Staff profile

Richard Gameson specialises in the history of the book from Antiquity to the Renaissance, and in medieval art. He has published over 100 studies on medieval manuscripts, book collections, art and cultural history, including The Old Library (1988), The Early Medieval Bible (1994), The Role of Art in the late Anglo-Saxon Church (1995), The study of the Bayeux Tapestry (1997) The Manuscripts of Early Norman England (1999), Augustine of Canterbury and the Conversion of England (1999), The Scribe Speaks: colophons in early English Manuscripts (2002), Codex Aureus: an eighth-century gospel book (2001-2), The Earliest Books of Canterbury Cathedral (2008), Manuscript Treasures of Durham Cathedral (2010), The Cambridge History of the Book in Britain volume I: c. 400-1100 (2012), From Holy Island to Durham: the contexts and meanings of the Lindisfarne Gospels (2013), and The Lindisfarne Gospels, new perspectives (2017). From Holy Island to Durham accompanied the exhibition, 'Lindisfarne Gospels Durham', held at Palace Green Library, Durham, from July-September 2013, for which he was academic curator. In 2018 he completed a catalogue of the medieval manuscripts of Trinity College, Oxford, (The Medieval Manuscripts of Trinity College Oxford: a descriptive catalogue) and he is currently working on a catalogue of the manuscript collection of Durham Cathedral. As part of a team with Professor Andy Beeby of the Department of Chemistry, Durham, and Dr Catherine Nicholson of Northumbria University, he investigates by non-destructive scientific means the nature and use of medieval illuminators' pigments. A decade of such work has recently resulted in The Pigments of British Medieval Illuminators: a scientific and cultural study (2023). He would welcome enquiries from anyone wishing to pursue advanced work in the fields of manuscripts and books, libraries and collections, illumination and decoration.

• History of the Book from Antiquity to the Renaissance
• Medieval Art

Authored book

• Gameson, R., Beeby, A., Fiorillo, F., Nicholson, C., Ricciardi, P., & Reynolds, S. (2023). R. Gameson (Ed.), The Pigments of British Medieval Illuminators: A Scientific and Cultural Study. Archetype
• Small, G., Gameson, R., Wijsman, H., Beth Winn, M., Perez-Simon, M., Velissariou, A., Roger, G., Davies, P. V., & de Blieck, E. (2023). The Cent Nouvelles nouvelles (Burgundy-Luxembourg-France, 1458 - c. 1550): Text and Paratext, Codex and Context. Brepols Publishers. https://doi.org/10.1484/m.tcc-eb.5.118224
• Gameson, R. (2018). Codex Amiatinus: making and meaning. Parish Church Council, St Paul's, Jarrow
• Gameson, R. (2018). The Medieval Manuscripts of Trinity College, Oxford: a descriptive catalogue. Oxford Bibliographical Society
• Gameson, R. (2013). From Holy Island to Durham: the contexts and meanings of the Lindisfarne Gospels. Third Millennium Publishing
• Gameson, R. (2010). Manuscript Treasures of Durham Cathedral. III Millennium
• Gameson, R. (2008). The Earliest Books of Canterbury Cathedral: Manuscripts and Fragments to c.1200. Bibliographical Society; British Library
• Gameson, R. (2002). The Scribe Speaks? Colophons in Early English Manuscripts. Cambridge: Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic
• Eales, R., & Gameson, R. (2000). Vikings, Monks and the Millennium: Canterbury c. 1000. Canterbury Archaeological Society
• Gameson, R. (1999). The Manuscripts of Early Norman England c. 1066-1130. British Academy
• Gameson, R. (1995). The Role of Art in the Late Anglo-Saxon Church. OUP
• Gameson, R., & Coates, A. (1988). The Old Library, Trinity College, Oxford. Trinity College

