Meetings with Remarkable Manuscripts

A book of marvels

John Banville, Financial Times

Great manuscripts are the reclusive stars of European cultural history; to be close to one is to enter a secret garden to which few have ever been granted access. With scholarly elegance, Christopher de Hamel opens the door and invites us to join him for the intellectual expedition of a lifetime. As he introduces us to twelve star manuscripts in their sanctuary homes, these complex creations emerge as major players in the great game of ideas and power. They are agents as well as creatures, with histories that embrace and explain our own. This is an endlessly fascinating and enjoyable book.

Neil MacGregor

Spectacular ... If I could walk you to your nearest bookshop, take £30 from your wallet, and place this wonderful book in your hands, I would

Peter Thonemann, Sunday Times

Truth, as this entrancing book proves, is wonderfully stranger than fiction. Christopher de Hamel's learned adventures amid some of the West's greatest manuscript treasures effortlessly outclass Eco's The Name of the Rose in elegance and excitement. They are also much funnier.

Diarmaid MacCulloch

One of the cultural highlights of the autumn is an edge-of-the-seat tale inspired by Medieval Manuscripts. Christopher de Hamel has turned a lifelong obsession with ancient literature into a book that critics are comparing to A History of the World in 100 Objects and the wonderful The Hare with Amber Eyes.

Kirsty Wark, Newsnight

Reading is my life, but only about once a decade do I find a book that seems to tilt the world, so afterwards it appears different.

Fiammetta Rocco, The Economist '1843'

De Hamel's book, scholarly but unfailingly readable, is the beginning of wisdom in all things scribal and scriptural

Ian Thomson, Observer

Christopher de Hamel's outstanding and original book pushes the boundaries of what it is and what it means to write history. By framing each manuscript of which he writes as the story of his own personal encounter with it, he leads the reader on many unforgettable journeys of discovery and learning. Deeply imaginative, beautifully written, and unfailingly humane, Meetings with Remarkable Manuscripts distils a lifelong love of these astonishing historical treasures, which the author brings so vividly to life. It is a masterpiece.

David Cannadine