It seems nothing less than a miracle that so many manuscripts from the era endure to our day. These heroes are the subjects of Christopher de Hamel’s lovingly written and lavishly illustrated “The Manuscripts Club: The People Behind a Thousand Years of Medieval Manuscripts.” Crack the spine of any volume by de Hamel and you will step into a world of bookish wonderment. One of the most eminent living scholars and catalogers of medieval European manuscripts, de Hamel is also their greatest champion, having devoted his career to revealing their treasures and mysteries to scholarly and public audiences alike. Alongside his catalogs of private and public collections, he has published studies and guidebooks on a variety of topics. “Scribes and Illuminators” (1992) is still widely taught to students in paleography and codicology (the sciences of old handwriting and old manuscript books, respectively), while “The Book: A History of the Bible” (2001) surveys the history of the sacred Hebrew and Christian texts through the lens of their myriad surviving manuscripts.

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Persons: Christopher de Hamel, Hilary Mantel’s, ”, Cardinal Wolsey’s, Dukes, Christopher de Hamel’s, de Hamel, Illuminators ” Locations: Norfolk, Sussex, paleography