This course considers the history of the illuminated book in Europe and the Mediterranean from Late Antiquity to the introduction of movable-type printing in the Early Renaissance. Until the 1450s all books were necessarily written and decorated by human hands (i.e. manu [by hand] + scripta [written]). Many were also lavishly ornamented – literally ‘lit up’, or ‘illuminated’ – with paintings in gold and precious pigments applied to the carefully worked animal skins that constituted the pages. As luxury objects available to the few, such books were both astoundingly costly and profoundly prestigious, especially in premodern cultures dominated by Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, the great religions of the book.

For historians of all kinds – of art, classical literature, religion, politics, communications, etc. – manuscripts are a goldmine of information, one of the richest of all time capsules. In this course, we will consider them both as repositories of art (often breathtakingly well preserved, since their pages were normally kept closed) and as complex human artifacts deeply entwined with Late Ancient, Medieval, and Early Renaissance cultures and economies.  Topics to be considered include:

·      Masterworks of calligraphy, illustration, and illumination in the Latin tradition, including the Vatican Virgil (4th century); the Book of Kells (8th cent.); the Morgan Beatus (10th cent.); the Très Riches Heures of the Duc de Berry (15th cent.); and many more. Also illuminated books and rotuli (rolls, or scrolls) in the Jewish, Byzantine, and Islamic worlds.

·      Scribes, illuminators, and their methods of work: the parchment industry and trade; the cutting of pens; the preparation of pigments, gold leaf, glues, and inks; workshop organization; page layout; holding and guiding the pen; fixing mistakes. Although this is not a studio art course, we will try some of these methods as a form of research.

·      The transmission of ancient literature through late ancient, medieval and renaissance copies, without which practically no ancient literature would have survived:  no Homer, Cicero, or Virgil; no Bible or Qur’an.

·      Revolutions in the form of the book, including our own ongoing digital revolution, and the resulting leaps in the speed of communication. Also, new technologies for the study of ancient books, including genetics and non-invasive materials analysis.

The course includes an introduction to the science of palaeography, the study of ancient writing. No knowledge of Latin or Greek are required. Students will learn to recognize the major categories of late ancient and medieval writing, study their development, and consider their great value in dating undated documents, recovering lost texts, and understanding pre-modern societies. For students wishing to do advanced work in classical studies, history, religion, or art history, this element of the course is especially valuable. 

Further highlights include a visit to a book-restoration lab and direct work with Medieval and Renaissance manuscripts in Roman libraries.

At the end of the course students will be able to:

·      Recognize important illuminated manuscripts from premodern Europe and the Mediterranean and analyze their histories and graphic-pictorial contents;

·      Describe the materials and processes (economic, cultural, artistic) involved in making illuminated manuscripts, as well as the role of scribes, illuminators, and manuscripts in the transmission of ancient literature and imagery;

·      Identify the major bookhands (scripts) used in Western Europe between 300 and 1450;

·      Know how to order manuscripts in Roman libraries and how to study them as objects, both indirectly (using digital copies and non-invasive methods) and directly (handling for minimum impact, etc.).

Note:  Field trip date and assigned readings are subject to change.  Any changes will be announced in advance.