted, very well written package.
Wellesley takes readers on a journey through history, exploring some remarkable manuscripts and what various clues left in them says about the authors of said historical gems. Detailing how the manuscript is discovered is only half the fun, but she takes a microscopic look at the clues left in the manuscript, echoes of history, and explains what they say about not just those who wrote it, but the time period itself.
These details are often tantalizing in the extreme, telling readers just enough, without ever going overboard on weighty infodumps loaded with scholarly jargon. The Gilded Page never stops being a passionate book about books. Replete with valuable information, I never felt like I was being hit over the head with important facts, but rather led by the author through a twisting, turning maze of history and discovery, and insights provided by the clues left behind. In a strange way, reading this book made me feel like I was part of the process of discovery, and that made everything I learned feel that much more personal.
Perhaps what surprised me the most about The Gilded Page was how accessible it was. I’ve tried to read books about medieval manuscripts before, but I often get weighed down by jargon, by things I feel like I should understand before going into the book. I’ve had a really hard time trying to find an entry-level nonfiction book that is both interesting and not held back by all the things I should already know.
I was almost surprised, in fact, by how accessible Wellesley kept this book. Discussing history through a lens of both discovery and insinuation based on clues, and information scholars already have, The Gilded Page took me by the hand and led me through the winding corridor of knowledge that I have previously found too burdened by meaning for my blood, and helped me understand what I was reading. Wellesley gave me information that is applicable, in a way that made it matter. This book gave me a fantastic overview of medieval manuscripts without making me feel like I should have at least taken on university level course first.
It’s not just the books she picks apart that kept me rooted in place, but how she used them as a jumping off point to often explore the world they came from, the time period, the people, and things that might have happened to the books along the way to the modern era. Editing is touched on, and how later editors perhaps modified the original author’s intent. Why some books were preserved and others weren’t. Who wrote the book, who sold it, why it was both written and sold is often as interesting as the manuscript itself.
There is a lot of information we just don’t know about this time period, and some of what I learned was surprising. For example, how many women were involved in the manuscripts discussed here was unexpected. I also was surprised by many of the details about the art itself, from the tools used, the inks, the papers, and the like. Again, part of the reason why this was so impactful to me was because it was written in a way I understood, by an author who knew how to not just lecture about a topic but connect with her reader.
Some of the books Wellesley covers are well known, and some less so. Instead of focusing solely on the books themselves, she takes a wider approach to all of them, and manages to show how time and place possibly influenced content. How tools of the trade changed over the years, and then tells stories of the things that likely happened around the manuscript that impacted how it was lost/found/damaged/disappeared/etc.
Wellesley keeps her voice and passion throughout and peppers the book with interesting and often humorous stories. From Henry VIII scribbling in the margins of a psalter, to medieval poets writing odes to genitalia, The Gilded Page keeps a certain remarkable wit about it which is balanced perfectly on the edge of the author’s obvious passion.
In the end, The Gilded Page was a book that was nearly impossible to put down. I read it in a few days, and then spent a few more days doing research to learn more about any number of the things I read about. Still, I find myself sitting here thinking, “Maybe I should re-read that book…”. It’s history the way it was meant to be written, engaging, fascinating, and informative, this book is one of those unforgettable marriages of passion and knowledge that sucked me in and refused to let me go.
5/5 stars
January 31, 2022
⭐⭐⭐⭐
First off, how gorgeous is that cover?! I wish there had been illustrations just like it in this book. It perhaps would have pushed it into the 5 Star category! However, even with none, I still found this to be an interesting read. The author has a very engaging way of writing that keeps you engaged throughout. I loved the little snapshots of the lives of the people behind some of these manuscripts. As well as the processes that go into creating the manuscripts themselves. A solid read for any history buff!
**ARC Via NetGalley**
August 4, 2021
Read thanks to NetGalley.
I loved this book.
I already love medieval manuscripts and the stories that go along with them - about marginalia and the sheer effort that goes in to making one. What Wellesley has done here is look at manuscripts to understand the people who made them, used them, saved them, and occasionally caused their destruction. I read this in uncorrected proof, as an ebook (and there's some twisty lineage there from hand-written sheepskin to pixels), so I'm not sure whether the published version will have images, but that's about the only thing that would make this even more of a joy to read.
An overview of the chapters will show just why this is such a fabulous book.
Chapter 1: Discoveries. aka "near heart-attack-land at the idea that the Book of Margery Kempe was nearly not found." She uses just a couple of manuscript discoveries to show just how contingent our 21st century knowledge of, awareness of, and possession of such manuscripts is.
Chapter 2: Near Disasters. Imagine me having heart palpitations at the fire in Ashburnham House, home of the Cotton collection and various other rather important bits of parchment. As above with the contingency, with added flames.
Chapter 3: Patrons. Who wanted stories written about themselves, and who wanted their own copies of particular books (Henry VIII annotated his Book of Psalms. I have no problem with this, other than it reveals his colossal ego, equating himself with David.)
Chapter 4: Artists. The images added to some manuscripts make them incredible works of art. Wellesley examines what is known about some of the people who did this work, their inspiration and their methods.
Chapter 5: Scribes. Who did the physical act of writing... and that some of them were women.
Chapter 6: Authors and scribes. Probably one of the hardest things for moderns to grasp is the lack of the concept of 'author' in the medieval period. If a student copies a quote without a reference, they're in trouble; 700 years ago, someone could copy out a story from Chaucer's Canterbury Tales and stick it in their own collection of stuff with nary an acknowledgement (yes I am aware this happens today; it was less of a cause for hue and cry back in the day, for various reasons). Figuring out exactly who was the author of various things is the work of a lifetime for some historians.