Chapter in book

• Gameson, R. Conceiving the Life of Texts. In C. Caruso (Ed.), The Life of Texts. Evidence in Textual Production, Transmission and Reception (1-27). Bloomsbury Academic
• Gameson, R. (2023). Les Cent Nouvelles Nouvelles: the physical fabric of the fables. In G. Small (Ed.), Les Cent Nouvelles Nouvelles: (Burgundy-Luxembourg-France, 1458 - c. 1550). Brepols Publishers
• Gameson, R. (2022). Pope's Chaucer. In C. Saunders, R. Lawrie, & L. Atkinson (Eds.), Middle English Manuscripts and their Legacies (237-254). Brill Academic Publishers. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004472167_012
• Gameson, R. (2021). Writing at Wearmouth-Jarrow. In C. Breay, & J. Story (Eds.), Manuscripts in the Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms: Cultures and connections. Four Courts Press
• Gameson, R. (2021). Gospels of Augustine. In S. Panayotova (Ed.), The Art & Science of Illuminated Manuscripts: A Handbook. Brepols/Harvey Miller
• Gameson, R. (2020). Sin and Salvation in the Hours of Jean de Dunois. In L. Cleaver, A. Bovey, & L. Donkin (Eds.), Illuminating the Middle Ages (369-394). Brill Academic Publishers. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004422339_026
• Gameson, R. (2020). The Apostle of the English in a Manuscript from Flanders and English and Flemish Benedictine Libraries in the Twelfth Centuries. In C. Denoël, & F. Siri (Eds.), France et Angleterre : manuscrits médiévaux entre 700 et 1200. Brepols Publishers
• Gameson, R. (2019). The Colophons of Codex Amiatinus. In U. Lenker, & L. Cornexl (Eds.), Anglo-Saxon micro-texts (89-116). De Gruyter. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110630961-005
• Gameson, R. (2019). The Palaeography of the Inscriptions. In C. Fern, T. Dickinson, & L. Webster (Eds.), The Staffordshire hoard : an Anglo-Saxon treasure. Society of Antiquaries
• Beeby, A., Gameson, R., & Nicholson, C. (2017). Colour at Canterbury: the Pigments of Canterbury Illuminators from the Tenth to the Twelfth Century. In S. Panayotova, & P. Ricciardi (Eds.), Manuscripts in the Making. Art & Science 1 (21-35). Harvey Miller - Brepols
• Beeby, A., Gameson, R., Nicholson, C., & Parker, A. (2017). Aldred's Red Gloss. In The Lindisfarne Gospels. New Perspectives (200-205). Brill Academic Publishers
• Gameson, R. (2017). Northumbrian Books in the Seventh and Eighth Centuries. In The Lindisfarne Gospels. New Perspectives (43-83). Brill Academic Publishers
• Gameson, R. (2015). The Manuscript Context: the Thorney Gospels. In L. Rollason (Ed.), The Thorney Liber Vitae (London, British Library, Additional MS 40,000, fols 1-12r) Edition, Facsimile and Study (20-52). Boydell & Brewer
• Gameson, R. (2015). The Image of the Medieval Library. In A. Crawford (Ed.), The Meaning of the Library: a cultural history (31-71). Princeton University Press
• Gameson, R. (2015). The Cathedral's Earliest Books. In D. Brown (Ed.), Durham Cathedral: history, fabric and culture (398-421, 548-551). Yale
• Gameson, R. (2015). History of the Manuscript to the Reformation. In C. Breay, & B. Meehan (Eds.), The St Cuthbert Gospel: studies on the Insular Manuscripts of the Gospel of John (129-136). British Library
