Cambridge University Press & Assessment

978-1-009-19386-3 — Illuminating the Word in the Early Middle Ages

Lawrence Nees
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ILLUMINATING THE WORD IN THE EARLY

MIDDLE AGES

This richly illustrated study addresses the essential ûrst steps in the development of
the new phenomenon of the illuminated book, which innovatively introduced
colourful large letters and ornamental frames as guides for the reader’s access to the
text. Tracing their surprising origins within late Roman reading practices,
Lawrence Nees shows how these decorative features stand as ancestors to features
of printed and electronic books we take for granted today, including font choice,
word spacing, punctuation, and sentence capitalization. Two hundred photo-
graphs, nearly all in color, illustrate and document the decisive change in design
from ancient to medieval books. Featuring an extended discussion of the import-
ance of race and ethnicity in twentieth-century historiography, this book argues
that the ûrst steps in the development of this new style of book were taken on the
European continent within classical practices of reading and writing, and not, as is
usually presented, among the non-Roman “barbarians.”

Lawrence Nees is Professor of Medieval Art and H. Fletcher Brown Chair of the
Humanities at the University of Delaware. He is the author of The Gundohinus
Gospels; From Justinian to Charlemagne: European Art A.D. 565–787; A Tainted
Mantle: Hercules and the Classical Tradition at the Carolingian Court; Early
Medieval Art 300–1000; Perspectives on Early Islamic Art in Jerusalem; and
Frankish Manuscripts: The Seventh to the Tenth Century; and edited Approaches to
Early-Medieval Art. Professor Nees has received research fellowships from the
Mellon Foundation, the American Council of Learned Societies, the National
Endowment for the Humanities, the Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts
(National Gallery of Art, Washington), the Institute for Advanced Study in
Princeton, the Guggenheim Foundation, the American Academy in Berlin, the
National Humanities Center, and the J. Paul Getty Museum.

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Lawrence Nees
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Cambridge Studies in Palaeography and Codicology

founding editors
Albinia de la Mare
Rosamond McKitterick Newnham College, University of Cambridge

general editors
David Ganz King’s College London
Teresa Webber Trinity College, University of Cambridge

This series has been established to further the study of manuscripts from the
Middle Ages to the Renaissance. It includes books devoted to particular types of
manuscripts, their production and circulation, to individual codices of
outstanding importance, and to regions, periods, and scripts of especial interest
to scholars. The series will be of interest not only to scholars and students of
medieval literature and history, but also to theologians, art historians, and others
working with manuscript sources.

RECENT TITLES
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Lisa Fagin Davis The Gottschalk Antiphonary: Music and Liturgy in Twelfth-
Century Lambach
Albert Derolez The Palaeography of Gothic Manuscript Books: From the Twelfth to
the Early Sixteenth Century
Alison I. Beach Women as Scribes: Book Production and Monastic Reform in
Twelfth-Century Bavaria
Yitzhak Hen and Rob Meens, editors The Bobbio Missal: Liturgy and Religious
Culture in Merovingian Gaul
Marica Tacconi Cathedral and Civic Ritual in Late Medieval and Renaissance
Florence: The Service Books of Santa Maria del Fiore
Anna A. Grotans Reading in Medieval St Gall
Alexandra Gillespie and Daniel Wakelin, editors The Production of Books in
England 1350–1500
Susan Rankin Writing Sounds in Carolingian Europe
Margaret Connolly Sixteenth-Century Readers, Fifteenth-Century Books:
Continuities of Reading in the English Reformation
David Rundle The Renaissance Reform of the Book and Britain: The English
Quattrocento

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Cambridge University Press & Assessment
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Cover image: Herzog August Bibliothek Wolfenbüttel: Cod. Guelf 99 Weiss., fol. 126r.

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Lawrence Nees
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ILLUMINATING THE WORD

IN THE EARLY MIDDLE
AGES

LAWRENCE NEES
University of Delaware

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Lawrence Nees
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We share the University9s mission to contribute to society through the pursuit of
education, learning and research at the highest international levels of excellence.

www.cambridge.org
Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9781009193863
doi: 10.1017/9781009193870
© Lawrence Nees 2023
This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions
of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take
place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press & Assessment.
First published 2023
A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library
isbn 978-1-009-19386-3 Hardback
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Contents

List of Figures page viii

Acknowledgments xxvii
List of Abbreviations xxix

1 The New Medieval Book and Its Heritage 1

2 The St. Petersburg Gregory Manuscript and Its Ornament 42
3 Seeing and Reading: The Grammatical and Rhetorical Structure
of Text and Image 97
4 Decorated Words in Late Antiquity: Roots of Illumination 147
5 Illuminated Manuscripts from Luxeuil and Bobbio 228
6 Early Insular Manuscripts in Relation to the Beginnings
of Book Illumination 351
7 The Beginnings of Book Illumination and the Ethnic Paradigm
in Modern Historiography 422
8 Conclusion: The Transformation of the Book 461

Bibliography 475
Manuscript Index 532
Subject Index 536

vii

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Figures

0.1 Sites associated with manuscript production. Joe page xxx

LeMonnier, https://mapartist.com/
1.1A and B Per omnia saecula opening, Drogo Sacramentary, ca. 850 4
(Paris, BnF MS lat. 9428, fols. 13v–14r) (photo
Bibliothèque nationale de France)
1.2A and B Vere dignum opening, Drogo Sacramentary, ca. 850 6
(Paris, BnF MS lat. 9428, fols. 14v–15r) (photo
Bibliothèque nationale de France)
1.3A and B Te igitur opening, Drogo Sacramentary (Paris, BnF MS 10
lat. 9428, fols. 15v–16r) (photo Bibliothèque nationale de
France)
1.4A and B Text opening, Drogo Sacramentary (Paris, BnF MS lat. 12
9428, fols. 16v–17r) (photo Bibliothèque nationale de
France)
1.5A and B Pater noster opening, Drogo Sacramentary (Paris, BnF 14
MS lat. 9428, fols. 20v–21r) (photo Bibliothèque
nationale de France)
1.6A and B Text opening, Drogo Sacramentary (Paris, BnF MS lat. 16
9428, fols. 21v–22r) (photo Bibliothèque nationale de
France)
1.7 Ornamental page, Lindisfarne Gospels, ca. 720s 35
(London, British Library, Cotton MS Nero D. iv, fol.
94v) (photo British Library)
1.8 Ornamental page, Book of Durrow, end seventh– 38
beginning eighth century (Dublin, Trinity College MS
57), fol. 125v (photo by permission of the Board of
Trinity College Dublin)
1.9 Jean-Leon Gérôme, The Carpet-seller, 1887 39
(Minneapolis Institute of Arts) (photo courtesy of the
Minneapolis Institute of Arts)

