John Guy
Mystery of the Manuscript
The Book in the Cathedral: The Last Relic of Thomas Becket
By Christopher de Hamel
Allen Lane 128pp £9.99
Christopher de Hamel is arguably the greatest living authority on medieval manuscripts. When he writes a book – even one this short – we should pay attention. He believes he’s solved the mystery of an early portable psalter sometimes said to have belonged to Thomas Becket, archbishop of Canterbury from 1162 to 1170. His discoveries, which resemble the pieces of a jigsaw, could hardly be better timed: 2020 is the 850th anniversary of Becket’s murder in Canterbury Cathedral by four of Henry II’s knights and the 800th of the removal of his bones from their first resting place in the cathedral crypt to an opulent new shrine behind the high altar.
What can we say about the psalter itself? Lacking its original cover and rebound in 1750, it dates from around 1000 and can be found in the Parker Library at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, where it’s shelved not far from Becket’s own copy of his friend John of Salisbury’s Policraticus,
Sign Up to our newsletter
Receive free articles, highlights from the archive, news, details of prizes, and much more.@Lit_Review
Follow Literary Review on Twitter
Twitter Feed
Interview with Iris Murdoch by John Haffenden via @Lit_Review
I love Helen Garner and this, by @chris_power in @Lit_Review, is excellent.
Yesterday was Fredric Jameson's 90th birthday.
This month's Archive newsletter includes Terry Eagleton on The Political Unconscious, and other pieces from our April 1983 issue.
Terry Eagleton - Supermarket of the Mind
Terry Eagleton: Supermarket of the Mind - The Political Unconscious: Narrative as a Socially Symbolic Act by Fredric Jameson
literaryreview.co.uk