A carol for Christmas, ‘Nowell nowell nowell’, from a book of church music. MS. Arch. Selden B. 26, fol. 14v. Copied in the mid 1400s.

Designing English: Graphics on the medieval page

‘Make we joy now in this feast’

Audio podcasts from the Designing English Exhibition. This exhibition will illustrate the graphic design of handwritten manuscripts and inscriptions for the first thousand years of English, across the Middle Ages. Showcasing the Bodleian Library's rich holdings of medieval manuscripts in English, ranging from Old English picture books or notes scratched into herbals, through fragments of medieval songs scribbled on spare pages, to masterpieces framed with illustrations and gold, or new page designs for practical tasks, such as manuals for handling swans. It will cover the experiences of both the makers and the users of writing: how craftspeople planned and made books, and how readers responded to their designs.

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Designing English: Graphics on the medieval page