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List of Figures

2.1 Ornamental page with cross, from Gregory’s 46

commentary on Ezekiel, ca. 680 (St. Petersburg,
National Library of Russia, MS lat. Q.v.I.14, fol. 1v)
(photo by permission of the National Library of Russia)
2.2 Ornamental page, from Gregory’s commentary on 47
Ezekiel, ca. 680 (St. Petersburg, National Library of
Russia, MS lat. Q.v.I.14, fol. 2r) (photo by permission of
the National Library of Russia)
2.3 Ornamental page with double-armed cross, from 48
Gregory’s commentary on Ezekiel, ca. 680
(St. Petersburg, National Library of Russia, MS lat.
Q.v.I.14, fol. 2v) (photo by permission of the National
Library of Russia)
2.4 Ornamental incipit page, from Gregory’s commentary 49
on Ezekiel, ca. 680 (St. Petersburg, National Library of
Russia, MS lat. Q.v.I.14, fol. 3r) (photo by permission of
the National Library of Russia)
2.5 Ornamental initial page, from Gregory’s commentary 50
on Ezekiel, ca. 680 (St. Petersburg, National Library of
Russia, MS lat. Q.v.I.14, fol. 3v) (photo by permission of
the National Library of Russia)
2.6 Text page, with initial for Book I, chapter 1, from 51
Gregory’s commentary on Ezekiel, ca. 680 (St. Petersburg,
National Library of Russia, MS Q.v.I.14, fol. 4r) (photo by
permission of the National Library of Russia)
2.7 Ornamental page, from Gregory’s commentary on 54
Ezekiel, ca. 680 (St. Petersburg, National Library of
Russia, MS lat. Q.v.I.14, fol. 49r) (photo by permission
of the National Library of Russia)
2.8 Ornamental explicit page, from Gregory’s commentary 55
on Ezekiel, ca. 680 (St. Petersburg, National Library of
Russia, MS lat. Q.v.I.14, fol. 74r) (photo by permission
of the National Library of Russia)
2.9 Ornamental explicit page, from Gregory’s commentary 56
on Ezekiel, ca. 680 (St. Petersburg, National Library of
Russia, MS lat. Q.v.I.14, fol. 158v) (photo by permission
of the National Library of Russia)

ix

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2.10 Ornamental explicit/incipit page, from Gregory’s 57

commentary on Ezekiel, ca. 680 (St. Petersburg,
National Library of Russia, MS lat. Q.v.I.14, fol. 143r)
(photo by permission of the National Library of Russia)
2.11 Ornamental explicit, from Gregory’s commentary on 58
Ezekiel, ca. 680 (St. Petersburg, National Library of
Russia, MS lat. Q.v.I.14, fol. 40v) (photo by permission
of the National Library of Russia)
2.12 Ornamental explicit and quire mark, from Gregory’s 59
commentary on Ezekiel, ca. 680 (St. Petersburg,
National Library of Russia, MS lat. Q.v.I.14, fol. 48v)
(photo by permission of the National Library of Russia)
2.13 Ornamental initial page, from Gregory’s commentary 60
on Ezekiel, ca. 680 (St. Petersburg, National Library of
Russia, MS lat. Q.v.I.14, fol. 24r) (photo by permission
of the National Library of Russia)
2.14 Spoleto, “Tempietto di Clitunno,” façade, seventh– 63
early ninth century (photo Judson Emerick)
2.15 Boar Hunt Tapestry with gable on columns, fourth 65
century (Washington, DC, Textile Museum, inv. 71.18)
(photo The Textile Museum Collection, Washington,
D.C., 71.18, Acquired by George Hewitt Myers in 1925)
2.16 Silver book cover from the Antioch Treasure, sixth 67
century (New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art,
Fletcher Fund, acc. No. 50.5.1) (photo Metropolitan
Museum of Art)
2.17 Mosaic ûoor from Butchery Lane, Canterbury, second 69
century (after David S. Neal and Stephen R. Cosh,
Roman Mosaics in Britain, vol. 3, South-East Britain, pt 2
[London: The Society of Antiquaries, 2009], pp. 364–
365, ûg. 336, with permission of the authors)
2.18 Marble plaque with inscription, from Campo Maior, 70
later sixth century (Elvas [Alto Alentejo] Museum)
(photo Peter Witte, Deutsches Archäologisches Institut
Madrid, D-DAI-MAD-WIT-PLF-1383)

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2.19 Tomb relief for Bishop Boethius of Carpentras, sixth 72

century (Venasque, Notre-Deme-de-Vie) (photo
L. Nees)
2.20 Slab with medallion enclosing small cross, and rosettes, 73
set within gabled frame, sixth century (Tarragona,
Museo Arqueológico Provincial) (photo Peter Witte,
Deutsches Archäologisches Institut Madrid, D-DAI-
MAD-WIT-R-160–70–02)
2.21 Carved slab from the Visigothic Period, sixth–seventh 74
century (Leon, San Isidoro) (photo L. Nees)
2.22 Poitiers, Baptistery of Saint-Jean, exterior, ûfth–seventh 75
century (photo L. Nees)
2.23 Reading desk or lectern associated with Radegund, late 76
sixth century (Poitiers, Musée de Ste.-Croix) (photo
L. Nees)
2.24 Textile from the tomb of Aurelius Colluthus in Antinoë 79
(Brussels, Musées royaux d’art et d’histoire, inv. Tx.
2470)
2.25 Ornamental balustrade from Khirbat al-Mafjar, before 80
750 (photo L. Nees)
2.26 General view of the mosaics and stuccoes of the diwan, 81
Khirbat al-Mafjar, before 750 (in situ), (after Hamilton,
Khirbat al-Mafjar [Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1959], pl.
xlvi) (photo courtesy of Oxford University Press)
2.27 Restored perspective view of the interior of the diwan, 82
Khirbat al-Mafjar, before 750 (after Hamilton, Khirbat
al-Mafjar [Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1959], ûg. 26)
(photo courtesy of Oxford University Press)
2.28 Stucco window frame from the diwan at Khirbat 83
al-Mafjar, before 750 (Jerusalem, Rockefeller Museum)
(photo L. Nees)
2.29 Wooden panel from al-Aqsa mosque, early eighth century 84
(Jerusalem, Rockefeller Museum) (photo L. Nees)
2.30 Wooden door panels from Coptic Egypt, ca. sixth 85
century (Baltimore, Walters Art Museum acc.61.303A+B)
(photo courtesy of The Walters Museum, Baltimore)

