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A review by laughterbynight
Meetings with Remarkable Manuscripts by Christopher de Hamel
2.0
De hamel is a piece of work and being dragged off on tangents while attempting to learn more about the manuscripts he’s supposed to be focused on in this book was a chore. It does not help that his ego and classism are inescapable at every turn, though he seems almost wholly unaware of it, somehow.
I can’t recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn specifically about illuminated manuscripts. It’s just not really about that. They’re there, but they feel like background for everything else the author talks about, which is both a shame and waste of a reader’s time in my opinion.
This book feels like it’s for the Christian scholar who is looking to learn more about the author and the historical background of some key characters in history who might have owned or commissioned these manuscripts. Expect untranslated Latin, references to passages in the Bible you’re expected to know, and lots of snarky classist quips about anybody and everybody. Park the ego with your non existent car, dude. It’s a lot.
I can’t recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn specifically about illuminated manuscripts. It’s just not really about that. They’re there, but they feel like background for everything else the author talks about, which is both a shame and waste of a reader’s time in my opinion.
This book feels like it’s for the Christian scholar who is looking to learn more about the author and the historical background of some key characters in history who might have owned or commissioned these manuscripts. Expect untranslated Latin, references to passages in the Bible you’re expected to know, and lots of snarky classist quips about anybody and everybody. Park the ego with your non existent car, dude. It’s a lot.