Chapter 7: Hidden Authors... basically carries on a similar idea from Chapter 6, but in particular looks at works written for (and by?) anchorites - people who had decided to get themselves walled away, to devote themselves more fully to Christ.
The book's intrigue - who wrote it? who sold it? why do we only have one copy? It's got feminism - women wrote and read and commissioned and created. It's suffused with a love of books and reading, it's a celebration of books as objects, and it ends with Gutenberg and that weird interstitial period where some manuscripts were created by copying out the text from a printed book. And the author's voice is present throughout, which I found a lovely touch: what it was like to view a manuscript at the British Library, or a discovery as an undergrad, or an experience learning about the making of parchment.
This is a wonderful book about books. Entirely accessible to the non-medievalist, in fact a great entry for those with no real conception of the medieval manuscript.
I loved this book.
I already love medieval manuscripts and the stories that go along with them - about marginalia and the sheer effort that goes in to making one. What Wellesley has done here is look at manuscripts to understand the people who made them, used them, saved them, and occasionally caused their destruction. I read this in uncorrected proof, as an ebook (and there's some twisty lineage there from hand-written sheepskin to pixels), so I'm not sure whether the published version will have images, but that's about the only thing that would make this even more of a joy to read.
An overview of the chapters will show just why this is such a fabulous book.
Chapter 1: Discoveries. aka "near heart-attack-land at the idea that the Book of Margery Kempe was nearly not found." She uses just a couple of manuscript discoveries to show just how contingent our 21st century knowledge of, awareness of, and possession of such manuscripts is.
Chapter 2: Near Disasters. Imagine me having heart palpitations at the fire in Ashburnham House, home of the Cotton collection and various other rather important bits of parchment. As above with the contingency, with added flames.
Chapter 3: Patrons. Who wanted stories written about themselves, and who wanted their own copies of particular books (Henry VIII annotated his Book of Psalms. I have no problem with this, other than it reveals his colossal ego, equating himself with David.)
Chapter 4: Artists. The images added to some manuscripts make them incredible works of art. Wellesley examines what is known about some of the people who did this work, their inspiration and their methods.
Chapter 5: Scribes. Who did the physical act of writing... and that some of them were women.
Chapter 6: Authors and scribes. Probably one of the hardest things for moderns to grasp is the lack of the concept of 'author' in the medieval period. If a student copies a quote without a reference, they're in trouble; 700 years ago, someone could copy out a story from Chaucer's Canterbury Tales and stick it in their own collection of stuff with nary an acknowledgement (yes I am aware this happens today; it was less of a cause for hue and cry back in the day, for various reasons). Figuring out exactly who was the author of various things is the work of a lifetime for some historians.
Chapter 7: Hidden Authors... basically carries on a similar idea from Chapter 6, but in particular looks at works written for (and by?) anchorites - people who had decided to get themselves walled away, to devote themselves more fully to Christ.
The book's intrigue - who wrote it? who sold it? why do we only have one copy? It's got feminism - women wrote and read and commissioned and created. It's suffused with a love of books and reading, it's a celebration of books as objects, and it ends with Gutenberg and that weird interstitial period where some manuscripts were created by copying out the text from a printed book. And the author's voice is present throughout, which I found a lovely touch: what it was like to view a manuscript at the British Library, or a discovery as an undergrad, or an experience learning about the making of parchment.
This is a wonderful book about books. Entirely accessible to the non-medievalist, in fact a great entry for those with no real conception of the medieval manuscript.
December 4, 2021
It's a symptom of my geekdom or useless bales of random knowledge, none of which has ever made me a dime, that the first thing I did on picking this up was to wonder who Mary Wellesley was related to. And indeed, she's the daughter of the ninth Duke of Wellington, which has nothing to do with her being an accomplished scholar and writer, but made me smile.
Readers of the Wolfson History Prize winner from a few years ago, Christopher de Hamel's Meetings With Remarkable Manuscripts, will really enjoy this as Wellesley's approach is totally different and expanding. In each chapter she discusses a manuscript issue - Discoveries, Near Disasters, and Patrons are the first three - which gives her plenty of room to illuminate, as it were, the reader's knowledge of these wonderful survivors. Fascinating characters and events weave in and out with the manuscripts - Chaucer, St Cuthbert, the greedy and grasping Pastons, the saintly Dame Julian, the catastrophic fire that almost gave the only manuscript of Beowulf an appropriately Dark Ages send-off. It's great and compulsive reading.
That said, one issue remains irritating. The book is illustrated by a selection of color plates that are not in any order related to the text nor referred to in the text ("see plate XIV"). That of course is the fault of the publisher, not the author, and while it detracts, I'll be awaiting Wellesley's next book with eager anticipation.
Readers of the Wolfson History Prize winner from a few years ago, Christopher de Hamel's Meetings With Remarkable Manuscripts, will really enjoy this as Wellesley's approach is totally different and expanding. In each chapter she discusses a manuscript issue - Discoveries, Near Disasters, and Patrons are the first three - which gives her plenty of room to illuminate, as it were, the reader's knowledge of these wonderful survivors. Fascinating characters and events weave in and out with the manuscripts - Chaucer, St Cuthbert, the greedy and grasping Pastons, the saintly Dame Julian, the catastrophic fire that almost gave the only manuscript of Beowulf an appropriately Dark Ages send-off. It's great and compulsive reading.
That said, one issue remains irritating. The book is illustrated by a selection of color plates that are not in any order related to the text nor referred to in the text ("see plate XIV"). That of course is the fault of the publisher, not the author, and while it detracts, I'll be awaiting Wellesley's next book with eager anticipation.
