The illuminated manuscripts of the Middle Ages are among the greatest works of European art and literature. We are dazzled by them and recognize their crucial role in the transmission of knowledge. However, we generally think much less about the countless men and women who made, collected and preserved them through the centuries, and to whom they owe their existence.
Lovingly written and lavishly illustrated ... 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 ... As the book’s title might suggest, its tone is deliberately clubby. De Hamel imagines a series of intimate conversations between himself and his historical subjects as he roams across centuries, nations and creeds in his pursuit of the larger narrative of preservation ... At the end of his introduction, de Hamel beckons us through the doors to greet his cast: 'Come to dinner. Let us meet them.' It’s an invitation all but the most churlish readers will gratefully accept.
He traces the four-century age of the medieval manuscript and its longer afterlife through the lives of its makers and collectors. Exceptional in expertise, graceful in style and illustrated as vividly as its subject, this book is a masterpiece.
De Hamel also re-creates what it would be like to meet and converse with each of his fellow enthusiasts for medieval missals, Books of Hours, scrolls and codices. Opinions may obviously differ, but I occasionally found these imaginary dialogues just a bit twee. That cavil aside, everything else about The Manuscripts Club is absolutely riveting ... Does not neglect to interlace de Hamel’s own insightful comments about the many and varied works pictured across its pages. Throughout, these reproductions of jeweled bindings, miniature paintings on vellum and examples of exquisite calligraphy, as well as portraits or photographs of the owners of these treasures, convincingly illustrate key points in his observations and arguments ... Anyone interested in medieval illumination, intellectual history, book collecting or the evolution of the art market should obviously seek out The Manuscripts Club, but so should readers who simply enjoy New Yorker-style profiles of the learned, colorful and obsessive. Christopher de Hamel could happily spend an evening studying a medieval Book of Hours, while his own marvelous book delivers, in its way, hours and hours of comparable instruction and delight.