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2.31 Tomb door, basalt, Syria, sixth–seventh century (private 86

collection, exhibited at Chicago, The Art Institute 2012–
2018) (photo L. Nees)
2.32 Canon tables from Codex Rehdigeranus, eighth century 87
(Berlin, Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin – Preussischer
Kulturbesitz, Handschriftenabteilung, MS Dep. Breslau
5, fol. 193v) (photo with permission of the
Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin – Preussischer Kulturbesitz)
2.33 Initial from a copy of Gregory’s Regula pastoralis, ca. 90
600 (Troyes, Bibliothèque municipale, MS 504, fol. 55r)
(photo Médiathèque Jacques-Chirac, Troyes
Champagne Métropole)
2.34 Author portrait of the scribe Ezra, from the Codex 93
Amiatinus, before 716 (Florence, Biblioteca
Medicea-Laurenziana, MS Amiatino 1, fol. Vr) (photo
Biblioteca Medicea-Laurenziana)
3.1 Portrait of unknown “Grammarian” (Cicero?) from the 115
St. Gall Glossary, seventh–eighth century (St. Gallen,
Stiftsbibliothek, MS 912, p. 3) (photo Stiftsbibliothek
St. Gallen)
3.2 Cassian of Imola teaching, second half of the ninth 116
century (Bern, Burgerbibliothek, MS 264, p. 120)
(photo Burgerbibliothek Bern)
3.3 Martyrdom of Cassian of Imola, second half of the 117
ninth century (Bern, Burgerbibliothek, MS 264, p. 121)
(photo Burgerbibliothek Bern)
3.4 Incipit page, from a collection of grammatical works, 118
eighth century (Bern, Burgerbibliothek, MS 207, fol. 2r)
(photo Burgerbibliothek Bern)
3.5 Acrostic poem (Carmen ûguratum) by Optatianus 123
Porfyrius, the Chi-Rho monogram (Bern,
Burgerbibliothek, MS 212, fol. 118r) (photo
Burgerbibliothek Bern)
3.6A and B Acrostic poems (carmina ûgurata) by Venantius 124
Fortunatus, cross with expanded terminals and cross in
diamond (St. Gallen, MS 196, pp. 38–39) (photo
Stiftsbibliothek St. Gallen)

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3.7 Acrostic poem (Carmen ûguratum), by Joseph 127

Scottus, intersecting diamonds (Bern,
Burgerbibliothek, MS 212, fol. 124v) (photo
Burgerbibliothek Bern)
3.8 Poem 4 from Hrabanus Maurus, De laudibus sanctae 128
crucis, seraphim and cherubim, ca. 830 (Vatican,
Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, MS Reg. lat. 124, fol.
22v) (photo Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana)
3.9 Acrostic dedication poem for DESIDERIUS PAPA and 129
facing incipit page, from Gregory, Regula pastoralis, ca. 680
(Ivrea, Biblioteca Capitolare, MS 1, fols. 1v–2r) (photo
L. Nees)
3.10 Acrostic dedication text, Gospels, early eighth century 131
(Augsburg, Universitätsbibliothek, MS I.2. 4° 2, fol. 2r
(photo Universitätsbibliothek Augsburg)
3.11 Acrostic colophon poem, Gospels, early eighth century 133
(Augsburg, Universitätsbibliothek, MS I.2. 4° 2, fol.
157v (photo Universitätsbibliothek Augsburg)
3.12 Aeneas and Achates approach the Sibyl before the 134
Temple of Apollo, from the Vatican Vergil, ûfth
century (Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, MS
lat. 3225, fol. 45v) (photo Biblioteca Apostolica
Vaticana)
3.13 Cross colophon page from the Valerianus Gospels, 141
sixth–seventh century (Munich, Bayerische
Staatsbibliothek, Clm. 6224, fol. 202v) (photo
Bayerische Staatsbibliothek)
3.14 Werden casket or portable altar, front view 144
(Essen-Werden, St. Ludgerus, Schatzkammer) (photo
Charles Little)
4.1 Jacob and Laban illustration from the Pentateuch of 153
Tours (also known as Ashburnham Pentateuch), sixth–
seventh century (Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de
France, MS nouv. acq. lat. 2334, fol. 30r) (photo
Bibliothèque nationale de France)

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4.2A and B Illustration of portulaca with facing commentary from 154

