Alfred Reed’s original gift of 1948 included a small collection of reference books including several about the lettering and illumination of medieval manuscripts. Reed taught himself the skills of lettering and illuminating - no doubt with the aid of these very books - and applied his calligraphic skills in embellishing his treasured autograph letter albums.
Alfred Reed’s original gift of 1948 included a small collection of reference books including several about the lettering and illumination of medieval manuscripts. Reed taught himself the skills of lettering and illuminating - no doubt with the aid of these very books - and applied his calligraphic skills in embellishing his treasured autograph letter albums.
Sidney Farnsworth. Illumination and its development in the present day. London: Hutchinson, 1922.
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This 124-page hand-illuminated manuscript diary was compiled by Alfred Reed for his wife Isabel during his spare time at Featherston Camp.
Written in double columns with large capitals and pasted in sepia photographs of soldiers in the camp, local landscapes and townscape views, this manuscript book offers testimony to Reed’s admiration for the medieval scribes who laboured to produce the beloved hand-written Bibles and liturgical works in his collection.
A.H. Reed. In and around Featherston Military Camp: and (Mostly) Elsewhere. 1917.
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