Illuminated manuscripts are among the richest, most revealing relics of the Western world before the introduction of printing. They are central to our knowledge of social and cultural history from antiquity to the Renaissance. Drawing on the British Library's collection of medieval manuscripts, this book provides a comprehensive introduction to this art form, embracing both devotional and secular material. The manuscripts featured in the book range in date from the intricacies of the 7th-century Lindisfarne Gospels to the virtuosity of artists of the Renaissance and after, spanning a geographical area bounded by the Crusader kingdom of Jerusalem in the east and the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria in the north-west. Some of them, such as the Luttrell Psalter or the Bedford Hours, are already well-known, but the majority are unfamiliar to the general public.