the Vienna Dioscurides, 512 (Vienna, Österreichische
Nationalbibliothek, MS Med. Gr. 1, fols. 37v–38r)
(photo after Otto Mazal, Der Wiener Dioskurides: Codex
medicus graecus 1 der Österreichischen Nationalbibliothek
[Graz: Akademische Druck- und Verlagsanstalt, 1998])
4.3 Page with initial N from the Vergilius Augusteus 157
manuscript, ûfth century (Berlin, Staatsbibliothek zu
Berlin – Preussischer Kulturbesitz,
Handschriftenabteilung, MS Lat. fol. 416, fol. 2r)
(photo Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin – Preussischer
Kulturbesitz)
4.4 Stele of Julia Maxumilla, probably second century 160
(Poitiers, Musée Ste.-Croix) (photo L. Nees)
4.5 Roman cinerary urn (or altar?) perhaps from the tomb 161
of the Allidii in Rome, near the Via Latina, second
century (Copenhagen, Ny Carlsberg Glypothek, IN
862) (photo Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek)
4.6 Stucco relief from a columbarium, from the tomb of 162
L. Sempronius Atratinus near the Via Latina in Rome
(Copenhagen, Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, IN 887 f)
(photo Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek)
4.7 Roman inscribed bronze plague, probably from 163
a legionary standard, third century (Bonn, Rheinisches
Landesmuseum) (after Carl Nordenfalk, Die spätantiken
Zierbuchstaben, Die Bücherornamentik der Spätantike 2
[Stockholm: n.p., 1970], ûg. 5)
4.8 Framed title page from Gospels manuscript, sixth 165
century (Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek,
MS 847, fol. 6r) (photo Österreichische
Nationalbibliothek)
4.9 Saturn, from the seventeenth-century copy of the lost 166
Calendar of 354, by Peiresc (Vatican, Biblioteca
Apostolica Vaticana, MS Barb. Lat. 2154, fol. 8r) (photo
Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana)

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4.10 Frontispiece with dedication inscription by Filocalus, 168

from the copy of the lost Calendar of 354, by Peiresc
(Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, MS Barb.
Lat. 2154, fol. 1r) (photo Biblioteca Apostolica
Vaticana)
4.11 Title page from the Ashburnham Pentateuch, sixth– 171
seventh century (Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de
France, MS nouv. acq. lat. 2334, fol. 2r) (photo
Bibliothèque nationale de France)
4.12 Silver plaque from Kaper Koraon, sixth century 172
(Washington, Dumbarton Oaks, inv. BZ.1963.36.8)
(photo © Dumbarton Oaks, Byzantine Collection,
Washington DC)
4.13 Opening page of Vergil’s Aeneid, from the Vergilius 173
Romanus, sixth century (Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica
Vaticana, MS lat. 3867, fol. 78r) (photo Biblioteca
Apostolica Vaticana)
4.14 Decorated explicit page from a patristic collection 174
(St. Petersburg, National Library of Russia, MS Q. v. I.
7, fol. 113r) (photo courtesy of David Ganz)
4.15 Decorated explicit page from a Hilary De Trinitate 176
manuscript formerly in Tours (Paris BnF nouv. acq. lat.
1592, fol. 40r) (photo Bibliothèque nationale de France)
4.16 Ornamental motifs set between the Gospels of Matthew 177
and Mark in the Codex Alexandrinus, sixth century
(London, British Library, Royal MS 1. D. VIII, fol. 5v)
(photo British Library)
4.17 Ornamented explicit and incipit page, Codex 178
Arcerianus, sixth century (Wolfenbüttel, Herzog-
August Bibliothek, MS 36.23.Aug. 2°, fol. 40v) (photo
Herzog-August-Bibliothek Wolfenbüttel)
4.18 Title page for a new text section in an Italian 180
manuscript, sixth century (Paris, Bibliothèque nationale
de France, MS lat. 2769, fol. 23v) (photo Bibliothèque
nationale de France)

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4.19 Table of contents page in an Italian manuscript, sixth 181

century (Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, MS lat.
10593, fol. 1v) (photo Bibliothèque nationale de France)
4.20 Initial to Genesis in the Ashburnham Pentateuch, added 182
to the earlier book in the eighth century in Francia
(Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, MS nouv. acq.
lat. 2334, fol. 3r) (photo Bibliothèque nationale de
France)
4.21 Initial I for the John Gospel in the Valerianus Gospel, 185
sixth–seventh century (Munich, Bayerische
Staatsbibliothek, Clm. 6224 fol. 81v) (photo Bayerische
Staatsbibliothek)
4.22 Introductory cross page in an Italian John Gospels 187
manuscript, sixth century (Paris, Bibliothèque nationale
de France, MS lat. 10439, fol. 1v) (photo Bibliothèque
nationale de France)
4.23 Colophon cross image, with explicit for Luke and incipit 188
for Mark Gospels, in the Codex Usserianus Primus, late
sixth–seventh century (Dublin, Trinity College Library,
MS 55, fol. 149v) (photograph by permission of The
Board of Trinity College Dublin)
4.24 Cross page from a Coptic manuscript, the Glazier codex 190
(New York, Pierpont Morgan Library, MS G. 67, fols.
214v–215r) (photo The Morgan Library & Museum.
MS G.67. Gift of the Trustees of the William S. Glazier
Collection in 1984)
4.25 Cross-colophon page from an early Syriac Gospels 192
manuscript, sixth–seventh century (Wolfenbüttel,
Herzog-August-Bibliothek, MS Guelf. 3.1.300 Aug. 2°,
fol. 284v) (photo Herzog- August-Bibliothek
Wolfenbüttel)
4.26 Decorated wreath and cross page from a fragmentary 194
early Greek Gospels manuscript (Vienna,
Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, MS 847, fol. 1r)
(photo Österreichische Nationalbibliothek)

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4.27 Decorated wreath and cross page from a copy of Ruûnus 195
De benedictionibus patriarchum (Vienna,
Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, MS 847, fol. 7r)
(photo Österreichische Nationalbibliothek)
4.28 Portrait page of princess Anicia Juliana, from the Vienna 196
Dioscurides, 512 (Vienna, Österreichische
Nationalbibliothek, MS Med. Gr. 1, fol. 6v) (photo after
Otto Mazal, Der Wiener Dioskurides: Codex medicus
graecus 1 der Österreichischen Nationalbibliothek [Graz:
Akademische Druck- und Verlagsanstalt, 1998])
4.29 Miniature of Christ enthroned between St. Peter and 198
St. Paul, from a manuscript of Ambrose, ûfth century
(St. Paul im Lavanttal, Stiftsbibliothek, MS I, 1, fol. 72v)
(photo Stiftsbibliothek St. Paul im Lavanttal)
4.30 Maiestas Domini miniature from the Gundohinus 199
Gospels, 754 (Autun, Bibliothèque municipale, MS
2[olim 3], fol. 12v) (photo L. Nees)
4.31 Ornamental Frontispiece page from a manuscript of 200
Orosius from Bobbio, second quarter of the seventh
century (Milan, Biblioteca Ambrosiana, MS D. 23 sup.,
fol. 1v) (© Veneranda Biblioteca Ambrosiana
Mondadori Portfolio)
4.32 Ornamental motifs set between Leviticus and Numbers 201
in the Syriac Bible in Paris (Paris, Bibliothèque
nationale de France, MS Syr. 341, fol. 24v) (photo
Bibliothèque nationale de France)
4.33 Ornamental page in a copy of Augustine’s De consensu 203
evangeliorum, from Corbie, eighth century (Paris,
Bibliothèque nationale de France, MS lat. 12190, fol. Av)
(photo Bibliothèque nationale de France)
4.34A and B Ornamental endpiece page and colophon page from an 208
early Qur’an manuscript, ninth century (Jerusalem,
Islamic Museum of al-Haram al-Sharif, Kuûc Mashaf,
no. 5, fols. 172v–173r) (photo after Khader Salameh, The
Qur’
n Manuscripts in the al-Haram al-Sharif Islamic
Museum, Jerusalem [Reading: Garnet; and Paris:
UNESCO, 2001], ûgs. p. 48)

