The New York Times Book Review - Helen Castor
…one of the least likely and most wonderful books I have ever read. Least likely: Where to start? It's a vanishingly rare pleasure, given the commercial constraints of modern publishing, to handle 600 smoothly weighty pages in which the printed text winds its way seamlessly among more than 200 glorious, often full-color illustrations. And in producing such a gorgeous object, Christopher de Hamel's publisher has had the courage of his convictions, because its physical and visual delights mirror its commercially unlikely subject matter…De Hamel thinks of these encounters as "interviews," and—as with all the best interviewers—he takes his place as a character in his own narrative. He is voraciously completist, recording impressions of each journey, place, building and reading room, as well as every recoverable detail of each manuscript's creation, content and existence as a physical object through time and space…All are fascinating, all speak of the world in which they were made, and all are tangibly, movingly human…[Meetings with Remarkable Manuscripts], like the volumes that are its subject, is a book of wonders.
Publishers Weekly
★ 08/07/2017
De Hamel, a renowned British authority on medieval manuscripts, reveals his devotion to his trade in a glorious book about 12 documents, including the Gospels of Saint Augustine (late sixth century) and the Hengwrt Chaucer (ca. 1400), that surpasses its title’s promise. Despite the somewhat obscure subject matter, de Hamel pulls readers in with his unmistakable passion for every facet of these handcrafted treasures. “I want to know who made them and when and why and where,” he writes. De Hamel travels to far-flung archives, waits for guardians to produce a book and lay it on the reading table, and then he pauses a moment to absorb the splendor before gently opening. He sensually describes the feel of vellum pages, the joy at discovering bits of marginalia, and the frustration of trying to discover what an erasure has hidden. De Hamel details each document’s idiosyncrasies while contextualizing its time and place of creation. The author shares his adventures with wry humor. For instance, his first attempts to see the Codex Amiatinus (ca. 700) were refused, though he learns that in Italy “the word ‘no’ is not necessarily a negative.” He also shares his befuddlement during a visit to the “bewilderingly infinite” Getty Museum in Los Angeles. De Hamel’s delightful book is bound to inspire a new set of medievalists. Color illus. Agent: Caroline Dawnay, United Agents. (Oct.)
From the Publisher
Meetings with Remarkable Manuscripts is one of the least likely and most wonderful books I have ever read. Least likely: Where to start? It’s a vanishingly rare pleasure, given the commercial constraints of modern publishing, to handle 600 smoothly weighty pages in which the printed text winds its way seamlessly among more than 200 glorious, often full-color illustrations. And in producing such a gorgeous object, Christopher de Hamel’s publisher has had the courage of his convictions, because its physical and visual delights mirror its commercially unlikely subject matter…[De Hamel] is voraciously completist, recording impressions of each journey, place, building and reading room, as well as every coverage detail of each manuscript’s creation, content and existence as a physical object through time and space… On this archival odyssey, I lost count of the things I learned…[Meetings with Remarkable Manuscripts], like the volumes that are its subject, is a book of wonders.” - The New York Times Book Review
“Meetings with Remarkable Manuscripts is miles away from academic dry-as-dust scholarship. You’ll love learning from it. Little wonder that in Britain this extraordinary book has already won both the Wolfson History Prize and the Duff Cooper nonfiction prize.” –Washington Post
“De Hamel is a man of extraordinary erudition and easy charm; his book asks many questions of the past, and invokes many mysteries.” –The New Yorker
"An extraordinary book, a work of scholarship and history salted with the author's excitement...It is full of delights, as well as surprising reminders of the shifting ground of knowledge." - Tom Stoppard
“Deeply edifying and hugely entertaining… [De Hamel’s] curiosity and enthusiasm are infectious and his dedicated sleuth-work and educated guesses are invigorating. When not awed by the sheer scope of his expertise or absorbed by his concerted efforts to decipher script or dissect scripture, we are diverted by his light flourishes and witty evaluations.” –Weekly Standard
