Benedictines and the Book; An Exhibition to Commemorate the Fifteenth Centenary of the Birth of St. Benedict A.D. 480 - 1980
Oxford: Bodleian Library, 1980. Octavo (8 inches tall), original tan illustrated wrappers, printed in black. A near-fine copy. Item #1607
"NINETY BOOKS AND MANUSCRIPTS OF BENEDICTINE ORIGIN AND SIGNIFICANCE"
Typescript exhibition catalogue printed for Oxford University's Bodleian Library to mark 1500 years of St. Benedict and his Order. With an illustration of Saint Benedict on the front wrapper.
in 1980, "in commemoration of the fifteenth centenary of the birth of St. Benedict (480-1980), the Bodleian Library produced an exhibition of ninety books and manuscripts of Benedictine origin and significance." The Bodleian, with "its great store of treasures, has made it possible to choose a series of books of Benedictine origin and significance which can in some small measure be regarded as a faithful mirror of the Order's life and preocupations." As the brief Foreword notes, the need to be selective, combined with the physical limitations of the exhibition, led to a natural focus on medieval books and manuscripts published before 1200.
Case I. The Rule of St. Benedict ("pride of place must go to the book which formed that great Order"), II. Benedictine Authors (I), III. Benedictine Authors (II), IV. Monastic Learning, V. Choir Books, VI. Scribes and Illuminators, VII. Monastic Presses, VIII. Monastic Libraries, Collectors and Librarians (I), IX. Monastic Libraries, Collectors and Librarians (II), XI. Monastic Libraries, Collectors and Librarians (III). Laid-in, on the letterhead of the Bodleian's Department of Western Manuscripts, are details of the exhibition along with a Price List/Order Form on the verso.
Price: $25.00