British Museum and the British Library

On Friday I went to the British Library and the British museum to view the various artifacts that the two institutions have on display.   At the British Library I was able to view an array of illuminated manuscripts from Europe, Persia, Turkey, China, Japan, and India.  The collection contained several copies of the Book of Hours, which was known as a "Medieval best seller."  The books consists of a sequence of 8 short services intended to be recited in private at different intervals during each day.  These books were often highly personalized and painted with the interests of the owner. There was also a interactive display about the 1215 Magna Carta including a copy of the document.

Sir John Langston Brass, 1506

During my visit to the British Museum I was able to look at the Middle Ages collection.  I took a photograph of a brass that depicts Sir John Langston as a knight, many people chose to have a memorial brass commemorate the dead in place of expensive tomb effigies.  This brass is similar to the replicas that I created rubbings of at St. Martin's in the fields.  The Middle Ages collection also included game pieces from several games including a well preserved game of chess that the traditional red and white board with hand carved game pieces.  Chess was played to sharpen the senses knights and was seen as one of seven knightly accomplishments.  It was also played by men and women and came to be associated with flirtation.