• Gameson, R. (2015). The Thorney Liber Vitae: planning, production and palaeography. In L. Rollason (Ed.), The Thorney Liber Vitae, British Library Add. MS 40,000. Edition, Facsimile and Study (115-124). Boydell & Brewer
• Gameson, R. (2015). Materials, Text, Layout and Script. In C. Breay, & B. Meehan (Eds.), The St Cuthbert Gospel: studies on the Insular Manuscripts of the Gospel of John (13-39, 171-183). British Library
• Gameson, R. (2013). The Earliest English Royal Books. In K. Doyle, & S. McKendrick (Eds.), A Thousand Years of Royal Books and Manuscripts (3-35). British Library
• Gameson, R. (2013). Durham's Paris Bible and the Use of the Bible in a late Medieval Benedictine Community. In E. Poleg, & L. Light (Eds.), Form and Function of the late Medieval Bible (67-104). Brill Academic Publishers
• Gameson, R. (2012). Book Decoration in England c. 871-c. 1100. In R. Gameson (Ed.), The Cambridge History of the Book in Britain volume I: c. 400-1100 (249-293). Cambridge University Press
• Gameson, R. (2012). The Circulation of Books between England and the Continent c. 871-c. 1100. In R. Gameson (Ed.), The Cambridge History of the Book in Britain volume I: c. 400-1100 (344-372). Cambridge University Press
• Gameson, R. (2012). Anglo-Saxon Scribes and Scriptoria. In R. Gameson (Ed.), The Cambridge History of the Book in Britain volume I: c. 400-1100 (94-120). Cambridge University Press
• Gameson, R. (2012). The Study of Early British Books. In R. Gameson (Ed.), The Cambridge History of the Book in Britain volume I: c. 400-1100 (709-722). Cambridge University Press
• Gameson, R. (2011). The Archaeology of the Anglo-Saxon Book. In S. Foster, H. Hamerow, & D. Hinton (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Anglo-Saxon Archaeology (815-841). Oxford University Press
• Gameson, R. (2010). An Itinerant English Master around the Millennium. In D. Rollason, C. Leyser, & H. Williams (Eds.), England and the Continent in the Tenth Century: studies in honour of Wilhelm Levison (1876-1947) (87-134). Brepols Publishers. https://doi.org/10.1484/m.sem-eb.3.4695
• Gameson, R. (2009). The Royal 1 B. vii Gospels and English Book Production in the Seventh and Eighth Centuries. In R. Gameson (Ed.), The Early Medieval Bible (24-52)
• Gameson, R. (2008). The Bayeux Tapestry. In T. Ayers (Ed.), The History of British Art 600-1600 (46-7). Tate Gallery
• Gameson, R. (2007). The history of the book. In A. Deyermond (Ed.), A Century of British Medieval Studies (701-35). Oxford University Press and the British Academy
• Gameson, R. (2007). The Oldest Medieval Manuscript in New Zealand: Dunedin Public Library, Reed Collection 1. In A. Barrett, & S. Hollis (Eds.), Migrations: Medieval Manuscripts in New Zealand (147-64). Cambridge Scholars Publishing
• Gameson, R. (2007). The script of the orginal core. In D. Rollason, & L. Rollason (Eds.), The Durham Liber Vitae (58-65). British Library
• Gameson, R. (2007). The Script of the Original Core. In D. Rollason, & L. Rollason (Eds.), The Durham Liber Vitae (58-65). (I). British Library