July 3, 2025
A quest through the history of literature and its creation, both intellectually and physically. It is a terrible pun to say this book on medieval manuscripts is illuminating, but very apt as well. There is review of how the books were made and their content conceived, who their creators were and who came to love them. This book is in good company with those that came before.
June 2, 2021
If you enjoy the texture and smell of a manuscript or book and wonder about it's history or herstory, this book is a lovely read. Ms Wellesley describes fascinating documents , how they survived through time, and the frequently anonymous people behind their making. "The Gilded Page" has information on materials, medieval inks, and the modern discoveries of books thought lost. She ranges from the Cuthbert Gospel, Lindisfarne Gospels, the Book of Margery Kempe, and Beowulf, to the less well known, Encomium Emmae Reginae, Luttrell Psalter, and the Book of Nunnaminster and more. She has sections on artists, scribes, and authors, fires, and other disasters and hypothesizes why some manuscripts were protected and others were not. She also questions how much editing has been done by scribes using the works of Chaucer as an example and what visions by later editors differed from the original author. I like that the author raises questions that cannot be answered but lead to discussion. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review. That said, I am a librarian and am grateful to those dedicated artists, authors, scribes and annotators.
April 3, 2024
There is something so moving about the thought of people existing so long ago and having their own personal thoughts and significances, their little notes and drawings in the margins. At times, this book dragged on a bit making it difficult to get into. But the information it communicated was so fascinating and enough drama was included to keep me interested. The organization of the information was also well done. Very cool!
April 18, 2025
okay yeah maybe i didn’t read the last 50 pages but im still counting it
December 20, 2021
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC.
This was a combination of 2 things I love: an ode to the written word and a sweeping history. Tale after tale shows how lucky we are to possess the manuscripts we do have and how much these have informed how we view medieval life.
The author's love for the subject matter leaps from the page, and I was surprised about how engaging the book was (and free from jargon. or at least the jargon was well-explained!).
Highly, highly recommended.
This was a combination of 2 things I love: an ode to the written word and a sweeping history. Tale after tale shows how lucky we are to possess the manuscripts we do have and how much these have informed how we view medieval life.
The author's love for the subject matter leaps from the page, and I was surprised about how engaging the book was (and free from jargon. or at least the jargon was well-explained!).
Highly, highly recommended.
June 30, 2021
I had the opportunity to read this book through Net Galley.
Review: In college I considered medieval history to be my "hobby history" that I often read for fun because it was a complete break from my normal studies of Early Modern World, Modern World, American, Middle Eastern, and Diplomatic histories. For me the Middle Ages appear to be a fascinating time to study and it is a passion that I have shared in the classroom that I teach in. One area of interest to me is the concept of manuscript writing and the process that scribes in this time went through in order to create some of the greatest works of literature that we know come from this time period. This is a very interesting topic that has even left me wishing I could have been alongside these scribes and seen how they went through their craft. I had always hoped to come across a great work rich in scholarship and narrative that could help shed light on this time frame. Thankfully Dr. Wellesley's book does just that! I felt as if I was right alongside her in the British Library as she examined some of the most well known works of Medieval literature such as Beowulf and Le Morte Darthur to lesser known works such as The Book of Margery Kemp. It has been fascinating to see these works broken down in great detail and even have their genesis explained by looking into how these and many other manuscripts came to be. With this book I think I finally have reached my goal of having some sort of sense into what it was like to be alongside those who worked collaboratively to create such epic manuscripts and I would recommend anyone else who would like to be alongside these individuals as I have always wished that they do in fact pick up this wonderful book!
Review: In college I considered medieval history to be my "hobby history" that I often read for fun because it was a complete break from my normal studies of Early Modern World, Modern World, American, Middle Eastern, and Diplomatic histories. For me the Middle Ages appear to be a fascinating time to study and it is a passion that I have shared in the classroom that I teach in. One area of interest to me is the concept of manuscript writing and the process that scribes in this time went through in order to create some of the greatest works of literature that we know come from this time period. This is a very interesting topic that has even left me wishing I could have been alongside these scribes and seen how they went through their craft. I had always hoped to come across a great work rich in scholarship and narrative that could help shed light on this time frame. Thankfully Dr. Wellesley's book does just that! I felt as if I was right alongside her in the British Library as she examined some of the most well known works of Medieval literature such as Beowulf and Le Morte Darthur to lesser known works such as The Book of Margery Kemp. It has been fascinating to see these works broken down in great detail and even have their genesis explained by looking into how these and many other manuscripts came to be. With this book I think I finally have reached my goal of having some sort of sense into what it was like to be alongside those who worked collaboratively to create such epic manuscripts and I would recommend anyone else who would like to be alongside these individuals as I have always wished that they do in fact pick up this wonderful book!
May 16, 2021
I received The Gilded Page as part of a NetGalley giveaway.
Medieval manuscripts contain a wealth of information beyond the words they communicate--from the physical makeup of the texts, to the art that complements them, to the marginal and contextual clues that illuminate (no pun intended) the writer's world. Mary Wellesley challenges popular attitudes towards manuscripts and the people that created them, discusses the circumstances behind their relative scarcity in the modern day, and brings to life the all-too-often forgotten figures who nevertheless contributed greatly to the creative and intellectual life of the Middle Ages.
This was a magnificent read. The prose is engaging and accessible, containing fascinating accounts of unlikely and unheralded medieval writers, artists, and craftsmen whose work has shined a rare light on a period about which we know relatively little. And many of these people were not the white male religious that we tend to visualize when we think of the creators of manuscripts. Learning about manuscripts, from their base materials to their textual and artistic development, to their loss and (sometimes) rediscovery in the early modern and modern periods, was a fascinating and enriching experience.
