Europeana Regia: Manuscripts Online
I just discovered the site Europeana Regia, a really amazing resource of 874 digitized manuscripts from the fifth through ninth centuries. They are drawn from all over Europe. I was looking for a particular ninth-century bible from Metz to see if its Annunciation featured a book (it doesn’t), and not only did I find a link to the Bibliotheque Nationale’s excellent digital viewer, I discovered all the rest the Europeana Regia site has to offer.
Right now I am browsing through the 541 ninth-century manuscripts they have to see if there’s anything of interest. The fragmentary (or unfinished) Sacramentary of Charles the Bald (Paris, Bibliotheque national de France, MSS Latin 1141) has some really stunning full-page illuminations. A favorite (f. 17), below, and also some drop-dead gorgeous gold lettering (f. 18).
Laura Saetveit Miles 