• Gameson, R. (2006). The medieval library (to c. 1450). In E. Leedham-Green, & T. Webber (Eds.), The Cambridge history of libraries in Britain and Ireland (13-50). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.2277/0521858089
• Gameson, R. (2006). The Physical Setting: The Medieval Library (to c. 1450). In E. Leedham-Green, & T. Webber (Eds.), The Cambridge History of Libraries in Britain and Ireland 1 (13-50). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/chol9780521781947
• Gameson, R. (2006). L’Angleterre et la Flandre. In L. Castelfranchi Vegas (Ed.), L’Art de l’an mil en Europe, 950-1050 (161-98). Thalia Edition
• Gameson, R. (2006). Signed" Manuscripts from Early Romanesque Flanders: Saint-Bertin and Saint-Vaast. In M. Gullick (Ed.), Pen in hand: medieval scribes, depictions and colophons (31-73). The Red Gull Press
• Gameson, R. (2006). Manuscrits normands à Exeter aux XIe et XIIe siècles. In P. Bouet, & M. Dosdat (Eds.), Manuscrits et enluminures dans le monde normand Xe-XVe siècles (107-27)
• Gameson, R. (2005). From Augustine to Parker: The Changing Face of the First Archbishop of Canterbury. In A. Smyth, & S. Keynes (Eds.), Anglo-Saxons: studies presented to Cyril Roy Hart (13-38). Four Courts Press
• Gameson, R. (2005). St Wulfstan, the library of Worcester and the spirituality of the medieval book. In J. Barrow, & N. Brooks (Eds.), St Wulfstan and his world (59-104). Ashgate Publishing
• Gameson, R. (2005). A Scribe's Confession and the Making of the Anchin Hrabanus. In B. Dekeyser, & J. Van der Stock (Eds.), Manuscripts in Transition: Recycling Manuscripts, Texts and Images (65-79). Peeters Publishers
• Gameson, R. (2004). La Normandie et l'Angleterre au XIe siècle: le témoignage des manuscrits. In P. Bouet, & V. Gazeau (Eds.), La Normandie et l'Angleterre au Moyen Age (129-172). Brepols Publishers
• Gameson, R. (2002). L'Angleterre et la Flandre aux Xe et XIe siècles: le témoignage des manuscrits. In Les Echanges culturelles au Moyen Age: Publications de la Sorbonne, série histoire ancienne et médiévale 70 (165-206). Publications de la Sorbonne. https://doi.org/10.4000/books.psorbonne.20184
• Gameson, R. (2002). Les Colophons des manuscrits du Mont Saint-Michel. In J.-L. Leservoisier (Ed.), Images de la foi: La Bible et les Pères de l'église dans les manuscrits de Clairvaux et du Mont-Saint-Michel (165-206)
• Gameson, R. (2002). The Early Imagery of Thomas Becket. In C. Morris, & P. Roberts (Eds.), Pilgrimage: The English Experience (46-89). Cambridge University Press
• Gameson, R. (2001). 'Denmark’ and ‘Sweden’ [descriptions of the Boethius manuscripts in collections in those countries. In L. Smith (Ed.), Codices Boethiani II (130-6 and 155-63). Warburg Institute
• Gameson, R. (2001). Why did Eadfrith write the Lindisfarne Gospels?. In R. Gameson, & H. Leyser (Eds.), Belief and Culture in the Middle Ages (45-58). Oxford University Press
• Gameson, R. (2001). Introduction. In R. Gameson (Ed.), The Codex aureus : an eighth-century gospel book (9-103). Rosenkilde and Bagger
• Gameson, R. (2001). Die Kunst in Südengland und Flandern. In C. Vegas, & et al. (Eds.), Europas (161-98)
