NEWS

Manuscript Treasures of Durham Cathedral launched

18th March 2010

Specialist international publisher, Third Millennium Publishing, is delighted to announce the launch of its second title on Durham Cathedral, entitled Manuscript Treasures of Durham Cathedral.

Durham possesses the finest collection of medieval manuscripts of any English cathedral. Embracing a thousand years of history, art and culture, its fabulous library includes celebrated volumes from Anglo-Saxon Northumbria, spectacular Romanesque books associated with the great Norman bishops, superb examples of French and Italian work from the Middle Ages, as well as a panorama of volumes from later medieval and Tudor England. Masterpieces of calligraphy, many of these manuscripts are extensively illuminated with imagery that ranges from the oldest ‘English’ depiction of the Crucifixion to drolleries and grotesques worthy of Hieronymus Bosch.

Edited by Richard Gameson, Professor of History of the Book at Durham University, this lavishly illustrated title presents the highlights of this supremely important collection. Ranging from part of a sixth-century Italian Bible that was almost certainly used by the Venerable Bede, to a unique sixteenth-century account of monastic cathedral life that was compiled in the aftermath of the Reformation, the featured items include the ‘Durham Gospels’ (a sister manuscript to the Lindisfarne Gospels), the St-Calais or Carilef Bible (the first illuminated Romanesque Bible in England), a rare illustrated medical and astrological compilation, entertainingly-decorated Bolognese law-books, a splendid Parisian Bible of the thirteenth-century, and an elaborately-decorated Oxford compendium of the fourteenth-century.

Each manuscript is reproduced in colour and discussed in an authoritative yet accessible commentary. A general introduction traces the growth of the collection from the early days of Anglo-Saxon monasticism through to the Reformation, exploring its place in the history of Durham Cathedral and the North-East, while highlighting its importance for Anglo-Saxon, Norman, Medieval, and early Renaissance culture in general.

Third Millennium Managing Director, Dr Joel Burden, commented: “Over the last few years Third Millennium has published a number of titles in association with both Durham University and Durham Cathedral and I am delighted that we have had the opportunity again to work again with Richard Gameson on the second of his ‘Treasures’ titles, the first of which was published in 2007, entitled Treasures of Durham University Library.”

In his foreword, Michael Sadgrove, Dean of Durham says: “Durham Cathedral is universally admired as a masterpiece of medieval architecture. Less well known are the masterpieces it contains in its museum and its library, among them unique survivals from the Middle Ages. …I am delighted that through this beautiful book the jewels among our manuscript treasures will be opened up for a wider public to enjoy.”

Copies of Manuscript Treasures of Durham Cathedral can be ordered at a direct price of £22.50 + p&p (normal RRP £25.00), from Third Millennium Publishing at www.tmiltd.com or by phoning + 44 (0)20 7336 0144. Copies are also available from the Durham Cathedral shop and other leading bookshops.

Third Millennium has published books for a number of leading heritage, educational and military institutions. These include titles for Westminster Abbey, York Minster, Durham Cathedral and Lincoln’s Inn; the universities of Cambridge, Oxford, Durham, Manchester, Newcastle, Sheffield and SOAS; Harrow, Rugby School and Wellington College; the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, the Household Division, the Brigade of Gurkhas and the Royal Hospital Chelsea. Forthcoming titles include books on ‘Shakespeare’s Church’ of the Holy Trinity at Stratford upon Avon, Lincoln Cathedral and the Treasures of the University of St Andrews Library.

-ENDS-

NOTES TO EDITORS

Title: Manuscript Treasures of Durham Cathedral

Imprint: Third Millennium Publishing, London

Editor: Richard Gameson, Professor of the History of the Book at Durham University, has published over seventy studies of medieval manuscripts, illumination, and book collections, including The Old Library (1988), The Early Medieval Bible (1994), Codex Aureus (2001), Treasures of Durham University Library (2007) and The Earliest Books of Canterbury Cathedral (2008).

Publication: 18th March 2010

RRP: £25 / ISBN: 978-1-906507-12-1

Specification: Hardback, 176 pages, 270 x 230mm, over 100 illustrations.

Images and Review Copies/ Interviews/Media Contacts:
Michael D Jackson, Marketing Manager – E: mj@tmiltd.com or Phil Reid - E: pr@tmiltd.com
Third Millennium Publishing, 2-5 Benjamin Street, London EC1M 5QL, UK

T: +44 (0) 20 7336 0144 / E: info@tmiltd.com / W: www.tmiltd.com

For further information contact Michael D Jackson, Marketing Manager, Third Millennium Information Ltd, 2-5 Benjamin St, EC1M 5QL. Tel: +44 (0)207 336 0144. Email: mj@tmiltd.com. Website: www.tmiltd.com