Hesburgh Libraries

The book culture of Byzantium integrates language, texts, geography, and their material realities into a continuous movement from Antiquity to the present. The texts on display show the inherent beauty of the Greek language through the visual medium of its unique writing systems throughout seven centuries (ca. 850 – 1500). The scripts represent only a selection of the geographical breadth of Byzantine manuscript production: Constantinople and its hinterlands, Cyprus, Rhodes, Southwestern Asia Minor, and parts of Southern Italy including the Salento. The texts are a variety of genres and themes of interest to both clergy and secular readers: Gospels, liturgical books, dogmatic treatises, Neoplatonism, and Classical literature.

This exhibit is curated by David T. Gura, Ancient and Medieval Manuscripts Curator. This and other exhibits within the Hesburgh Libraries are generously supported by the McBrien Special Collections Endowment.

All exhibits are free and open to the public during business hours.