Macclesfield Psalter and more in Cambridge

Some of the greatest exponents of the manuscript art lived in East Anglia - and a spectacular exhibition of their work is going on show from next week at two venues in Cambridge, the Fitzwilliam Museum and Cambridge University Library.

The 200 manuscripts on display date from the sixth to the 16th Century and are drawn from the collections of the university museum and the library, as well as Cambridge's colleges, which between them have some of the finest examples of the art form on the planet.

Works on show include the sixth century Gospels of St Augustine, over which new Archbishops of Canterbury swear their oaths of office, and the famous Macclesfield Psalter, which the Fitzwilliam recently helped to save for the nation. Also included are scientific manuscripts and encyclopedias, many on public view for the first time.

Full article here. As the show will be up until December, I hope to be able to catch it in October, though the manuscript mavens will be gathering there this weekend -- my wife included.

Another related link is a Channel 4 News video report by Nicholas Glass on the Macclesfield Psalter -- about which we will surely be posting more before long.

UPDATE: Another exhibition review in the Guardian. The exhibition website is here, and is outstanding. Be sure to check out the "making of a manuscript" section -- the morphing of the sheep into a sheet of vellum is rather amusing.

Posted by David on July 27, 2005 10:20 PM