Wilfrid Voynich's dealings in manuscripts (c. 1898-1930) and why they matter

At the peak of his business, trading in rare books and manuscripts, Wilfrid Voynich's letterhead listed offices in London, Paris, Florence and New York. The resulting documentation of his purchases and sales of manuscripts is now widely scattered, but the Grolier Club in New York houses the archives from his American offices.

From this archive and his catalogues, it is possible to reconstruct Voynich's dealings in medieval manuscripts, chart the movement of manuscripts between London and New York, and analyse the place of manuscripts in both his broader business and his clients' collecting patterns. This evidence challenges the dominant narrative of America as the great recipient of manuscripts in this period and instead suggests a more nuanced history of interest in medieval manuscripts in the first half of the twentieth century.

This talk by Dr Laura Cleaver was delivered at the Medieval Manuscripts Seminar on 13 October 2020.

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