Medieval manuscripts contain a wealth of information beyond the words they communicate--from the physical makeup of the texts, to the art that complements them, to the marginal and contextual clues that illuminate (no pun intended) the writer's world. Mary Wellesley challenges popular attitudes towards manuscripts and the people that created them, discusses the circumstances behind their relative scarcity in the modern day, and brings to life the all-too-often forgotten figures who nevertheless contributed greatly to the creative and intellectual life of the Middle Ages.
This was a magnificent read. The prose is engaging and accessible, containing fascinating accounts of unlikely and unheralded medieval writers, artists, and craftsmen whose work has shined a rare light on a period about which we know relatively little. And many of these people were not the white male religious that we tend to visualize when we think of the creators of manuscripts. Learning about manuscripts, from their base materials to their textual and artistic development, to their loss and (sometimes) rediscovery in the early modern and modern periods, was a fascinating and enriching experience.
January 19, 2022
First, thanks to Netgalley and Perseus books for granting me access to an ARC of this title.
As a Medievalist and a book lover for most of my adult life, it was almost a given that I would love this title. A book about Medieval Manuscripts? Where have you been all my life!
This is no dry academic tome which explores the minutiae of book production or discusses the consistency different types of ink. The process of making manuscripts books does get attention, but its not the real focus of this work. It is, instead, a lively and readable examination of the origins and lives of Medieval books and the people involved in the creation of them.
From the Winchester Bible to a book commissioned by Queen Emma of Normandy, to the Lais of Marie de France and the famous Luttrell Psalter, as well as many other titles, religious, secular and everything in between. Some of my favourite titles make an appearance, or get an honorary mention, including Beowulf and various Anglo-Saxon poems.
This - book- unfolds the lives and stories of these works and the often lost or little-known people behind them. Not just writers or creators, but sometimes translators or just men and women who played a role in saving and preserving manuscripts for posterity. People who I am grateful for the efforts of.
I could feel the pain of Renaissance antiquarians and collectors, who hated the idea of ancient books being sold off cheaply, or just disposed of for what was basically scrap paper. Then again, I'm the person who still gets upset thinking of which fire at Ashburnam House which decimated the Cotton Library.
Other voices speak to us down the centuries. If anything, it was something that ran deeper. People understood how history could be changed and rewritten, how a person's name and reputation could be altered by the writings of others and sought to do what they could to create a legacy of thier own, understanding the enduring power of the written word which could survive for centuries after their death.
Others saw the written word as an act of worship. On cleric said every word of the scribe was a blow to the Devil. Undoubtedly there were other who simply enjoyed books for their beaty and collected them for their own sake.
It wasn't just about the words though. Illuminating manuscripts was a labour of love, performed by men and some women who were true artists of their age.
The names of many aren't known to us, and the only clue to their existence is the work they left behind and occasionally a mention in some administrative document.
In short, The Gilded Page is a booklover's dream and a welcome addition to any library. A title which will give you a newfound appreciation for the books created before the printing press came into being, and their often-miraculous survival against the odds. It might even make you look at the advent of mass-produced printed books in a different way.
Did we lose something considering the great treasures of the past which were all, in their own way, unique?
As a Medievalist and a book lover for most of my adult life, it was almost a given that I would love this title. A book about Medieval Manuscripts? Where have you been all my life!
This is no dry academic tome which explores the minutiae of book production or discusses the consistency different types of ink. The process of making manuscripts books does get attention, but its not the real focus of this work. It is, instead, a lively and readable examination of the origins and lives of Medieval books and the people involved in the creation of them.
From the Winchester Bible to a book commissioned by Queen Emma of Normandy, to the Lais of Marie de France and the famous Luttrell Psalter, as well as many other titles, religious, secular and everything in between. Some of my favourite titles make an appearance, or get an honorary mention, including Beowulf and various Anglo-Saxon poems.
This - book- unfolds the lives and stories of these works and the often lost or little-known people behind them. Not just writers or creators, but sometimes translators or just men and women who played a role in saving and preserving manuscripts for posterity. People who I am grateful for the efforts of.
I could feel the pain of Renaissance antiquarians and collectors, who hated the idea of ancient books being sold off cheaply, or just disposed of for what was basically scrap paper. Then again, I'm the person who still gets upset thinking of which fire at Ashburnam House which decimated the Cotton Library.
Other voices speak to us down the centuries. If anything, it was something that ran deeper. People understood how history could be changed and rewritten, how a person's name and reputation could be altered by the writings of others and sought to do what they could to create a legacy of thier own, understanding the enduring power of the written word which could survive for centuries after their death.
Others saw the written word as an act of worship. On cleric said every word of the scribe was a blow to the Devil. Undoubtedly there were other who simply enjoyed books for their beaty and collected them for their own sake.
It wasn't just about the words though. Illuminating manuscripts was a labour of love, performed by men and some women who were true artists of their age.
The names of many aren't known to us, and the only clue to their existence is the work they left behind and occasionally a mention in some administrative document.
In short, The Gilded Page is a booklover's dream and a welcome addition to any library. A title which will give you a newfound appreciation for the books created before the printing press came into being, and their often-miraculous survival against the odds. It might even make you look at the advent of mass-produced printed books in a different way.
Did we lose something considering the great treasures of the past which were all, in their own way, unique?
June 24, 2022
This is a truly beautiful book about beautiful books. The author takes us between the pages of a variety of medieval tomes, while giving us a history lesson on the era of the relevant book as well as the history of the time generally. It is a clever framing and works really well.
