Elizabeth Dearnley interviews Natalia Fantetti, a PhD student on the CULTIVATE MSS project, whose thesis explores the history of women in the manuscript trade. Natalia uncovers the roles and influence and of three key figures: Belle da Costa Greene, the personal librarian of J. P. Morgan and first director of the Morgan Library; Isabella Stewart Gardner, the collector; and Anne Nill, who worked for and with the dealer Wilfred Voynich.

In this episode, Elizabeth Dearnley speaks to Laura Cleaver and Danielle Magnusson about their research on the history of the manuscript trade in Britain and America. From the dealers missing from previous accounts to the ways mega-rich American collectors justified acquiring Europe’s medieval books, learn more about why this history needs re-writing.

In this introductory episode, Elizabeth Dearnley interviews Laura Cleaver, Senior Lecturer in Manuscript Studies (Institute of English Studies, University of London), to discover what brought her to the study of medieval manuscripts and the rationale behind the CULTIVATE MSS Project.