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4.35A and B Leather book covers of the St Cuthbert (olim 210

Stonyhurst) Gospel of John, early eighth century
(London, British Library, Add. MS 89000) (photo
British Library)
4.36 Book cover from Coptic Egypt, front, ninth century 213
(New York, Morgan Library, MS M. 569) (photo
Morgan Library & Museum, New York. Purchased for
J. Pierpont Morgan [1837–1914] in 1911)
4.37 Leather book cover from Egypt, seventh century 214
(Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek,
Papyrussammlung und Papyrusmuseum, Archduke
Rainer Papyrus Collection, P. Vindob. G. 30501) (photo
Österreichische Nationalbibliothek)
4.38 Ornamental page from Qur’an, eighth century 215
(Kairouan Raqqada r 38, drawing by courtesy of
François Déroche)
4.39 “Fountain of Life” page from the Godesscalc 219
Evangelistary (Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France,
MS nouv. acq. lat. 1203, fol. 3v) (photo Bibliothèque
nationale de France)
4.40 Charter of Childebert III, 694 (Paris, Archives nationales, 225
inv. K 3, no. 9) (photo Archives nationales Paris)
4.41 Papal Charter, Paschal I for Ravenna, 819 (after 226
Pontiûcum Romanorum Diplomata 1929, Pl. Ic detail)
5.1 Funerary slab of Bishop Cumian, eighth century 236
(Bobbio, Museo dell’Abbazia) (photo Dipartimento di
Studi Umanistici, Università del Piemonte Orientale,
Vercelli)
5.2 Avitus of Vienne, fragment from papyrus codex, 242
Burgundy, mid-sixth century (Paris BnF lat. 8913, fol.
5r) (photo Bibliothèque nationale de France)
5.3 Opening with hierarchy of scripts, ca. 680 (Ivrea, 249
Biblioteca Capitolare, MS 1, fols. 3v–4r) (photo L. Nees)
5.4 Cross page under an arcade, later seventh century 254
(Valenciennes, Bibliothèque municipale, MS 495, fol.
1v) (photo © Médiathèque Simone Veil de
Valenciennes, France)

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5.5 Incipit and initial page with triplet motif of gable 255
between two arches, later seventh century (Paris,
Bibliothèque nationale de France, MS lat.17655, fol. 2r)
(photo Bibliothèque nationale de France)
5.6A and B Dedication page and text opening, Codex Ragyndrudis, 256
eighth century (Fulda, Hessische Landesbibliothek, MS
Bonifatianus 2, fols. 98v–99r) (photo courtesy of
Hessische Landesbibliothek Fulda)
5.7 Opening of the mass for Easter in the Missale 259
Gothicum, after 684 (Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica
Vaticana, MS Reg. Lat. 317, fol. 169v) (photo Biblioteca
Apostolica Vaticana)
5.8 Ornamental incipit page in the Lectionary of Luxeuil, 260
seventh–eighth century (Paris, Bibliothèque nationale
de France, MS lat. 9427, fol. 32v) (photo Bibliothèque
nationale de France)
5.9 Cross frontispiece page (Ivrea, Biblioteca Capitolare, 262
MS 1, fol.1r) (photo L. Nees)
5.10 Initial H with bird and two ûsh, from the Lectionary of 265
Luxeuil, seventh–eighth century (Paris, Bibliothèque
nationale de France, MS lat. 9427, fol. 24r) (photo
Bibliothèque nationale de France)
5.11 Initial D in the form of a peacock, from the Lectionary 266
of Luxeuil, seventh–eighth century (Paris, Bibliothèque
nationale de France, MS lat. 9427, fol. 149v) (photo
Bibliothèque nationale de France)
5.12 Quire signature in the form of a lion, from the 268
Lectionary of Luxeuil, seventh–eighth century (Paris,
Bibliothèque nationale de France, MS lat. 9427, fol. 9v)
(photo Bibliothèque nationale de France)
5.13 Quire signature in the form of a diamond lozenge set in 270
a square with medallions (Paris, Bibliothèque nationale
de France, MS lat. 9427, fol. 202v) (photo Bibliothèque
nationale de France)
5.14 Quire signature with cross in medallion and chapter 271
number with dotted circlets in triangles, ca. 680 (Ivrea,
Biblioteca Capitolare, MS 1, fol. 19v) (photo L. Nees)

