Posthumous papers of the manuscripts club (Penguin Books)

The Posthumous Papers of the Manuscripts Club tells of twelve men and women, from the eleventh century to the twentieth, all deeply immersed in the world of illuminated manuscripts. The saint, the patron, the bookseller, the artist, the antiquary, the collector, the rabbi, the savant, the librarian, the editor, the forger and the curator had very different reasons for their passion, but manuscripts animated the lives of them all and unite them in fellowship across time. Christopher de Hamel takes us into in their homes and workplaces, from the monasteries and synagogues of Normandy and Moravia to the universities of Germany and the museums of America. In the pages of his book, remarkable manuscripts tumble through the centuries, connecting the shared enthusiasm of a French prince and a Greek peasant and an African-American curator. This is a story of greed, discovery and disaster -- and of unquenchable joy in the greatest and most treasured books ever made.