This five-star rated 2024–2025 blockbuster exhibition by the British Library is an incredible collection of many manuscripts and artefacts of the period demonstrating aspects of women’s lives. However, the accompanying book is mighty impressive too, including as it does additional images from the exhibition! The book follows the exhibition’s focus on four aspects: Private Lives, Public Lives, Working Lives, and Spiritual Lives. Each section in the book starts with essays giving more details of each of these, and then shorter accounts of individual women or a focus of one the items – and what items they are in the exhibition and in the book – some not seen before and likely not to be seen again.
There is much in the book that is truly amazing, but it is one small figure that particularly caught my eye. The Luttrell Psalter is by any definition an astounding book, made for Sir Geoffrey Luttrell of Irnham (and includes image of two women on the same page as him – his wife and daughter-in-law). The precise prescissus (cut off) strong script marching across the page is well balanced by jewel colours of weird and wonderful combinations of human and animal figures surrounding the text. At the bottom of some of the pages, though, in contrast to the ‘in yer face’ of the other images, are delicate paintings mainly of the work of ordinary people. In this image, women are harvesting corn with sickles, grasping a bunch of stalks, cutting it ready to be picked up by the man behind who is binding it into sheaves. But one of them has taken a break, and it was this that stood out. Look at how she’s standing stretching her back – you can almost feel the ache of many hours in the same tiring position – so well depicted!
One of the outright stars of the exhibition, and with a glorious double spread image in the book is a manuscript that hasn’t been on display before. It is a discoloured and stained piece of hand-made paper that shows the signature of Joan of Arc. It was held in the vaults in Riom and the content of the letter is Joan asking for military items and gunpowder for her army to fight against the English.
The book doesn’t just include amazing and eye-catching images of manuscripts – the artefacts included are pretty stunning too. Wouldn’t you feel a queen if you tried this crown on? Consisting of incredible gold work, single and quatrefoil pearls, and what look like sapphires and rubies. This was the crown of Anne of Bohemia, Queen of England and wife of Richard II.
Also in the Luttrell psalter is another image. A rather grumpy women having her hair done by her servant. What’s wrong to you think? Is she just generally grumpy? Has her servant just pulled out a tangle? You can see the comb she’s been using; it looks exactly the same as the two-sided ivory comb here which could possibly have been a love token as it shows scenes of romance.
One of the most unusual ‘artefacts’, beautifully photographed in the book, is the skull of a lion, but not just any lion. The Tower of London was famous for its menagerie and it housed over the years many exotic animals. This skull is that of a Barbary lion and was found in the moat at the Tower. It’s been dated to 1420–1480; that would cover the time that Margaret of Anjou who, when she travelled from France to England to marry Henry VI actually brought with her a lion. Could this be the skull of the very one?
But in a book about an exhibition in the British Library, manuscripts are obviously featured well. And there is nothing better than this absolute tour-de-force of an illuminated letter B. Look at the gold shining on that – another instance of the fantastic photographs in this book. It was created by Sister ‘Modesta’ in Germany in the 15th century. Feast your eyes on that – what a treat!
So is the book worth getting if you’re not able to visit the exhibition? Absolutely, without a doubt! First, the information is all inclusive, it is an amazing and informative read with contributions by many eminent scholars, but written in a very user-friendly way. Then the images are just outstanding – whole pages of colour wonderfully photographed by Jonathan Vines from the British Library. This is a book to buy soon, read it thoroughly and enjoy studying the photographs. You won’t regret it!