Embracing poetic works by Chaucer, Lydgate and Hoccleve, prose writings on philosophy, contemplation and bibliophily, key service books for the clergy, and devotional texts for the laity, the present volume explores the interrelated themes of literature and devotion in England from the Black Death to the Reformation as seen through the lens of twenty-six precious manuscripts in Durham University Library. These unique volumes, several with fine illumination, are described and illustrated, their provenance is tracked, and their literary and devotional importance is explained. As, in addition, the inks, pigments and dyes that were used in each of them have been identified by optimal scientific techniques, this publication also offers an invaluable overview of the colorants used by the scribes and illuminators of a wide cross-section of late medieval manuscripts of English origin or provenance.
