The illuminated manuscripts of the Middle Ages are among the greatest works of European art and literature. We are dazzled by them and recognize their crucial role in the transmission of knowledge. But we generally think much less about the countless men and women who made, collected and preserved them through the centuries, and to whom they owe their existence.This entrancing book describes some of the extraordinary people who have spent their lives among illuminated manuscripts over the last thousand years. It throws new light on how manuscripts have survived and been used by very different kinds of people in many different circumstances. We understand the manuscripts themselves better by knowing who their keepers and companions have been.