Chapter 39: Mr. Samuel Weller, being intrusted with a Mission of Love, proceeds to execute it; with what Success will hereinafter appear The story of the people who created, saved and collected Europe's most sumptuous manuscripts, it's beautifully illustrated, a rich feast of scarlet and gold. Dominic Sandbrook, Sunday Times Books of the Year Author Christopher de Hamel does a really wonderful job of researching these manuscript collectors (and he gives a lot of credit to others for some of this work) and presenting their lives and collecting rigor in an easy-to-read, conversational tone. Each of these lives was fascinating in unique ways and I'd be interested in learning more about all of them. Chapter 55: Mr. Solomon Pell, assisted by a Select Committee of Coachmen, arranges the affairs of the elder Mr. Weller

Christopher de Hamel is an Oxford graduate and a Fellow of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. His many books on medieval manuscripts include A History of Illuminated Manuscripts and Meetings with Remarkable Manuscripts, which won both the Duff Cooper Prize and the Wolfson Prize for History. Booking information The people who made, saved and sometimes destroyed medieval manuscripts, over a thousand years of history, from the acclaimed author of Meetings with Remarkable Manuscripts Alamy The Duc de Berry at his New Year feast in the January miniature of the Très Riches Heures illuminated by the Limbourg brothers, c.1415. This depiction is illustrated in the book In passing, De Hamel reveals that one of his Victorian forebears, having come into money, added a “de” to his name to claim a pedigree that was “almost certainly spurious”. Inheriting the pretence, De Hamel outs himself as a fake antique, like the forgeries he exposed during his decades as an appraiser at Sotheby’s. The endearing confession is typical of the man: he speaks of “meeting a beautiful manuscript” rather than reading it and his own book makes you feel you’ve spent time – a very long but absorbing time – in his convivial company.

Dr Michael Wheeler is a Visiting Professor at the University of Southampton and the author of The Year That Shaped the Victorian Age: Lives, loves and letters of 1845 (Cambridge University Press, 2020). The text is engagingly written, inviting the reader to follow the author on his travels to study these people in their own environments. Throughout his career de Hamel has done an immense amount to make these complex and fascinating artefacts accessible to a wide audience. At times his imaginative leaps demonstrate the gaps between our contemporary questions and the nature of historical records. For example, suggesting medical diagnoses for the people of the past can only ever be extremely speculative. Nevertheless, although the book wears its thorough research lightly, the interested reader will find much valuable information in the endnotes. The epilogue indicates that membership of de Hamel’s club is not restricted to 12; many other characters appear, who may become the subject of a study in their own right. The club is open. Chapter 20: Showing how Dodson and Fogg were Men of Business, and their Clerks Men of pleasure; and how an affecting Interview took place between Mr. Weller and his long-lost Parent; showing also what Choice Spirits assembled at the Magpie and Stump, and what a Capital Chapter the next one will be

There was a time when I considered myself more than just an avid reader, but a collector of books. Had I the resources, I have no doubt that I would have collected manuscripts if I'd had the resources (ie money) and so this title really grabbed my attention. I have to admit, though, that I had no idea where this book might go. Chapter 32: Describes, far more fully than the Court Newsman ever did, a Bachelor’s Party, given by Mr. Bob Sawyer at his Lodgings in the Borough De Hamel acquired his first antiquarian book at the age of 15 and promptly defaced it with his signature Chapter 36: The chief Features of which will be found to be an authentic Version of the Legend of Prince Bladud, and a most extraordinary Calamity that befell Mr. Winkle Reading the Posthumous Papers is like taking a walk in excellent company ... an exceptional book, and itself an object worth cherishing.

De Hamel’s tale is punctuated with detailed descriptions of prize manuscripts and lamentations at the odd tragedy, such as a fire in 1731 at the portentously named Ashburnham House that destroyed dozens of texts, badly damaging the only manuscript of Beowulf and the fourth- or fifth-century Genesis, both collected by England’s pre-eminent antiquarian, Sir Robert Cotton. The people selected for de Hamel’s imaginary manuscripts club, inspired by real groups such as the Roxburghe Club and the Grolier Club, are drawn from eight centuries. The subjects have been selected carefully to showcase different kinds of engagements with manuscripts, beginning with the 12th-century monk, Saint Anselm, and the culture of copying and distributing manuscripts that he promoted at the abbey of Le Bec in Normandy and later at Canterbury where he was archbishop. De Hamel imagines meeting his subjects, drawing on surviving places as well as manuscripts. There is, of course, much more evidence for the more recent subjects, so these imagined meetings become rather less speculative as the book progresses. The central premise, however, is that these people who lived in very different times and places would find common ground with de Hamel, the reader and each other in their shared love of manuscripts.

Christopher de Hamel's great gift is to tell life stories without taking anything away from the manuscripts, which remain the star of the show. Thanks to the beautiful illustrations in this wonderful book, we can see for ourselves how spellbinding an encounter with them must have been. Five years ago de Hamel entranced the world with his Meeting with Remarkable Manuscripts. This time the meetings are with remarkable manuscript owners, and the result is equally precious Kathryn Hughes, Sunday Times Details will be confirmed to registrants ahead of the event. If you have booked to attend online, you will receive a link to the Zoom webinar in the week before the event. Friends of the BodleianThe Posthumous Papers of the Manuscripts Club is a logical sequel to Christopher de Hamel’s Meetings with Remarkable Manuscripts (2016), in which he introduced readers to some of the most famous handmade books of the Middle Ages and Renaissance. In this new book he turns his attention to the important question of how such manuscripts have survived the intervening centuries since they were made. The book examines the lives of 11 men and one woman whose actions have played a major part in shaping the fates of medieval books and determining both what survives and where the manuscripts are to be found today. This talk is supported by the Friends of the Bodleian. To enjoy closer access to the Bodleian, including exclusive events and priority access to online content, join the Friends today. The earliest member of de Hamel’s notional “Manuscripts Club” is Saint Anselm, an 11th-century Benedictine monk who ran the scriptorium in Bec Abbey in Normandy before becoming Archbishop of Canterbury. De Hamel walks us through Bec Abbey, vividly capturing the collegiate culture of lending and copying that allowed European scribes to produce and disseminate learned texts. You don’t need to know your psalters from your breviaries to be swept away by his scholarly but conversational style. Reading the Posthumous Papers is like taking a walk in excellent company. This book is really a series of twelve mini-biographies of people who, through the course of history, have been collectors of manuscripts and who very well may have saved (or at least preserved) many rare manuscripts from destruction. Something that comes across as relatively common is the desire to own a rare item more than owning a specific item due to its significance. What is also common among the people included here is a real joy among the collectors for manuscripts.