• Gameson, R. (2000). The Hereford Gospels. In G. Aylmer, & J. Tiller (Eds.), Hereford Cathedral: a history (536-43). Hambledon and London Ltd
• Gameson, R. (2000). Les implications culturelles de l'arrivée de St Augustin en Angleterre. In C. de Dreuille (Ed.), L'église et la mission au VIe siècle (123-47). Les éditions du Cerf
• Castelfranchi Vegas, L., Cassanelli, R., Gameson, R., Piva, P., & Yarza, L. J. (2000). L'Arte nell'Inghilterra meridionale e in Fiandra’ in L. Castelfranchi Vegas et al. In L'Arte dell'Anno Mille in Europa (161-98)
• Gameson, R. (2000). El Arte en la Inglaterra Meridional y en Flandes’ in L. Castelfranchi Vega et al. In Ano Mil: El arte en Europa 950-1050 (161-98)
• Eales, R., & Gameson, R. (2000). Books, Culture and the Church in Canterbury around the Millennium. In R. Eales, & R. Gameson (Eds.), Vikings, Monks and the Millennium (15-40). Canterbury Archaeological Trust Ltd
• Gameson, R. (1999). The Earliest Books of Christian Kent. In R. Gameson (Ed.), St Augustine of Canterbury and the Conversion of England (313-73). Sutton Publishing
• Gameson, R. (1999). Augustine of Canterbury: Context and Achievement. In R. Gameson (Ed.), St Augustine of Canterbury and the Conversion of England (1-40). Sutton Publishing Ltd
• Gameson, R. (1999). Bogkulturen i Nordeuropa i 900- og 1000-Tallet. In E. Petersen (Ed.), Levende Ord & Lysende Billeder: Den Middelalderlige Bogkultur i Danmark (23-51). The Royal Library , Moesgård Museum
• Gameson, R. (1999). Book Culture in Northern Europe in the Tenth and Eleventh Centuries. In E. Petersen (Ed.), Living Words and Luminous Pictures: Medieval Book Culture in Denmark (23-51). (II). The Royal Library , Moesgård Museum
• Rollason, D. (1998). English Book Collections in the Late Eleventh and Early Twelfth Centuries: Symeon's Durham and its Context. In D. Rollason (Ed.), Symeon of Durham: historian of Durham and the North (230-53). Shaun Tyas
• Gameson, R. (1997). The Origin, Art and Message of the Bayeux Tapestry. In R. Gameson (Ed.), The Study of the Bayeux Tapestry (157-211). Boydell & Brewer
• Gameson, R. (1997). The Gospels of Margaret of Scotland and the Literacy of an Early Medieval Queen. In L. Smith, & J. Taylor (Eds.), Women and The Book (148-71). University of Toronto Press
• Gameson, F., & Gameson, R. (1996). Wulf and Eadwacer, The Wife's Lament and the Discovery of the Individual in Old English Verse. In J. Toswell, & E. Tyler (Eds.), Doubt Wisely: essays presented to E. G. Stanley (457-74). Routledge
• Gameson, R. (1996). Book Production and Decoration at Worcester in the Tenth and Eleventh Centuries. In N. Brooks, & C. Cubitt (Eds.), St. Oswald of Worcester: Life and Influence (194-244). Leicester University Press
• Gameson, R. (1995). English Manuscript Art in the Late Eleventh Century: Canterbury and its Context. In R. Eales, & R. Sharpe (Eds.), Canterbury and the Norman Conquest (95-144). https://doi.org/10.5040/9781474210126
• Gameson, R. (1992). Manuscript Art at Christ Church, Canterbury, in the Generation after St Dunstan’ in St Dunstan, his life, times and cult. In N. Ramsay, M. Sparks, & T. W. Tatton-Brown (Eds.), St. Dunstan: His Life, Times and Cult (187-220). Boydell Press