The history around the Reformation is heartbreaking. Ms Wellesley advises us that:-
"Although some books were saved, many were used for ignoble purposes: stuffing for scarecrows, mending material for wagons, or wrapping paper."
"Of the more than six hundred volumes in the medieval catalogue of the Augustinian Friary in York, only five books have survived the Reformation. And of the three hundred volumes that the bibliophile benefactor Duke Humfrey gave to the University of Oxford, only two remain."
There are stories of youths with dripping noses and strange markers. My personal favourite section is the one about anchorites as I’ve always found these women fascinating. Especially Julian of Norwich. Maybe one day I’ll be the nondescript person who finds an incredible bookish treasure. It seems there might be a few out there.
This is recommended for anyone who loves books, who loves medieval history, and who enjoys a well paced narrative. You’ll also learn that an incunable is a book printed before 1500.
I was given a copy of this book by Netgalley
The history around the Reformation is heartbreaking. Ms Wellesley advises us that:-
"Although some books were saved, many were used for ignoble purposes: stuffing for scarecrows, mending material for wagons, or wrapping paper."
"Of the more than six hundred volumes in the medieval catalogue of the Augustinian Friary in York, only five books have survived the Reformation. And of the three hundred volumes that the bibliophile benefactor Duke Humfrey gave to the University of Oxford, only two remain."
There are stories of youths with dripping noses and strange markers. My personal favourite section is the one about anchorites as I’ve always found these women fascinating. Especially Julian of Norwich. Maybe one day I’ll be the nondescript person who finds an incredible bookish treasure. It seems there might be a few out there.
This is recommended for anyone who loves books, who loves medieval history, and who enjoys a well paced narrative. You’ll also learn that an incunable is a book printed before 1500.
I was given a copy of this book by Netgalley
October 10, 2021
I found this book fascinating! Wellesley obviously loves books so dearly that I felt her to be a kindred spirit. She quotes Richard de Bury, Bishop of Durham who said, "In books we climb mountains and scan the deepest gulfs of the abyss." Since I love everything to do with books and reading I was very interested to learn more about manuscripts - how they were made, how they survived, and what we learn from them.
Wellesley says, " Manuscripts hold stories and snapshots of the lives of people we otherwise might not encounter - anonymous scribes, artists, and writers; people of a different social status than ourselves; people of different enthnicities and genders. And through manuscripts we can try to access something of their lives." This appears to be her thesis and she succeeded absolutely in convincing me of this. I admire the people I met here and I admit I also kind of loved the manuscripts themselves.
Just a couple of things I learned: "... a scribe might produce about twenty books in his or her lifetime."(!); and, women called "anchoresses" committed to lives of absolutely solitude and devotion and were enclosed in tiny-rooms-for-one for the remainder of their lives - which was sometimes decades. Many were even buried in the floors there when they died. Fascinating manuscripts were written by and about them.
If you love books you should read this. (Ending with a Reading Rainbow recommendation, if that's ok.)
Wellesley says, " Manuscripts hold stories and snapshots of the lives of people we otherwise might not encounter - anonymous scribes, artists, and writers; people of a different social status than ourselves; people of different enthnicities and genders. And through manuscripts we can try to access something of their lives." This appears to be her thesis and she succeeded absolutely in convincing me of this. I admire the people I met here and I admit I also kind of loved the manuscripts themselves.
Just a couple of things I learned: "... a scribe might produce about twenty books in his or her lifetime."(!); and, women called "anchoresses" committed to lives of absolutely solitude and devotion and were enclosed in tiny-rooms-for-one for the remainder of their lives - which was sometimes decades. Many were even buried in the floors there when they died. Fascinating manuscripts were written by and about them.
If you love books you should read this. (Ending with a Reading Rainbow recommendation, if that's ok.)
July 4, 2022
This is a truly wonderful book about (mostly English) medieval manuscripts, capturing the complexities of their production, use, preservation, and (all too often) loss.
I'm a total book junky with a long standing interest in calligraphy, so this is really right up my alley. My sense, though, is that anyone interested in history and books, texts and ideas, will find this an enjoyable and enlightening read. I certainly learned much about medieval (& subsequent) British history, and learned much about texts, scribes, and authors I knew little or nothing about. I particularly liked her discussion of the challenges of coming to some knowledge of the often anonymous or uncertain authors and scribes, especially when those people were women.
She also does an excellent job of illustrating both how robust and fragile these manuscripts can be, all at the same time. Only a tiny fraction have survived to the present, and in many cases it was a very near thing. On the other have, many *do* survive and look vivid and lively despite many centuries of use.
There were two weak spots IMHO. First, the title and set up gives the impression that this might provide far broader coverage than it does. It is *very* strongly focused on books produced in what is more Britain (& mostly what is now England), and books held in British collections. It's understandable that she would emphasize works in the British Library since she worked there, but I came to the book expecting broader (European) coverage and it took me a hot minute to realize that wasn't gonna happen.
The second issue is the plates and illustrations. For a book about handcrafted objects, there aren't a lot of plates and there are no other illustrations. And, the plates we do get are in a fairly bizarre order that I assume was driven more by printing costs than any editorial sense. Luckily the notes (which are extensive and helpful) made it fairly easy to find online digital versions of many of the key texts, and I found myself frequently looking at high quality scans on my tablet while I read the paper copy of her book.
