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Hidden Hands: The Secret Lives of Manuscript Makers and Owners

Hidden Hands: The Secret Lives of Manuscript Makers and Owners

Lecture by Mary Wellesley

Given at the Bodleian Libraries on June 23, 2022

Abstract: Disgruntled scribes, protective owners, artists interrupted… Manuscripts teem with life. They are not only the stuff of history and literature, but they offer some of the only tangible evidence we have of entire lives, long receded.

In this year’s Friends of the Bodleian Annual Lecture, Mary Wellesley will trace the stories of the people who made, loved and sometimes destroyed medieval manuscripts, which are some of the most engaging artefacts ever made by human hands.

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Dr Mary Wellesley, writer and historian, teaches medieval language and literature as part of the British Library’s adult learning programme. An alumnus of Lincoln College, her book, Hidden Hands: the Lives of Manuscripts and Their Makers was published in October 2021 and was chosen as one of the history books of the year by both The Times and BBC History Magazine. You can learn more about Mary Wellesley on her website, or follow Mary on Twitter @marywellesley

Top Image: Sherborne Missal – British Library Add. MS 74236 – Wikimedia Commons

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