Collect: obsessive, passionate, visionary
De Musica, ca. 1120-1150
Anicius Manlius Torquatus Severinus Boethius, De Musica, ca. 1120-1150, illuminated manuscript, Manuscripts Collection, Reference: MSR-05
De Musica, ca. 1120-1150
This illuminated
manuscript from the 12th century is one of the most precious items
in the Alexander Turnbull Library. Boethius’s De Musica, which consists
of two major texts on music, is the oldest complete book in Aotearoa. Created
in the scriptorium of Christ Church, England, the artistic quality of the
illustrations set this manuscript apart from the other versions of the text
from the same period.
Alexander Turnbull purchased the manuscript from the famous London bookseller Bernard Quaritch in 1900. Such European treasures illustrate the complex identity Turnbull created through his collection, which was at once an expression of his alienation from, and obsession with, his adopted home of New Zealand.
Permission of the National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Mātauranga O Aotearoa, must be obtained before any reuse of this image
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