I'm a total book junky with a long standing interest in calligraphy, so this is really right up my alley. My sense, though, is that anyone interested in history and books, texts and ideas, will find this an enjoyable and enlightening read. I certainly learned much about medieval (& subsequent) British history, and learned much about texts, scribes, and authors I knew little or nothing about. I particularly liked her discussion of the challenges of coming to some knowledge of the often anonymous or uncertain authors and scribes, especially when those people were women.
She also does an excellent job of illustrating both how robust and fragile these manuscripts can be, all at the same time. Only a tiny fraction have survived to the present, and in many cases it was a very near thing. On the other have, many *do* survive and look vivid and lively despite many centuries of use.
There were two weak spots IMHO. First, the title and set up gives the impression that this might provide far broader coverage than it does. It is *very* strongly focused on books produced in what is more Britain (& mostly what is now England), and books held in British collections. It's understandable that she would emphasize works in the British Library since she worked there, but I came to the book expecting broader (European) coverage and it took me a hot minute to realize that wasn't gonna happen.
The second issue is the plates and illustrations. For a book about handcrafted objects, there aren't a lot of plates and there are no other illustrations. And, the plates we do get are in a fairly bizarre order that I assume was driven more by printing costs than any editorial sense. Luckily the notes (which are extensive and helpful) made it fairly easy to find online digital versions of many of the key texts, and I found myself frequently looking at high quality scans on my tablet while I read the paper copy of her book.
August 12, 2024
Medieval manuscripts have fascinated me for a long time. I wish The Gilded Page had been longer and more in-depth. Mary Wellesley's writing includes her first-hand observation of many of the texts she writes about, and I'm sure that influenced her impressions. I learned about Queen Emma of Normandy, and that was a lot of fun. And Beowulf nearly didn't survive a devastating fire. Wellesley discusses artistic technique, the work of the scribes, the patrons and history of the times. I was amused to read that Henry VIII highlighted his psalter with crayon and lead. Artists and scribes probably spent years making the king's psalter. Equally compelling was Wellesley's poignant explanation of the life of an anchoress.
October 20, 2025
Full of fascinating information, and engagingly written. My only complaint is that the color photos in the center were totally disconnected from the text: they were not in order, nor were they numbered or called out in the text, so I had to keep checking to see if the one I was reading about had a photo. Totally puzzling decision.
My favorite parts were the dynamic bodies of the Master of the Leaping Figures in the Winchester Bible, Eadfrith's intricate designs in the Celtic Lindisfarne Gospels, and Gwerful Mechain's snarky feminist poetry. I also appreciated Wellesley's female perspective. Instead of focusing only the easily accessible creations of men, she made an effort to unearth the women of the past, whose contributions have so often been pasted over or rubbed out.
My favorite parts were the dynamic bodies of the Master of the Leaping Figures in the Winchester Bible, Eadfrith's intricate designs in the Celtic Lindisfarne Gospels, and Gwerful Mechain's snarky feminist poetry. I also appreciated Wellesley's female perspective. Instead of focusing only the easily accessible creations of men, she made an effort to unearth the women of the past, whose contributions have so often been pasted over or rubbed out.
December 25, 2022
I’ve always loved art exhibits of illuminated manuscripts, and the subject also came up in my Survey of British Literature class. Finding this book at the local library allowed me to delve even further. Excellent research with much to be fascinated by and written by a woman with an enviable job at the British Library. Any artist would also appreciate this book as it details the earliest handwritten texts that are gorgeous pieces of artwork.
August 18, 2021
I received a review copy of this from the publisher Hatchette Book Group through NetGalley. An uncommon topic treated clearly passionately by Dr. Wellesley ("To sit in the silence of a special collections reading room and turn the pages of a medieval manuscript is to have tangible, smellable, visual encounters with the past. Parchment manuscripts have a particular scent that is hard to describe: acrid with undernotes suggesting an organic origin.") I liked all of the historical background and notes before Dr. Wellesley even gets into the various gilded leaves. One example early in the book: a fifteenth century recipe for ink. Dr. Wellesley conveys some of the difficulties researchers have in their work with manuscripts: "Some questions cannot be answered by copies or surrogates. And when a manuscript is lost completely, many important clues to its provenance are lost with it." She talks about tragic losses and near-losses - fires, deliberate destruction, more. She talks about patronage, some of the artists who illustrated the manuscripts she researched, some of the scribes who copied them, the authors, and some texts whose authorship is unknown.
Dr. Wellesley says "Because I love language and language forms, I have chosen, in almost all cases, to quote from original texts alongside modern translations." Because I love language and language forms...but am hampered by atrophied synapses that are not all that good at learning a new language... I so very much appreciate her quoting the originals and providing the translations. Despite that hampering, by the end of the book I could almost parse a bit of Old English! And understand a wee more of middle/early modern English. The Welsh? Whooee, what a jawcracker! I liked that she even translated early modern English, though those quotes were quite clear enough to me.
A continuing theme throughout this book is the importance, involvement, patronage, roles as scribes women had in ancient manuscripts; and some of the history, and lost history, of female authorship. Dr. Wellesley describes one thirteenth century translation of Aesop's Fables with final lines that "mean that the text is the work of the earliest named female writer of secular literature in the European tradition: Marie de France. And yet we know almost nothing about her." Along with the theme, Dr. Wellesly recounts several instances of male revisions of female writings. Though Marie "raises women from a position of moral inferiority to one of greater equality", some scribes making copies of her Fables added and changed lines that changed the meaning. In one fable of a wolf and a sow, the sow outwits the wolf. Marie closes the fable with [the literal translation]"All women should hear this example and remember it: they should not let their children die for want of a lie." And yet
I found one other example especially interesting to me. It that showed that not "all the literature produced by female writers from medieval Britain was bound by stricture." The
My one sadness with this book is that in at least the review copy I received, there were no actual illustrations of the works Dr. Wellesley cited. There are cumbersome urls in the notes, but they are largely ... cumbersome. Perhaps the publisher could also provide shortened links? I don't know if the final copy will have any of the gilded pages described.
