A hitherto unknown late medieval manuscript on vellum containing fourteen different types of decorative alphabets, ranging from simple letters in Gothic script to large coloured anthropomorphic initials, and two sets of different types of borders. Before the discovery of the Macclesfield book, only one other medieval writers' patten book of this kind was known, Sloane MS 1448A in the British Library. The Macclesfield book, however, contains many more types of decorative alphabets and borders, fully illuminated in colours and gold, and more detailed and elaborate figurative decoration.
Item Provenance
The Earl of Macclesfield, Shirburn Castle
The Macclesfield Alphabet Book, c.1500. FNL grant 2008. Image by kind permission of the British LIbrary.