 My name is Eleanor Jackson and I'm curator of illuminated manuscripts here at the British Library. I'm delighted to welcome you to this virtual private view of Gold, 50 spectacular manuscripts from around the world, a new exhibition highlighting some of the most beautiful and stunning golden manuscripts from all over the world in the British Library's collections. Gold has long held a special place in manuscript traditions around the world. People have written important texts in gold ink or inscribed them on gold surfaces. They have enhanced pictures with gold illumination and they have bound books in golden covers. The ninth century Harley Golden Gospels, probably written for Emperor Charlemagne at his court in Aachen, is shown alongside a volume of the Sultan Baibaz Quran completed in Cairo between 1304 and 1306. Both masterworks are written entirely in gold. In between is a lavishly decorated scroll from Japan written in 1636 in gold ink on blue indigo dyed paper commissioned by the Emperor Goh Mizuno for presentation to the Toshogu Shrine in Nikko. It contains the Lotus Sutra, one of the most influential scriptures of the Mahayana School of Buddhism in East Asia and seen by many as the summation of the Buddha's teachings. Gold speaks a universal language of value declaring the importance of any book or document that it adorns. It is therefore no coincidence that so many of the objects in the exhibition are royal or sacred. Covering 17 languages and made in 20 countries over a period of 1500 years, this exhibition celebrates the significance of this precious material to the craft of luxury book production. Across the world we see gold used for writing sacred texts as one of the ultimate ways of expressing honor, reverence and awe for holy words. In the secular sphere kings and rulers also recognized the symbolic power of gold writing for important letters and documents. In the Ottoman Empire the name of the Sultan had great legal as well as symbolic importance. It should be no surprise then that it appeared in gold on this spectacular land transfer grant from Teneshvar or Timishvara in present-day Romania from 1628. Red at the top is an excellent example of the Sultan's Tura or stylized calligraphic rendering of all of his given names written in gold and adorned in floral decorations in red and blue. Throughout the document the names of other important people are also recorded in gold although none of them is treated with the same flourish as that of the Sultan. Turas were important components for showing the official nature of a legal document but they didn't have to be in gold. The use of the material for this land transfer is as much about paying homage to the reigning Sultan Murad IV as it is about demonstrating the wealth and taste of Kiatib Ali, the Ottoman official who commissioned the work. Over the course of the 17th and 18th centuries military officials across the Ottoman Empire amassed considerable wealth in the form of Timars or military thieves. Gold, illumination and complicated calligraphy were all means of manifesting the power and the import of that wealth as well as its durability. Similar to many other documents that feature gold writing and decoration, this deed transfers property from father to son. The use of gold and its long-lasting attraction is truly a metaphor for Kiatib Ali's desire to see the wealth and importance of his own family last throughout the ages. This beautiful letter is from Tumungung Dain Ibrahim, the ruler of the state of Johor which is situated at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula. It was written in 1857 at his residence in Singapore and is addressed to the Emperor of France Napoleon III. It is finely illuminated with an exquisite arched headpiece and most unusually for a Malay letter is written completely in gold. Ironically the use of gold ink in this letter does not reflect the importance of its contents. At this time in the mid-19th century Johor was a firm ally of the British and the Tumungung was evidently keen not to rock the diplomatic boat and so the writing in gold can be regarded almost as a smoke screen as a way of making the letter as sumptuous as possible and filling the golden lines with lavish compliments and warm wishes for the French Emperor while adroitly avoiding any firm commitments at all. At the very heart of this exhibition on gold we have the ultimate golden manuscripts which are written on actual pieces of gold. This stunning gold manuscript from 17th century Kerala in South India is an important legal document. The 20 clause treaty outlines the terms of the alliance between the King of Calicut and the Dutch East India Company. It is inscribed on gold in Malayalam. The treaty specifies exclusive trading rights and commercial privileges to the Dutch. Signed by both parties on the 10th of November 1691 it marks the moment at which the royal family of Calicut formed an alliance with the Dutch. The use of gold follows a long historical tradition in the recording of important legal texts on metal in South Asia. This is due to its durability. This magnificent golden scroll was most likely rolled in its current form for storage and transportation in 1840. It would have originally been presented much like a palm leaf manuscript in the form of