First edition. A fine copy. Presented on the occasion of Christopher de Hamel's sixtieth birthday, this book celebrates his many accomplishments during his years at Sotheby's and more recently as the Gaylord Donnelley Fellow Librarian of the Parker Library at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. Christopher de Hamel has described more medieval manuscripts than any other living scholar. His sale catalogues have set new standards of quality, stimulating new generations of collectors, both institutional and private. Glossed Books of the Bible, his masterful and authoritative study of an entire class of books, demonstrates the ways in which book design played a central role in the study of theology in the Middle Ages. Other significant contributions include de Hamel's monograph on the manuscript collections of the Rothshild Family, his Roxburghe Club publication on the library of the Bridgettine Nuns of Son Abbey, and his Sandars Lectures on Sir Sydney Cockrell. His work covers all categories of scholarship on medieval manuscripts including book types and production, library and collection history, manuscript cataloguing, palaeography, and book illumination. In all areas, Christopher de Hamel was inspired by his passion for medieval books, manuscripts, and those who work with them.

The Medieval Book is a tribute to de Hamel's learning, industry, imagination, spirit, good fellowship, and capacity to inspire others. Among the contributors are collectors, colleagues, librarians, curators, and students of book history, in addition to scholars such as Jonathan J.G. Alexander, Nicolas Barker, Timothy Bolton, Lotte Hellinga, Anthony Hobson, James H. Marrow, Laura Nuvoloni, Bernard M. Rosenthal, Robert Weaver, and many others. The contributions are divided into categories including Books, The Book Trade, and Collectors and Collecting, composing a varied collection of 40 highly interesting articles. An introduction on Christopher de Hamel and a bibliography of his writings are also presented.