And also for the publisher/editor:
In my copy, Chapter 6, there is a typo "Early printed editions of Chaucerf's work".
And, in Chapter 7, the text reads "Once he'd had that insight, the code could be cracked as follows, with the words in italics indicating vowels:" The consonants in my copy were also italics, not just the words indicating the vowels. Yes, her text that follows that does have the described vowels italicized, but the repeat of the code was the same, with slight regrouping of the letters.
Dr. Wellesley says "Because I love language and language forms, I have chosen, in almost all cases, to quote from original texts alongside modern translations." Because I love language and language forms...but am hampered by atrophied synapses that are not all that good at learning a new language... I so very much appreciate her quoting the originals and providing the translations. Despite that hampering, by the end of the book I could almost parse a bit of Old English! And understand a wee more of middle/early modern English. The Welsh? Whooee, what a jawcracker! I liked that she even translated early modern English, though those quotes were quite clear enough to me.
A continuing theme throughout this book is the importance, involvement, patronage, roles as scribes women had in ancient manuscripts; and some of the history, and lost history, of female authorship. Dr. Wellesley describes one thirteenth century translation of Aesop's Fables with final lines that "mean that the text is the work of the earliest named female writer of secular literature in the European tradition: Marie de France. And yet we know almost nothing about her." Along with the theme, Dr. Wellesly recounts several instances of male revisions of female writings. Though Marie "raises women from a position of moral inferiority to one of greater equality", some scribes making copies of her Fables added and changed lines that changed the meaning. In one fable of a wolf and a sow, the sow outwits the wolf. Marie closes the fable with [the literal translation]"All women should hear this example and remember it: they should not let their children die for want of a lie." And yet
The scribe of a fourteenth-century copy of "The Fables" in Cambridge changed this, however, turning the line "Que pur sulement mentir" (Only for want of a lie ) to "Por soulement lor cors garist" (Only to protect themselves). The change refashions this story of a protective mother into a suggestion that mothers might prioritize their own safety over that of their offspring. This is only one example: we see a pattern of misogynistic alterations in the manuscripts of Marie's "Fables."
I found one other example especially interesting to me. It that showed that not "all the literature produced by female writers from medieval Britain was bound by stricture." The
Welsh poet Gwerful Mechain (c. 1460-1502) wrote in a gloriously unrestricted way. Her surviving work is varied. She wrote the kind of religious verse common to her ere - the late fifteenth century = but she also wrote about topics that few, if any, medieval women writers discussed: unambiguous sexual desire, bodily functions, domestic violence.And
"Cywydd y gont" is Gwerful Mechain's most famous poem, and the evidence of surviving manuscripts suggest it was also one of her most popular - it survives in thirteen copies. Perhaps part of its shocking, witty, joyous appeal was the way it took a familiar form and refashioned it. The poem is likely a response to Dafydd ap Gwilym's famous "Cywydd y Gal" [...]I'll leave it to the curious to look up what the titles of the two poems translate to.
My one sadness with this book is that in at least the review copy I received, there were no actual illustrations of the works Dr. Wellesley cited. There are cumbersome urls in the notes, but they are largely ... cumbersome. Perhaps the publisher could also provide shortened links? I don't know if the final copy will have any of the gilded pages described.
And also for the publisher/editor:
In my copy, Chapter 6, there is a typo "Early printed editions of Chaucerf's work".
And, in Chapter 7, the text reads "Once he'd had that insight, the code could be cracked as follows, with the words in italics indicating vowels:" The consonants in my copy were also italics, not just the words indicating the vowels. Yes, her text that follows that does have the described vowels italicized, but the repeat of the code was the same, with slight regrouping of the letters.
June 12, 2024
Slightly misleading to say I "finished" this, as I ended up using it for research purposes and focusing on the specific parts I was interested in instead of reading it from cover to cover. While I wish there was a bit more depth in some parts, as a general guide to manuscripts for a public audience this is quite a good book--well researched and accessibly written. And I have gained a much greater appreciation for the paradigm shift in how we even think about books, writers, etc. that has accompanied the transition from manuscript to print culture.
January 10, 2024
I enjoyed this book so much as I am a true lover of Medieval manuscripts! I find them completely fascinating. This book gave me a glimpse of the people behind the manuscripts and I really enjoyed learning about much more than paper and ink!
January 4, 2022
Highly informative with much emphasis on the importance and the illusion of (especially female) authorship. The storytelling was decent, yet sometimes overwhelmed by the scholarly inserts. Overall a great book to attain a glimpse into biographies, manuscripts and stories of our medieval past.
January 8, 2022
I enjoyed this overview of medieval European book creation, scribing, and illumination with specific books explored in detail. I learned so much about the process, who made books and how, and was reminded again of how easily our cultural history can be lost, obscured, devalued - and rediscovered again. How I wish there had been more color plates but the book sent me to digital archives which have become much more accessible in recent years. A terrific read.
June 9, 2022
Could have done with a bit more editing (she kept repeating bit that she had discussed earlier), but quite good. The emphasis on women was really nice, as was the discussion of anchorites.
December 29, 2022
Love, love, love, love, love. Meticulously researched and told with heart and humanity.
April 20, 2023
A fascinating, beautiful book that celebrates the wild histories of medieval manuscripts. The author clearly loves this subject, and it comes across in her exciting storytelling.