a long flat strip. There were two identical copies made of this treaty each one nearly two meters long. This was a symbol of the King's wealth, power and status. Over the centuries gold has been used throughout Southeast Asia for inscribing important texts. Among the oldest items in this exhibition are gold strips from Myanmar bearing Buddhist chants in Pali dating from the 5th to 6th centuries and similar gold strips inscribed in Sanskrit dating from the 10th century have been found in Java. According to historical records royal letters between the kings of Siam and Ache in Sumatra were frequently written on gold as was the annual tribute letter sent from the king of Siam to the emperor of China. Not surprisingly very few of these golden letters have survived because most were melted down for the precious gold itself with little heed paid to the value of the words. One rare surviving example is this gold letter from two princes of Bali written in 1768 to the Dutch governor of Samarang a town on the north coast of Java. The letter is written in Balinese with the text incised onto the gold with a sharp implement and it is shaped like a palm leaf the standard writing material in Bali. In the letter the two princes affirm their everlasting friendship with the Dutch and promise not to allow any enemies of the Dutch to pass through their territory. These bland words probably hint at a more urgent political need which must have led to the creation of such a valuable letter. In one of the larger sections in the exhibition we explore the use of gold to underline the importance of figures in illuminated manuscripts. One of them is a real treasure of the British Library the Queen Mary Salter which contains the biblical book of the Psalms but also at least one image on every page. It's known as the Queen Mary Salter not because it was made for a Queen Mary the first but because it was saved from export by a zealous customs officer who presented it to her although it's certainly grand enough to have been made for a Queen. The opening that we're displaying is a pair of diagrams of the Ancestry of Christ set on a glimmering gold background. On the left is a so-called tree of Jesse in which a large branch grows out of the torso of Jesse the father of King David who is seated on the branches directly above playing a harp. This diagram is derived from Isaiah's prophecy that there shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse and a flower shall rise up out of his root in which the rod Virga in Latin is interpreted as a reference to the Virgo or Virgin Mary. However in this image the Virgin Mary is not included at the top of the tree as as usual. Instead she appears on the opposite page in another four-level diagram of the more recent Ancestors of Christ. This subject known as the Holy Kinship is based on tradition rather than on biblical sources. At the bottom Saint Anne the mother of the Virgin is featured with each of her three husbands. Next her three daughters appear with their husbands with the Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph on the left. On the third level we have the Virgin holding the Christ child who is seated in majesty at the top. Together the opening provides a visual commentary or a Christian interpretation of the psalm text that it precedes as a foretelling of the coming of Christ all placed on luminous and richly patterned gold. This spectacular image of kingship occurs in a work of Latin verse that survives in only three copies. As you can see it's huge in scale at nearly half a meter in height and it's also the grandest of the three in the scope and richness of its illumination. It may have been the copy that was presented to Robert of Anjou pictured here who was king of Naples from 1309 until 1343 to whom the poem was addressed. In it the city of Prato asks Robert for protection to unite Italy and to restore the Papasita realm from Avignon. The city is personified as this woman with long flowing hair besieging the king. In stark contrast Robert who is seated formally on a throne with a gold crown, scepter and orb. His position and his royal status as part of the French royal family is underlined by the large gold Flordelie completely covering the background behind him. The painting has been attributed to Puccino de Bonaguida a follower of Giotto who was active in Florence at this time. The artist used gold here to underline the difference in status between the city and the king and to accentuate and emphasize his power. The beautiful golden manuscripts that we see in the gallery around us are the results of many laborers traders and craft people's hard work. So how did these manuscripts come into being? Gold could be sourced in several different ways and it's impossible to tell where the gold came from for the historic items in this exhibition. Often older items were melted down and reused to make new items. Gold was also obtained from the earth by panning in rivers or mining underground. It could be done on a small scale or as a major commercial industry under harsh and dangerous conditions. This illustrated scroll gives a glimpse into the workings of a gold mine on the Japanese island of Sado in the 18th century. Sado was an important source of gold and other precious metals from the 12th century