A HAPPILY MARRIED BIBLIOPHILE Público Deposited
The E-Sylum: Volume 4, Number 16, April 15, 2001, Article 8
A HAPPILY MARRIED BIBLIOPHILE
Asylum Editor E. Tomlinson Fort writes: "While researching
the reign of King David I of Scotland (AD 1124-1153) I was
reading the life of his mother St. Margaret written by a Scottish
monk living at Durham named Turgot. The work was written
between AD 1100 and 1107 for Margaret's daughter, Queen
Matilda - the wife of King Henry I of England (AD 1099-1135).
In a passage where the author discusses Margaret's marriage to
King Malcolm III of Scotland (AD 1058-1093) there is the
following:"Although ignorant of letters, [King Malcolm] used to often
handle and gaze on the books in which [Queen Margaret] had
been accustomed either to pray or read; and when he had
heard from her which of them was most dearest to her, to
hold it dear too, to kiss it and fondle it often. Sometimes he
called in a goldsmith and gave orders that the book should
be adorned with gold and jewels; and the king himself used
to bring it back, decorated, to the queen, as a mark of his
devotion."Later in the same work Turgot relates an incident about what
happened to one of Queen Margaret's favourite books:
"[Queen Margaret] had had a book of gospels, adorned with
jewels and gold; and in it the figures of the four evangelists
were decorated with painting, interspersed with gold; and also
every capital letter glowed all in gold. This volume she had
always cherished very clearly, beyond the others in which she
had been accustomed to read and study. This volume she was
carrying, when she chanced to be crossing over a ford; and
the book, not being carefully wrapped up in cloths, fell into the
middle of the water. The carrier, not knowing this concluded
unconcernedly the journey that he had begun; and he first
learned what he had lost when he later wanted to produce
the book. It was long sought without being found. At last it was
found lying open at the bottom of the river, its leaves being
constantly kept in motion by the current of the water; and the
little sheets of silk that had covered the golden letters to prevent
their being dimmed by contact with the leaves, had been torn
out by the rapidity of the river. Who would have thought the
book worth anything any longer? Who would have believed
that even one letter in it would have remained visible? But
indeed it was drawn out of the middle of the river whole,
undecayed, unhurt, so that it appeared not to have been
touched by water at all. The whiteness of the leaves and the
unimpared beauty of the letters throughout remained as they
had been before it had fallen into the river; except that in parts
of the last leaves some marks of moisture could be seen. The
book was brought back and the miracle related to the queen;
and she returned thanks to Christ, and cherished the volume
much more dearly than before."- 2001-04-15
- 4