Hidden Hands: Secrets of Manuscript Makers and Owners // Mary Wellesley

Disgruntled scribes, protective owners, artists interrupted… manuscripts teem with life. They are not only the stuff of history and literature, but they offer some of the only tangible evidence we have of entire lives, long receded. In this year’s Annual Lecture, Mary Wellesley will trace the stories of the people who made, loved and sometimes destroyed medieval manuscripts, which are some of the most engaging artefacts ever made by human hands. Dr Mary Wellesley, writer and historian, teaches medieval language and literature as part of the British Library’s adult learning programme. Her book, Hidden Hands: the Lives of Manuscripts and Their Makers was published in October 2021 and was chosen as one of the history books of the year by both The Times and BBC History Magazine.