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5.15 Quire signature with dotted circlets in triangles, ca. 680 272
(Ivrea, Biblioteca Capitolare, MS 1, fols. 53v–54r) (photo
L. Nees)
5.16 Quire signature with horseshoe arch on columns, Justus 273
Urgellensis, Commentary on the Cantica Canticorum,
before 705 (Rome, Biblioteca Vallicelliana, MS B.62,
fol. 122v) (photo L. Nees)
5.17 Beginning of Augustine, On Charity, from 275
a miscellaneous collection, eighth century
(Wolfenbüttel, Herzog- August-Bibliothek, MS Guelf.
99 Weissenburg, fol. 56v) (photo Herzog-August-
Bibliothek Wolfenbüttel)
5.18 Beginning of the Epistle to Timothy, from 276
a miscellaneous collection, eighth century
(Wolfenbüttel, Herzog-August-Bibliothek, MS Guelf.
99 Weissenburg, fol. 126r) (photo Herzog-August-
Bibliothek Wolfenbüttel)
5.19 Ornamental page with tree-like motif, from 278
a miscellaneous collection, eighth century
(Wolfenbüttel, Herzog-August-Bibliothek, MS Guelf.
99 Weissenburg, fol. 1v) (photo Herzog-August-
Bibliothek Wolfenbüttel)
5.20 Ornamental page with pinwheel-like motif, from 279
a collection of sermons, eighth century (Wolfenbüttel,
Herzog-August-Bibliothek, MS Guelf. 99 Weissenburg,
fol. 1r) (photo Herzog-August-Bibliothek
Wolfenbüttel)
5.21 Incipit and initial A (on papyrus), Augustine sermons 282
and letters, later seventh century (Paris BnF lat. 11641,
fol. 38r) (photo Bibliothèque nationale de France)
5.22 Incipit and initial A (on parchment) Augustine sermons 283
and letters, later seventh century (Paris BnF lat. 11641,
fol. 34r) (photo Bibliothèque nationale de France)
5.23 Prophets manuscript fragment with diminuendo, later 285
seventh century (Chicago, Newberry Library, Medieval
Manuscript Fragment 1, recto) (photo Newberry
Library)

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5.24 Fragment of Isidore, Etymologies, with diminuendo 287

eûect, later seventh century (St. Gallen, Stiftsbibliothek,
MS 1399 a.1 (Stiftsbibliothek St. Gallen)
5.25 Initial and diminuendo, Canons of Councils, Lyon or 288
Vienne, sixth–seventh century (Paris, Bibliothèque
nationale de France, MS lat.12097, fol. 223r detail)
(photo Bibliothèque nationale de France)
5.26 Chemise of Ste. Balthilde, silk-embroidered linen tunic, 291
later seventh century (Chelles, Musée Alfred-Bonno,
inv. 21.001.700) (photo L. Nees)
5.27A and B Merovingian coin of “croix ancrée” type, from moneyer 292
Eligius, second quarter of the seventh century (photo
Bibliothèque nationale de France)
5.28A and B Incipit page and opening initial page from homilies of 296
Augustine, 669 (New York, Morgan Library, MS M.
334, fols. 1v–2r) (photos The Morgan Library &
Museum. Purchased by J. Pierpont Morgan [1837–1913]
in 1907)
5.29A and B Ornamental frame for an incipit page, and initial page, 304
in Gregory’s Moralia in Job, later seventh century
(London, British Library, Add. MS 11878, fols. 1v and
2r) (photo British Library)
5.30 Ornamental page and facing initial page from Orosius, 312
Historia contra paganos, Bobbio, Milan, Biblioteca
Ambrosiana, MS D. 23sup, fols. 1v–2r, second quarter of
the seventh century, redrawing (after Evangeliorum
quattuor Codex Lindisfarnensis, ed. Thomas D. Kendrick
et al. [Olten: Urs Graf Verlag, 1960], pl. 20)
5.31 Reconstruction from a surviving fragment of the 318
appearance of a title page from the oldest copy of the
Edictus Rothari manuscript (after Alban Dold, Zur
ältesten Handschrift des Edictus Rothari [Stuttgart:
Kohlhammer, 1955], ûg. 1) (the original fragment is
Karlsruhe, Badische Landesbibliothek, MS Aug.
CXXVIII [=Fragment 144])

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5.32 Ornamental incipit page from a north Italian copy of the 320
works of Eucherius of Lyons (Rome, Biblioteca
Nazionale Centrale Vittorio Emmanuele, MS 107, fol.
1v) (photo Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Roma)
5.33 Initial N and incipit from a manuscript of Jerome’s 323
commentary on Isaiah, second quarter of the seventh
century (Milan, Biblioteca Ambrosiana, MS S. 45 sup.,
p. 2) (© Veneranda Biblioteca Ambrosiana Mondadori
Portfolio)
5.34 Durham Cathedral Library, MS A.ii.10, fol. 2r, 325
mid-seventh century (photo Durham Cathedral Library)
5.35 Page with ûsh-and-bird initial S and IN ligature, from the 329
oldest copy of the Edictus Rothari manuscript, last quarter
of the seventh century (St. Gallen, Stiftsbibliothek, MS
730, p. 18) (photo Stiftsbibliothek St. Gallen)
5.36 Initial S made of ûve ûshes, from the oldest copy of the 330
Edictus Rothari manuscript, last quarter of the seventh
century (St. Gallen, Stiftsbibliothek, MS 730, p. 14)
(photo Stiftsbibliothek St. Gallen)
5.37 Initial D, from the oldest copy of the Edictus Rothari 331
manuscript, last quarter of the seventh century
(St. Gallen, Stiftsbibliothek, MS 730, p. 20) (photo
Stiftsbibliothek St. Gallen)
5.38A and B Opening of the ûrst section of the Gelasian 336
Sacramentary, ca. 750 (Vatican, cod Reg. lat. 316, fols.
3v–4r) (photo Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana)
5.39A and B Opening of the second section of the Gelasian 338
Sacramentary, ca. 750 (Vatican, cod Reg. lat. 316, fols.
131v–132r) (photo Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana)
5.40A and B Opening of the third section of the Gelasian 340
Sacramentary, ca. 750 (Vatican, cod Reg. lat. 316, fols.
172v–173r) (photo Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana)
5.41 Cross frontispiece page in a copy of Augustine’s 344
Quaestiones in Heptateuchon, second half of the eighth
century (Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, MS
lat. 12168, fol. Cv) (photo Bibliothèque Nationale de
France)

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5.42 Incipit page in a copy of Augustine’s Quaestiones in 345

