1. Crafting the Codex; Authors, Patrons and Bibliophiles
6 items in collection

The high labor and material costs of producing a manuscript meant that often it was created with a specific patron in mind. This was especially true as the age of print dawned. Across Europe, a new class of ambitious, clerically trained professionals arose in tandem with church and state bureaucracies. With penmanship approaching that of professional scribes, such individuals were capable of producing autograph works of their own writings to present to rulers, who held out the prospect of gifts or regular employment in return. The longstanding French courtly tradition of the New Year’s gift or étrenne gave certain authors a strategic opportunity to present their works to patrons. Sometimes, these brief works would make it into print soon after they were penned. Others remain unpublished to this day and survive only in the manuscripts presented here; for example, the first item in the exhibition was offered to the Queen of France by a prominent author, Jean Lemaire de Belges. The first individuals capable of crafting a truly personal collection of books were born of this age. Rulers such as Charles V of France (r. 1364–80) set the stage for the great princely libraries of the following centuries. The foundation of the Vatican Library by Nicholas V in 1451 was a defining event; one item shown here was present in the library during its early years. By the sixteenth century, manuscript books began to have an allure all their own and could be sought privately by non-noble aficionados.