“Perhaps most important in discussing this magnificent work is to assure you that the overarching erudition is rendered clearly and with great kindness to you, his companion. He shows a shrewd ability in telling you just why this is something you should know. I am a happier and fuller person because this fine man took me on his Grand Tour and told me so many marvelous things.” —Helen Hazen, The American Scholar
“This is a rare example of a book that appeals to both specialist and non-specialist audiences. For a person with no training in manuscript study who would like to know what it’s all about, I could recommend nothing better than reading at least one chapter of this 632-page book, pausing over its many beautiful color illustrations. But anyone with a professional interest in the field will not want to miss de Hamel’s own original thinking about these ancient tomes…a wonderful book.” –Commonweal Magazine
“A glorious book…de Hamel pulls readers in with his unmistakable passion for every facet of these handcrafted treasures…. [and] details each document’s idiosyncrasies while contextualizing its time and place of creation…De Hamel’s delightful book is bound to inspire a new set of medievalists.” –Publishers Weekly, starred review
“Interested general readers will appreciate de Hamel’s lucid treatment of the themes and literary techniques that mark these manuscripts as cultural milestones…But they will marvel at the lavish reproductions of the masterful calligraphy and dazzling illuminations that have long made the manuscripts irresistible to collectors. A must-read for anyone who values the history of the written word.” –Booklist, starred review
“A palaeographer's fascinating investigation of medieval culture. A former librarian of Parker Library at Cambridge and cataloger of illuminated manuscripts for Sotheby's, de Hamel brings extensive expertise to his meticulous examination of 12 celebrated manuscripts created from the sixth to the 16th century…The book is sumptuously illustrated…A rare, erudite, and delightfully entertaining history.” —Kirkus Reviews, starred review
"Reading is my life, but only about once a decade do I find a book that seems to tilt the world, so afterwards it appears different." Fiammetta Rocco, Economist '1843'
"Encountering an original medieval manuscript is in some ways like encountering a famous person, says De Hamel. With meticulous biblio-sleuthing he seeks to divine the hidden 'character' of the celebrity documents under his scrutiny. ... De Hamel's book, scholarly but unfailingly readable, is the beginning of wisdom in all things scribal and scriptural." – Ian Thomson, Observer
"Christopher de Hamel is one of the world's leading palaeographers ... In this splendid new book he has numerous fascinating, scandalous, funny and gloriously entertaining tales. ... His enthusiasm, irreverence and wit are irresistible. ... Meetings with Remarkable Manuscripts is, like each one of the 12 treasures it celebrates, a book of marvels." – John Banville, Financial Times
“He has undertaken an almost impossible task. Instead of guiding our own exploration of these beautiful objects, his book has to serve as a substitute for the real thing. In this, he succeeds brilliantly, producing a truly wonderful book in the process - wise, entertaining and informative. ... Beneath his urbane manner, Christopher de Hamel is a formidable scholar.” – Jonathan Sumption, Spectator
"With scholarly elegance, Christopher de Hamel opens the door and invites us to join him for the intellectual expedition of a lifetime...This is an endlessly fascinating and enjoyable book." – Neil MacGregor
"Erudite and enthusiastic...de Hamel has catalogued more medieval manuscripts than anyone in history; everyone, not only academics should listen to what he has said." – Economist
"Spectacular ... Manuscripts are the lifeblood of medieval history. De Hamel, the librarian of Corpus Christi, has spent a lifetime handling, cataloguing and interpreting these gorgeous objects....If I could walk you to your nearest bookshop, take £30 from your wallet, and place this wonderful book in your hands, I would." – Peter Thonemann, Sunday Times
One of the cultural highlights of the autumn...Christopher de Hamel has turned a lifelong obsession with ancient literature into a book that critics are comparing to A History of the World in 100 Objects and the wonderful The Hare with Amber Eyes." - Kirsty Ward, Newsnight