onwards. From the 17th century the mining operation was controlled by government officials who developed new methods to increase the output of the mines. This scroll painted on silk panels is one of a set of three in the library's collection which give detailed representations of mine workings from the miners toiling underground to the smelting process and manufacture of coins on the surface. The miners worked in pairs in eight hour shifts and while one laboured at the rock face his partner would take his meal and rest breaks. The scroll shows them seated cross-legged and bare-chested on small straw mats. They used long handled tongs to hold wooden wedges which they hammered into the rock to split it open. The conditions must have been grim the average dimension of the tunnel were 2.4 meters in height and 1.8 meters in width. The only light came from small oil lamps. As in any mine flooding and poor ventilation were constant dangers and the scroll shows miners toiling with buckets to remove excess water and large circular fans designed to remove the foul air. So as we admire the beautiful objects in the exhibition let's bear a thought for the people who laboured in harsh conditions to produce the raw material from which they are made. Once the gold had been obtained expert crafts people fashioned it into the books and documents we see before us. There were several techniques for doing this each of which created different effects. One method of incorporating gold into books is to use shell gold which is gold ground up into a fine powder. The illuminator would then mix this with a binder to make a paint which was applied with a brush. Traditionally this was stored in seashells which is why it is known as shell gold. This book of ours, a type of personal prayer book, was made in France around 1510 to 25 and it's beautifully decorated with shell gold. It was made by the French court painter Jean Baudichon who is particularly known for his fine gold hatching technique. One of the advantages of shell gold is that it can be applied very finely. You can see how the delicate lines of gold hatching create the highlights on the figures such as Saint Mark the Evangelist on the left hand page and the insects in the floral border to the right. Because of its granular consistency shell gold creates a glittering effect. The entire background of the borders on this page are painted with a thin layer of shell gold giving them a luxurious sparkle. Another method of incorporating gold into books is to apply gold leaf to the pages. This is gold that has been beaten to a thin foil. It was usually applied over a raised ground of gesso which is plaster mixed with glue. The gold leaf could then be incised or stamped to add further decoration and burnished until it gleams. This leaf was originally part of a choir book from the 14th century used by the monks of Santa Maria de Gli Angeli in Florence for their services. It shows the annunciation when the angel Gabriel told the Virgin Mary that she was going to become the mother of Christ. The entire background of the scene is covered in gold leaf forming a large shiny expanse. The halos of the figures are decorated with gold punching to create a three-dimensional raised pattern. Gold could also be applied through the craft of gold tooling on leather book bindings This technique involves impressing the gold leaf into the surface of the leather with heated metal tools. Originating in Arabic North Africa in the 13th century gold tooling became a widespread and long-lived method of adorning books with gold. This case contains a number of book bindings which are all decorated with gold using various techniques. Among them is the most recent object in the exhibition and one of my personal favorites. It's a binding designed by Pierre Legrand in Paris on an edition of Le Vagabond by Colette, printed in 1927. Pierre Legrand was originally an interior decorator and designer who was encouraged by the collector Jacques Dusset to apply his talents to designing bindings for Dusset's modern books. The collector suggested Legrand look to modern paintings for inspiration and asked him to use lots of gold. This binding, created at the height of Legrand's career in the late 1920s, is a wonderful example of his very effective and skillful use of gold tooling. The book is found in citron goat skin with blue goat skin onlays and tooled in gold and silver. Legrand's bindings are characterized by restraint and simplicity and their often geometrical designs were carried out to the highest standards. He saw each book as a canvas for his designs integrating the decoration on the spine with that on the covers. Having viewed bindings as insignificant in themselves and mainly intended to prepare the reader for what was to come inside the book, Legrand created some of the most outstanding and famous binding designs of the early 20th century. For centuries gold has been fundamental to makers across the world for embellishing the written word. Reflecting the international appeal of gold, this exhibition takes visitors on a journey of over 20 countries via some of the most precious and intricately crafted items in our collection. Thank you for joining us for this virtual private view. We wish you a pleasant evening from the British Library.