Gold The British Library Exhibition Book

Gold is universally appreciated for its beauty and value. Since ancient times, people have found all kinds of ways to incorporate gold into handmade books and documents – gold writing, gold pages, pictures ornamented with gold, gold book covers. This exhibition will bring together some of the British Library’s most luxurious golden illuminated manuscripts from around the world to explore the different techniques used to apply gold and to tell the story of gold’s significance. The exhibition celebrates cultural diversity by bringing together items from at least 20 different countries worldwide, representing many languages and the major world religions. The majority of items included in the exhibition date from pre-1600, with some South and Southeast Asian objects from the 17th-19th centuries, and some 20th century items. Written and selected by the curatorial team, the dazzling, large-format Gold Exhibition Highlights Book showcases the British Library’s exceptional collection of manuscript items incorporating gold as featured in this major exhibition. The featured items have universal appeal and are central to the traditions of book art from around the world.

Dr Kathleen Doyle is the Lead Curator of Illuminated Manuscripts at the British Library. She received her PhD in Medieval Art History from the Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London, where her thesis focussed on 12th-century Cistercian manuscripts and the use of images in monastic art. Her latest publications are with Charlotte Denoël, Medieval Illumination: Manuscript Art in England and France 700–1200 (2018), also available in French, and with Scot McKendrick, The Art of the Bible: Illuminated Manuscripts from the Medieval World (2016), which has been translated into Dutch, French Annabel works on Malay and Indonesian manuscripts, with a particular interest in letters, documents, and seals, and on the illumination of Qur’ans and other Islamic manuscripts from Southeast Asia. Eleanor Jackson is Curator of Illuminated Manuscripts at the British Library. She recently received her PhD in History of Art from the University of York, where her thesis focused on Insular pocket Gospel-books. Her research interests include medieval reading practices, book design and illumination.