The period 600-1100 witnessed the transformation of Britain and the development of a book culture that would change the face of Europe. Latin and Old English texts were copied and composed using an evolving hierarchy of scripts, often enhanced by images and styles of illumination that reflected the broad range of influences at work in this vibrant and complex culture.
During the morning session Michelle Brown will explore the transition from Roman Britain to Alfredian England through the medium of the surviving manuscripts of the Insular age, in which Celtic, Germanic, Roman and Middle Eastern elements merge to form a unique culture.
During the afternoon session Jane Roberts will explore the rise of written Old English for poetry and prose, the scripts used to write it and the fascinating evidence to be gleaned from books made in England from the time of King Alfred to the Norman Conquest.

Bibliography:
Alexander, J. J. G., Insular Manuscripts, 6th to the 9th century (London, 1978)
Backhouse, J. M. and Webster, L., eds, The Making of England, Anglo-Saxon Art and Culture AD 600-900 (BM/BL exhibition catalogue, London, 1991)
Brown, M. P., A Guide to Western Historical Scripts from Antiquity to 1600 (London and Toronto, 1990; 2nd edn 1999)
Brown, M. P., Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts (London, 1991)
Brown, M. P., The Lindisfarne Gospels: Society, Spirituality and the Scribe (London and Toronto, 2003)
Brown, M. P., How Christianity Came to Britain and Ireland (Oxford, 2006)
Gneuss, H., Book and Libraries in Early England (Aldershot, 1999)
Henderson, G., From Durrow to Kells (London, 1987)
Mitchell, B., and Robinson, F. C., A Guide to Old English (London, 1989)
Roberts, J. A., Guide to scripts used in English writings up to 1500 (London and Toronto, 2005)
Rosenthal, J. T. et al, eds, The Preservation and Transmission of Anglo-Saxon Culture (Kalamazoo, 1997)
Temple, E., Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts, 900-1066 (London, 1976)
Turner, D. et al., eds, The Golden Age of Anglo-Saxon Art, 966-1066 (BM/BL exhibition catalogue, London, 1984)
Yorke, B., The Conversion of Britain (Harlow, 2006)

Please bring a pencil: pens are not allowed when valuable manuscript facsimiles are in use