This new exhibit in Pius XII Memorial Library gathers together from the library’s Special Collections fifteen full and partial printed facsimiles of medieval manuscripts written and decorated in the British Isles between the ninth and fifteenth centuries. These photographically produced facsimiles reproduce almost every aspect of the originals.

Among the books on display are some of the most splendid works ever produced in the history of manuscript illumination, including the ninth-century Book of Kells, the Benedictional of St. Aethelwold, and the Luttrell Psalter. Pride of place will be held by the library’s newest acquisition, a gift of the Saint Louis University Library Associates: the magnificent Anglo-Catalan Psalter, executed at Christ Church, Canterbury, in England around 1175–1190, and later completed in Catalonia around 1340¬¬–1350.

The theme of this exhibit complements the guest lecture of the Saint Louis Conference on Manuscript Studies (12–13 October 2007), to be delivered by Professor Nigel Morgan of Corpus Christi College, University of Cambridge, on the Anglo-Catalan Psalter, as well as the conference’s opening session on “Gothic English Manuscripts.” Professor Morgan’s lecture, the Lowrie Daly, SJ, Lecture on Manuscript Studies, will be given on Friday, 12 October 2007, at 4pm in Anheuser-Busch Auditorium, Cook Hall, and is open to the public.

This exhibit is curated by Dr. Susan L’Engle, Assistant Librarian of the Vatican Film Library. For more information, contact Dr. L’Engle at (314) 977-3084.  For an online version of this exhibit please see Facsimiles of Manuscripts Illuminated in the British Isles