Gold is universally appreciated for its beauty and value. Since ancient times, people have found all kinds of ways to incorporate gold into handmade books and documents – gold writing, gold pages, pictures ornamented with gold, gold book covers. This exhibition will bring together some of the British Library’s most luxurious golden illuminated manuscripts from around the world to explore the different techniques used to apply gold and to tell the story of gold’s significance. The exhibition celebrates cultural diversity by bringing together items from at least 20 different countries worldwide, representing many languages and the major world religions. The majority of items included in the exhibition date from pre-1600, with some South and Southeast Asian objects from the 17th-19th centuries, and some 20th century items. Written and selected by the curatorial team, the dazzling, large-format Gold Exhibition Highlights Book showcases the British Library’s exceptional collection of manuscript items incorporating gold as featured in this major exhibition. The featured items have universal appeal and are central to the traditions of book art from around the world.

An extensively illustrated compendium of 45 expertly selected illuminated bibles that transport the reader through 1,000 years of history and across the Christian world. For two millennia the Bible has inspired the creation of art. Within this legacy of remarkable art and beauty, illuminated biblical manuscripts offer some of the best evidence for our understanding of early Christian painting and artistic interpretations of the Bible. Compiled and written by two internationally renowned experts, this beautiful book immerses the reader in the world of illuminated manuscripts of the Bible. Through its pictures we are transported across 1,000 years of history, passing chronologically through many of the major centres of the Christian world. Starting in Constantinople in the East, the journey moves on to Lindisfarne in the North, to imperial Aachen, back to Canterbury, then to Carolingian Tours in western France. Later we view some of the riches of Winchester, Mozarabic Spain, Crusader Jerusalem, the Meuse valley, northern Iraq, Paris, London, Bologna, Naples, Bulgaria, the Low Countries, Rome and Persia. Our journey ends in Gondar, the capital of imperial Ethiopia. Forty-five remarkable books - each a treasure in its own right - provide our itinerary through time and across continents. Together they enable us to explore and revel in the extraordinary art and beauty of illuminated biblical manuscripts, some of the finest but least-known paintings from the Middle Ages.