As the Bayeux Tapestry was transported from Normandy to London under police escort in July, the work of palaeographer Christopher de Hamel came to mind. In his 2016 book, *Meetings with Remarkable Manuscripts*, de Hamel suggested that one of the earliest known illuminators of English medieval manuscripts might also have designed the tapestry. His research took him to Durham Cathedral Library, where encounters with librarians from Australia and New Zealand influenced his perspective on these historic artifacts.
De Hamel’s latest book, *The Migrants*, centers on the intersection of the Old World and New, blending scholarly inquiry with personal recollections from his childhood. The work traces the journeys of illuminated manuscripts—handwritten, gold-leaf-adorned texts—that he first encountered as a boy growing up in New Zealand, far from the European libraries where many are traditionally housed. These manuscripts, like his own family who emigrated from England in the mid-1950s when de Hamel’s father took a medical position in New Zealand, have traveled widely, developing richer histories outside established European institutions.
During his isolated youth in Dunedin, de Hamel found solace in the city’s public library, which held fragments of medieval manuscripts collected by local aficionados. This chance discovery felt like “crossing a magic portal in time and distance” for the young de Hamel, who was sometimes permitted to bring leaves from manuscripts home, including one by the noted English printer William Caxton—a freedom unlikely for a teenager in England during the 1960s.
His professional career included roles at Sotheby’s, where he managed sales of illuminated manuscripts, and at Cambridge University, home to one of Europe’s most significant collections. De Hamel describes his early unconventional education in manuscripts—often working without institutional constraints or competition—as a formative influence that allowed him to make discoveries such as attributing prayer books to Yorkist gentlewomen in Derbyshire. While employed in Wellington, he traced a 12th-century manuscript of *Boethius* back to Canterbury Cathedral during the tenure of Archbishop Thomas Becket, later arguing that Becket himself commissioned the work.
*The Migrants* offers a personal narrative alongside detailed manuscript histories and provenance research. One notable discovery discussed in the book involves fragments of a ninth-century Bible made by Bavarian nuns, embedded in the binding of a book held in Auckland. This relic is recognized as the oldest European manuscript recorded in Australasia.
Throughout his writing, de Hamel emphasizes the importance of physically encountering illuminated manuscripts, considering it a form of time travel that reproduction cannot fully replicate. Citing cultural critic Walter Benjamin, he stresses the value of experiencing original works in their intended settings rather than through copies, although he acknowledges the practical difficulties in accessing fragile, priceless volumes housed in climate-controlled archives.
De Hamel himself has admitted that many manuscripts remain “as out of bounds to the general public” as restricted sacred sites. While *The Migrants* advocates for greater engagement with these artifacts, it also reflects on the rarity and privilege of access. The book combines scholarly research, personal history, and the thrill of uncovering the paths manuscripts have taken across continents and centuries, offering readers a glimpse into the extended life of these illuminated texts.