Heptateuchon second half of the eighth century (Paris,
Bibliothèque nationale de France, MS lat. 12168, fol. 1r)
(photo Bibliothèque nationale de France)
5.43 Frontispiece page, Gospels from St. Gatien, end eighth– 346
early ninth century (Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de
France, MS nouv. acq. lat. 1587, fol. 1v) (photo
Bibliothèque nationale de France)
5.44 Initial page for John, Gospels from St. Gatien, end 348
eighth–early ninth century (Paris, Bibliothèque
nationale de France, MS nouv. acq. lat. 1587, fol. 85v)
(photo Bibliothèque nationale de France)
6.1 Calendar of Willibrord, November, ca. 728 (Paris, 360
Bibliothèque nationale de France, MS lat. 10837, fol.
39v) (photo Bibliothèque nationale de France)
6.2 Gregory, Moralia in Iob, Luxeuil, late seventh century 368
(London, British Library, Add. MS 11878, fol. 55r)
(photo British Library)
6.3 Canons of Councils, ornamental strip with twist 370
pattern, Lyon or Vienne, sixth–seventh century (Paris
Bibliothèque nationale de France, MS lat.12097, fol.
139v) (photo Bibliothèque nationale de France)
6.4 Cathach of St. Columba, page with initial D, end of sixth– 372
ûrst half of the seventh century (Dublin, Royal Irish
Academy, MS 2 R 33, fol.12r) (photo Royal Irish Academy)
6.5 Cathach of St. Columba, page with initial D, end of sixth– 373
ûrst half of the seventh century (Dublin, Royal Irish
Academy, MS 2 R 33, fol. 19r) (photo Royal Irish Academy)
6.6 Cathach of St. Columba initial Q with pen-ûourishes, 374
ûsh and cross, end of sixth–ûrst half of the seventh
century (Dublin, Royal Irish Academy, MS 2 R 33, fol.
48r) (photo Royal Irish Academy)
6.7 Vita Wandregiseli, opening page and initial, ûrst half of 376
the eighth century (Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de
France, MS lat.18315, fol. 1r) (photo Bibliothèque
nationale de France)

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6.8 Antiphonary of Bangor, late seventh century (Milan, 378

Biblioteca Ambrosiana, MS C 5inf., fols. 19v–20r)
(© Veneranda Biblioteca Ambrosiana Mondadori
Portfolio)
6.9 Adomnán of Iona, Vita Columbae, before 713 379
(Schaûhausen, Stadtbibliothek, MS Gen. 1, p. 17)
(photo Stadtbibliothek Schaûhausen)
6.10 Canons of Councils, sixth–seventh century, initial 380
C with red dots (Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de
France, MS lat.12097, fol. 226r) (photo Bibliothèque
nationale de France)
6.11 Echternach Gospels, ca. 700, Mark symbol page (Paris, 392
Bibliothèque nationale de France, MS lat. 9389, fol. 75v)
(photo Bibliothèque nationale de France)
6.12 Echternach Gospels, ca. 700, Matthew initial page 393
(Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, MS lat.
9389, fol. 20r) (photo Bibliothèque nationale de
France)
6.13 Echternach Gospels, ca. 700, Novum opus page (Paris, 394
Bibliothèque nationale de France, MS lat. 9389, fol. 1r)
(photo Bibliothèque nationale de France)
6.14 Augsburg Gospels, early eighth century, Novum opus 395
page (Augsburg, Universitätsbibliothek, MS I.2.4° 2, fol.
5r) (photo Universitäsbibliothek Augsburg)
6.15 Book of Durrow, late seventh–early eighth century, 397
Novum opus page (Dublin, Trinity College Library, MS
57, fol. 4r) (photo by permission of the Board of Trinity
College Dublin)
6.16 Calendar of Willibrord, June, ca. 728 (Paris, 399
Bibliothèque nationale de France, MS lat. 10837,
fol. 37r) (photo Bibliothèque nationale de France)
6.17 Calendar of Willibrord, Easter tables, ca. 684–702 400
(Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, MS lat.
10837, fol. 44r) (photo Bibliothèque nationale de
France)

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6.18 Calendar of Willibrord, Martyrology explicit and 401

colophon by Laurentius, ûrst quarter of the eighth
century (Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, MS
lat. 10837, fol. 32v) (photo Bibliothèque nationale de
France)
6.19 Calendar of Willibrord, Martyrology opening page, ûrst 402
quarter of the eighth century (Paris, Bibliothèque
nationale de France, MS lat. 10837, fol. 2r) (photo
Bibliothèque nationale de France)
6.20 Calendar of Willibrord, Martyrology, October, ûrst 403
quarter of the eighth century (Paris, Bibliothèque
nationale de France, MS lat. 10837, fol. 26r) (photo
Bibliothèque nationale de France)
6.21 Trier Gospels, ca. 720–740, Matthew Liber initial page 407
(Trier, Domschatz, MS 61, fol. 20r) (photo Museum am
Dom, Trier)
6.22 Trier Gospels, ca. 720–740, Plures fuisse initial and 408
incipit (Trier, Domschatz, MS 61, fol. 2r) (photo Rita
Heyen)
6.23 Trier Gospels, ca. 720–740, Plures fuisse explicit page 409
(Trier, Domschatz, MS 61, fol. 3v) (photo Museum am
Dom, Trier)
6.24 Trier Gospels, ca. 720–740, Initial C with liturgical note 410
in cursive script, John 16.26 (Trier, Domschatz, MS 61,
fol. 203v) (photo Rita Heyen)
6.25 Trier Gospels, ca. 720–740, initial N with liturgical note 411
for Luke 16.13 (Trier, Domschatz, MS 61, fol. 160v)
(photo Rita Heyen)
6.26 Trier Gospels, ca. 720–740, XRI page (Trier, 412
Domschatz, MS 61, fol. 21r) (photo Museum am Dom,
Trier)
6.27 Trier Gospels, ca. 720–740, Novum opus page (Trier, 413
Domschatz, MS 61, fol. 6r) (photo Museum am Dom,
Trier)
6.28 Trier Gospels, ca. 720–740, incipit page with two angels 414
(Trier, Domschatz, MS 61, fol. 10r) (photo Museum am
Dom, Trier)

