Curatorial favourites

It’s hard to choose a favourite manuscript in Handwritten. Many I find instantly appealing on an aesthetic level: the spectacular Flemish Book of Hours (c.1500), Michelangelo’s (or ‘michelagniolo’, as he calls himself) careful script and a young Handel’s confident yet somewhat florid score of Salve Regina.

Latin Book of Hours belonging to Nicolas von Firmian (d.1510)

Others burst with character and demand to be noticed. Beethoven’s angry-looking Fifth Symphony score gives a sense of a man who knew what he wanted and didn’t fear the wrath of those who had to read his handwriting. All 100 manuscripts fascinate me in some way or other, whether it be for what they say, what they have survived or what they represent.

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827), Symphony No. 5 in C Minor, Opus 67

I’ve been working on the exhibition on the curatorial side of things for the past couple of years. My role has involved researching, writing and talking about the manuscripts; transcribing and translating manuscripts; keeping track of their details, measurements and photographs; sourcing exhibition graphics; selecting musical excerpts and working on the exhibition’s catalogue, now available from our bookshop! Though to say it risks being something of a cliché, it really has been an honour and a rare privilege to work with the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin and rest of the National Library team on this exhibition.

Receipt addressed to Lionardo de Bartolini from Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475–1564)

I hope you will, like me, enjoy immersing yourselves in the moments these manuscripts capture and take a tour, with us, of Western thought and history through what these men and women have written by hand.

Susannah Helman
Assistant Curator

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12 Responses to Curatorial favourites

  1. Kristy says:

    Ooooer! I wish the photos were bigger so we could see!

  2. Marylou pooled says:

    Fabulous exhibition

  3. The box girl says:

    I’ve seen this exhibit three times and I could keep coming back

  4. The box boy says:

    This exhibit is awsome

  5. Maxi Viljoen says:

    Stunning exhibition .
    Color was used from 1200 and bright color in the 1500.
    First multiplication table 1643.
    Greetings from South Africa

  6. Grace Carter says:

    This is a interesting exhibition. I am enjoying it.

  7. Laura says:

    This exhibition is very nice and it is cool seeing actually peoples handwriting :D :) :):):):):):):):):):)

  8. Madi says:

    This exhibition was absolutely incredible!! To think that these articles were written centuries upon centuries ago!! And all the amazing and inspiring people who wrote all these documents!! If only we had a way for the public to touch them but not harm them, as in by touching them!! That would just be so amazing!!

    Thank you for letting us see these amazing documents!!!

  9. lourdes says:

    could you please send me a complete list of documents exhibited … specially the first 30… I truly enjoyed and would love to have the list of documents and authors or writers. thank you

  10. Vivian north says:

    How did the scribes in the early manuscripts keep the lines so straight and spacing so uniform?

    • Erin Stephens says:

      Thanks for your question Vivian.

      The short answer is this: each page was laid out before work began. This could involve pricking the parchment and ruling lines in lead point. See the entry for ‘ruling’ in the British Library’s illuminated manuscripts glossary.
      Some of these guiding lines are still visible in the manuscripts on display in Handwritten.

      Susannah
      Assistant Curator