The course is intended as an appreciation of western ‘illuminated’ manuscripts, from the early Christian era to the early renaissance. We will also investigate the materials and techniques employed in taking such books ‘from sheep to shelf’, that is from the parchment on which they are written, through the pigments and ink, to the final binding phase. As fashions in depiction and decoration - and the uses to which manuscripts were put - changed, we shall see how these influenced the masterpieces that now grace collections such as those in the Parker Library in Corpus Christi College here in Cambridge. It is hoped a visit there will form part of the course.