November 5, 2025
A recently published examination of a sample of the tiny fraction of medieval manuscripts that have survived. I found it gripping, exciting, and sad, and I only wish it were Volume I with more books to come looking at more manuscripts. I'll be reading it again!
Yep, I waited a week! I read the second time by listening to the author reading the British edition, Hidden Hands, unabridged. I especially loved hearing her read the Latin and Old English before the translations. So good!!
Yep, I waited a week! I read the second time by listening to the author reading the British edition, Hidden Hands, unabridged. I especially loved hearing her read the Latin and Old English before the translations. So good!!
October 17, 2021
Mary Wellesley loves medieval manuscripts and that love, and her knowledge of these ancient books / art objects, shines through in this fascinating book. Wellesley, a Research Affiliate at the British Library, takes a tour through a number of these books while providing informative background on how manuscripts were produced.
Every medieval manuscript is unique, and manuscript creation is difficult for our modern minds to really understand. From the author (or authors, as many manuscripts are collections of various works), to the scribes, to the artists who illustrated (or "illuminated"), to the craftsmen who made the parchment, to the binders and makers of the covers - an individual manuscript required varied skills, passed through many hands, and could take years of tedious work to produce. When done, each manuscript would be difficult to recreate and was a prized possession above and beyond the knowledge it contained.
I read the ebook so I'm not sure how many illustrations are included in the hard cover edition. But, it doesn't really matter as the footnotes in the book provide links and information that allow a reader to quickly jump to the British Library (where most of the books discussed are catalogued) and view online detailed images of the manuscript pages Wellesley describes. I did this a number of times and it really helps to solidify the information Wellesley is providing.
Understanding these manuscripts means having a basic understanding of the times and society that produced them, and there is quite a bit of history in this book. She takes us from the early days of manuscript creation by monks and nuns to the late medieval / early modern time when creating manuscripts was a commercial activity alongside the production of books via printing press.
Wellesley clearly has an interest in understanding the role women took in producing manuscripts, whether as authors or scribes, and provides a number of examples of both. There is a whole section devoted to anchoresses - women who devoted their lives to solitude, prayer and spiritual reflection, depriving themselves of earthly pleasures by allowing themselves to be locked away for life - imprisoned really - in tiny rooms often attached to their local churches. One of the few earthly activities they were allowed was to read and write (with the priest's permission of course). Wellesley describes one of the most well known anchoresses, and whether or not we can know how much of her story comes down to us in her own words.
And that is what makes the book so interesting - Wellesley's ability to take us from the manuscripts she lovingly describes back into the world of their creators. I enjoyed the book and learned quite a bit. I give The Gilded Page Four Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐.
NOTE: I received an advanced reviewer's copy of this book through NetGalley and Basic Books in exchange for a fair and honest review. The hardcover and ebook editions came out October 12, 2020.
Every medieval manuscript is unique, and manuscript creation is difficult for our modern minds to really understand. From the author (or authors, as many manuscripts are collections of various works), to the scribes, to the artists who illustrated (or "illuminated"), to the craftsmen who made the parchment, to the binders and makers of the covers - an individual manuscript required varied skills, passed through many hands, and could take years of tedious work to produce. When done, each manuscript would be difficult to recreate and was a prized possession above and beyond the knowledge it contained.
I read the ebook so I'm not sure how many illustrations are included in the hard cover edition. But, it doesn't really matter as the footnotes in the book provide links and information that allow a reader to quickly jump to the British Library (where most of the books discussed are catalogued) and view online detailed images of the manuscript pages Wellesley describes. I did this a number of times and it really helps to solidify the information Wellesley is providing.
Understanding these manuscripts means having a basic understanding of the times and society that produced them, and there is quite a bit of history in this book. She takes us from the early days of manuscript creation by monks and nuns to the late medieval / early modern time when creating manuscripts was a commercial activity alongside the production of books via printing press.
Wellesley clearly has an interest in understanding the role women took in producing manuscripts, whether as authors or scribes, and provides a number of examples of both. There is a whole section devoted to anchoresses - women who devoted their lives to solitude, prayer and spiritual reflection, depriving themselves of earthly pleasures by allowing themselves to be locked away for life - imprisoned really - in tiny rooms often attached to their local churches. One of the few earthly activities they were allowed was to read and write (with the priest's permission of course). Wellesley describes one of the most well known anchoresses, and whether or not we can know how much of her story comes down to us in her own words.
And that is what makes the book so interesting - Wellesley's ability to take us from the manuscripts she lovingly describes back into the world of their creators. I enjoyed the book and learned quite a bit. I give The Gilded Page Four Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐.
NOTE: I received an advanced reviewer's copy of this book through NetGalley and Basic Books in exchange for a fair and honest review. The hardcover and ebook editions came out October 12, 2020.
June 24, 2021
The Gilded Page explores not just Medieval manuscripts, but the world in which these manuscripts existed, and the forces that created, shaped, and preserved them. And while it serves as a highly researched exploration of the reasons and people who created these works of devotion and art, as well as what information we can glean from these texts in the modern day, overall I found the organization of the book to be a bit uneven. Some parts go into such detail that you forget if you’re reading about manuscripts or the epistolary habits of the 14th/15th Century Such-and-Suches. There are also moments where the author inserts herself into the text with personal anecdotes that don’t contribute to the research being presented, and these felt a bit out of context with the rest of the content.
Recommended for people looking for a general potpourri of Medieval/manuscript trivia, but not a historical deep-dive into manuscripts themselves.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the review copy.
Recommended for people looking for a general potpourri of Medieval/manuscript trivia, but not a historical deep-dive into manuscripts themselves.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the review copy.
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