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6.29 Trier Gospels, ca. 720–740, Initial I in form of springing 415

lion, John 1.15 (Trier, Domschatz, MS 61, fol. 180v)
(photo Nancy Netzer)
6.30 Trier Gospels, ca. 720–740, Christ and Four Evangelist 417
Symbols frontispiece miniature (Trier, Domschatz, MS
61, fol. 1v) (photo Museum am Dom, Trier)
7.1 Jerome, translation of Eusebius’ Chronicon, ûfth 425
century (Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, MS
lat. 6400B, fol. 6v) (photo Bibliothèque nationale de
France)
7.2 Fredegar-Chronicle, early eighth century (Paris, 426
Bibliothèque nationale de France, MS lat. 10910, fol.
30v) (photo Bibliothèque nationale de France)
7.3 Map of the Barbarian Invasions (after Historical Atlas of 441
the World [New York: Barnes and Noble, 1970], after
the original Norwegian edition of 1962 prepared by
Oddvar Bjørklund, Haakon Holmboe, and Anders
Røhr, map 32)
7.4 Map of the Barbarian Invasions (after Jean Manco, 442
Ancestral Journeys: The Peopling of Europe from the First
Venturers to the Vikings [rev. ed.; London: Thames and
Hudson, 2015], p. 201, ûg. 95 – image Drazen Tomic ©
Thames & Hudson Ltd, London)
8.1 Codex Ragyntrudis, back cover (Fulda, Hessische 465
Landesbibliothek, MS Bonifatianus 2) (photo Hessische
Landesbibliothek Fulda)
8.2 Codex Ragyntrudis, back cover (Fulda, Priesterseminar, 466
MS Bonif. II) (reconstruction after Lutz E. von Padberg
and Hans-Walter Stork, Der Ragyndrudis-Codex des
H. Bonifatius [Paderborn: Bonifatius Druck-Buch-
Verlag, 1994], ûg. 10)
8.3 Gospels in Greek, probably from Italy, eighth–ninth 467
century, cross page (Basel, Universitätsbibliothek, MS
AN iii 12, fol. 2v) (photo Universitatsbibliothek Basel)

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Acknowledgments

The idea for this book began to grow when I ûrst held in my hands the
fascinating manuscript of Gregory’s Homilies on Ezekiel, in the National
Library of Russia in St. Petersburg. I had gone there to examine several
manuscripts that I was considering for inclusion in a planned volume on
Frankish manuscripts from the seventh to the tenth century, eventually pub-
lished in 2022. I am deeply grateful to the staû of the National Library of
Russia, who made it possible to study the manuscript, the extraordinarily rich
decoration of which surprised and moved me as few others have done. Many
other curators at other libraries also permitted me to examine their precious
early manuscripts, the most important being at the Bibliothèque nationale de
France, where François Avril, Marie-Pierre Laûtte, and Charlotte Denoël were
extraordinarily generous and helpful. I am also deeply grateful to the many
other librarians across Europe and North America.
I am grateful to the University of Delaware’s Department of Art History,
especially to Derek Churchill and Linda Magner, and to my faculty colleagues
over many years. Many students, both undergraduate and graduate, listened to
some of the ideas expressed herein, and oûered not only welcome indications of
interest but also cogent suggestions. At the University of Delaware Library, the
staû of the remarkably able interlibrary loan oûce and Susan Davi, responsible
for acquisitions, have worked miracles, permitting me to gain access to the wide
variety of previous scholarly works needed for a study such as this. Support
from the university through two General University Research grants made
extensive travel possible, and research funds from the H. Fletcher Brown Chair
of Humanities were of great help in acquiring photographs and the permission
to reproduce them.
The earliest version of this study was presented in my graduate seminar at the
University of Delaware, in the spring of 1999. Public presentations of evolving
portions and versions of some of the material included the following: the 6th
International Seminar on Jewish Art at the Center for Jewish Art at the Hebrew
University of Jerusalem in 1999; the Daniel H. Silberberg Lecture Series at the

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Acknowledgments

Institute of Fine Arts, New York University in 1999; Smith College in 2002; the
University of Erlangen–Nuremberg, Erlangen in 2004; the University of
Toronto in 2008; Colby College in 2011; the conference on “Books and
Readers in the Pre-Modern World” at the University of Virginia, in 2015; the
Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London in 2016; and the University of
Pennsylvania, also in 2016. The largest part of the book was ûrst drafted while
I was Berlin Prize Fellow at the American Academy in Berlin in the fall term in
2004. I am very grateful to all those who patiently listened to my ideas and
oûered helpful suggestions and criticism. A preliminary version of some of the
ideas presented herein was published as “From Ancient to Medieval books: On
Reading and Illuminating Manuscripts in the Seventh Century,” in Books and
Readers in the Pre-Modern World: Essays in Honor of Harry Gamble, ed. Karl
Shuve (Atlanta: SBL Press, 2018), pp. 69–98.
At Cambridge University Press, I am especially grateful to the co-editors of
the series on palaeography and codicology in which this book appears, David
Ganz and Teresa Webber. Each made extensive and enormously helpful
comments, to which I have tried to respond eûectively. Such is even more
the case with two anonymous and deeply learned readers for the press, whose
strong support did not prevent them from pointing out many oversights,
errors, and areas needing improvement. Those remaining are my responsibility
alone.
My wife Vicky has been a constant support and inspiration throughout the
long process of bringing this study to completion. Her patient kindness in
listening to my evolving ideas has been remarkable, her requests for clariûcation
enormously beneûcial, and her support indispensable.

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Abbreviations

Bischoû, Katalog i–iii Bischoû, Bernhard, Katalog der festländischen Handschriften des
neunten Jahrhunderts (mit Ausnahme der wisigotischen), ed. Birgit
Ebersperger, i: Aachen-Lambach (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz,
1998), ii: Laon-Paderborn (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2004),
iii: Padua-Zwickau (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2014)
CCCM Corpus Christianorum Continuatio Mediaevalis
CCSL Corpus Christianorum Series Latina
CLA Elias A. Lowe, Codices latini antiquiores, 11 vols. and Supplement
(Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1934–71)
MGH Monumenta Germaniae Historica
Migne, PL Migne, Patrologia Latina

xxix

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Figure 0.1 Sites associated with manuscript production. Joe LeMonnier, https://mapar
tist.com/

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