Conference Paper

• Stancliffe, C. (1999, December). The British Church and the Mission of Augustine. Presented at St Augustine of Canterbury and the Conversion of England, Canterbury

Edited book

• Gameson, R. (Ed.). (2017). The Lindisfarne Gospels. New Perspectives. Brill Academic Publishers
• Gameson, R. (Ed.). (2012). The Cambridge History of the Book in Britain volume I, c. 400-1100. Cambridge University Press
• Gameson, R. (Ed.). (2007). Treasures of Durham University Library. Third Millennium and Durham University
• Gameson, R., & Leyser, H. (Eds.). (2001). Belief and Culture in the Middle Ages. Oxford University Press
• Gameson, R. (Ed.). (1999). Augustine of Canterbury and the Conversion of England. Sutton Publishing
• Gameson, R. (Ed.). (1997). The Study of the Bayeux Tapestry. Boydell & Brewer
• Gameson, R. (Ed.). (1994). The Early Medieval Bible: Its Production, Decoration and Use. Cambridge University Press

Journal Article

• Gameson, R. (online). The Colophon of the Eadwig Gospels. Anglo-Saxon England, 201-222
• Gameson, R. (online). The Decoration of the Tanner Bede. Anglo-Saxon England, 115-59. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0263675100004191
• Gameson, R. (online). A Little-Known Fifteenth-Century Missal
• Lewis, M., & Gameson, R. (online). Palette, Pigments and Pictorial Narrative in 11th-Century England: The Use of Colour in the Bayeux Tapestry and the Old English Hexateuch. Journal of the British Archaeological Association, https://doi.org/10.1080/00681288.2024.2328966
• Gameson, R. (online). Recovered! On the early manuscripts of Canterbury Cathedral
• Gameson, R. (online). Ælfric and the Perception of Script and Picture in Anglo-Saxon England
• Gameson, R. (online). The Romanesque Crypt Capitals of Canterbury Cathedral
• Gameson, R. (online). The Origin of the Exeter Book of Old English Poetry. Anglo-Saxon England, 135-85
• Gameson, R. (online). The Fabric of the Tanner Bede
• Gameson, R. (online). The Danson Psalter
• Gameson, R. (online). The Romanesque Artist of the Harley 603 Psalter
• Gameson, R. (online). Hugo Pictor: enlumineur normand
• Gameson, R., & Gameson, F. (2020). The Vita Bedae and the Craft of Hagiography. History, 105(367), 567-587. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-229x.13025
• Gameson, R., Nicholson, C., & Beeby, A. (2020). The Admiral, the Virgin, and the Spectrometer: Observations on the Coëtivy Hours (Dublin, Chester Beatty Library, W082). Gesta, 59(2), 203-231. https://doi.org/10.1086/710024
• Gameson, R. (2020). ‘Becket in Horae: the commemoration of the saint in private prayer books of the later middle ages’. Journal of the British Archaeological Association, 173(1), 143-173. https://doi.org/10.1080/00681288.2020.1778960
• Beeby, A., Gameson, R., & Nicholson, C. (2018). New light on old illuminations. Archives and Records, 39(2), 244-256. https://doi.org/10.1080/23257962.2017.1325729
• Beeby, A., Gameson, R., & Nicholson, C. (2016). Illuminators' Pigments in Lancastrian England. Manuscripta, 60(2), 143-164. https://doi.org/10.1484/j.mss.5.111916
• Gameson, R., Beeby, A., Duckworth, A., & Nicholson, C. (2015). Pigments of the Earliest Northumbrian Manuscripts. Scriptorium (Gent), 69, 33-59
• Gameson, R. (2009). Codices Aurei
• Gameson, R. (2009). The last Chi-rho in the West: from Insular to Anglo-Saxon in the Boulogne 10 Gospels. Anglo-Saxon studies in archaeology and history, 16, 89-107
• Gameson, R. (2007). The Earliest Books of Arras Cathedral
• Gameson, R. (2007). From Symeon to Hoccleve: five medieval manuscripts in Durham University
• Gameson, R. (2002). The Insular Gospel Book at Hereford Cathedral
• Gameson, R. (1998). La Bible de Saint-Vaast, Arras, et un manuscrit anglo-saxon de Boèce
• Gameson, R. (1995). Anglo-Norman Manuscripts. Old English newsletter, 28(3), B23-B34
• Gameson, R. (1995). Alfred the Great and the Destruction and Production of Christian Books
• Gameson, R. (1994). Barfreston Church. Archaeological Journal, 151, 15-16
• Gameson, R., & Gameson, F. (1993). The Anglo-Saxon Inscription at St Mary's Church, Breamore, Hampshire
• Gameson, R. (1992). The Cost of the Codex Amiatinus. Notes & Queries, 237, 2-9
• Gameson, R. (1991). English Manuscript Art in the Mid-Eleventh Century. Antiquaries Journal, 71, 64-122
• Gameson, R. (1991). The Medieval Manuscripts of Trinity College, Oxford: Addendum. Oxoniensia, 56, 77-101
• Gameson, R. (1990). The Anglo-Saxon Artists of the Harley 603 Psalter. Journal of the British Archaeological Association, 143, 29-48

Other (Digital/Visual Media)

• Gameson, R. (2001). The Codex Aureus: An Eighth-Century Gospel Book. [Data]