The Gilded Page (The Secret Lives of Medieval Manuscripts)

A breathtaking journey into the hidden history of medieval manuscripts, from the Lindisfarne Gospels to the ornate Psalter of Henry VIII

“Sublimely conceived and beautifully written.”—Times (UK)

“A sensational debut by a wonderfully gifted historian.”—Dan Jones, bestselling author of The Plantagenets 

Medieval manuscripts can tell us a great deal about power and art, knowledge, and beauty. Many have survived because of an author’s status—part of the reason we have so much of Chaucer’s writing, for example, is because he was a government official first and a poet second. Other works by the less influential have endured only by narrowly avoiding ruin, like the book of Margery Kempe, found in a country house closet, the cover nibbled by mice. Mary Wellesley recounts the amazing tales of these remarkable manuscripts, surfacing the important roles played by women and ordinary people—the grinders, binders, and scribes—in their creation and survival.

Rich and surprising, The Gilded Page shows us the unexpected lives of the most exquisite objects ever made by human hands.