"He reveals a stupendous discovery has made about this book that no one had noticed in its centuries on this earth. ... De Hamel makes an informative, entertaining book (the most suitable medium, after all), and no one but he could have written it." - Christopher Howse, Daily Telegraph
"Christopher de Hamel's learned adventures amid some of the West's greatest manuscript treasures effortlessly outclass Eco's The Name of the Rose in elegance and excitement. They are also much funnier." - Diarmaid MacCulloch
[Meetings with Remarkable Manuscripts] is de Hamel’s masterpiece, and has come at the end of a long and distinguished career. De Hamel writes in his introduction of his desire to communicate “the thrill of bringing a well-informed but non-specialist reader into intimate contact with major medieval manuscripts.” He does it brilliantly, and in full color. This would have to be my book of the year. - Jon M. Sweeney, American Magazine
From the Publisher - AUDIO COMMENTARY
"A rare, erudite, and delightfully entertaining history. —Kirkus Starred Review
Library Journal
★ 09/15/2017
Librarian de Hamel (Corpus Christi Coll., Cambridge Univ.; A History of Illuminated Manuscripts), a leading authority on medieval manuscripts, has produced a veritable feast for the mind, in this work that fleshes out the lives of 12 manuscripts. The works are organized in chronological order, beginning with the St. Augustine Gospels (sixth century) and concluding with the Spinola Hours (16th century). Content includes gospels (The Book of Kells), astrological works (The Leiden Aratea), music (Carmina Burana), and Canterbury Tales (The Hengwrt Chaucer). High culture flows from every page, as de Hamel interweaves the histories of these medieval artifacts with the lives of the people that intersected with them. The author also includes autobiographical details from his extensive experience with these rare and irreplaceable collections, including his meeting with Pope Benedict XVI and Archbishop Rowan Williams. The writing style is delightfully tangential, leading readers through the episodes and turns of hand that led to each manuscript's preservation through the centuries. The many full-page color facsimiles of the items are simply stunning. VERDICT Scholarly yet personal, this book treats medievalists, art historians, bibliophiles, and other interested parties to the closest equivalent of a seat in the great archives. A beautiful book about beautiful books.—Jeffrey Meyer, Mt. Pleasant P.L., IA
Kirkus Reviews
★ 2017-07-03
A palaeographer's fascinating investigation of medieval culture.A former librarian of Parker Library at Cambridge and cataloger of illuminated manuscripts for Sotheby's, de Hamel (Fellow, Corpus Christi Coll., Cambridge; Bibles: An Illustrated History from Papyrus to Print, 2011, etc.) brings extensive expertise to his meticulous examination of 12 celebrated manuscripts created from the sixth to the 16th century. For the author, each is a portal to the medieval world, revealing the lives and times of the societies that produced them. Most are religious, and not all were illuminated—i.e., embellished with sparkling, eye-catching gold. Some selections, such as the eighth century Book of Kells—"the most famous and perhaps the most emotively charged medieval book of any kind," de Hamel says—and the Hours of Queen Jeanne de Navarre, from the 14th century, may be the most familiar to readers. For each artifact, de Hamel describes his journey to find it, his experience in the library or archive where he examined it, its physical details (size, material, orthography, binding), provenance, readership, iconography, and, of course, content. In the Gospels of St. Augustine, for example, he finds the words laid out "by clauses and pauses." "It is an arrangement prepared primarily for reading aloud," he adds, "which comes from a time of oral culture when most of the audience for the Scriptures was illiterate." The author deems the illustration of the Virgin and Child in the Book of Kells "dreadfully ugly," probably resulting from "inherited tradition" rather than the artist's shortcomings. De Hamel explains the particular script of the Morgan Beatus, a collection of interpretations of the Apocalypse from the 10th century, by tracing the history of Latin writing, beginning in ancient Rome. Although most manuscripts were religious, the author includes the lusty lyrics of the Carmina Burana, from the 13th century, later "set to music by Carl Orff," and one of two 14th-century copies of The Canterbury Tales, which represents "nearly everything that is reasonably knowable about the original text." The book is sumptuously illustrated with color plates. A rare, erudite, and delightfully entertaining history.
