Touching the Past: The Hand and the Medieval Book

Precious historical artifacts, manuscripts preserve some of the finest examples of medieval art. Seen in libraries and museums behind glass, these books have been largely removed from the realm of touch, making it easy to forget that their lavishly illuminated pages were once turned, stroked, stitched, and sometimes even sliced by generations before us. Drawn primarily from the permanent collection, ‘Touching the Past: The Hand and the Medieval Book’ explores manuscripts as tangible, tactile objects that invited touch and were handled—reverently, carelessly, obsessively, and critically—by medieval audiences.

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