From Cave Paintings to the Internet A Chronological and Thematic Database on the History of Information and Media Manuscript Illumination Outline

One of the Earliest, Most Widely-Used Cross-Indexing Systems
(Circa 280 CE – 340 CE)

The Most Richly Illustrated Greek Papyrus
(Circa 350 CE)

The Earliest Dated Codex with Full-Page Illustrations
(354 CE)

The Oldest Surviving Illustrated Biblical Manuscript
(Circa 398 CE)

Herald of Christianity and Magus
(Circa 400 CE)

Jerome Criticizes Conspicuous Luxury in Christian Books
(Circa 400 CE)

"The Earliest Evidence for Tooling on a Leather Bookbinding"
(Circa 400 CE)

Fragments of a Fifth or Sixth Century Codex
(Circa 450 CE – 550)

One of Few Surviving "Scientific" Manuscripts from Late Antiquity
(Circa 450 CE – 550)

The Only Illustrated Homer from Antiquity
(493 CE – 508)

The Format of the Book Evolved with the Transition to the Codex
(Circa 500 CE)

Possibly the Earliest Surviving Illuminated Christian Manuscripts
(Circa 500 CE – 650)

Probably the Most Beautiful of the Earliest Surviving Scientific Codices
(Circa 512)

The Codex Argenteus, Written in Silver and Gold Letters on Purple Vellum
(Circa 520)

Considered the Oldest, Well-Preserved Illustrated Biblical Codex
(Circa – 540)

The Herbal of Pseudo-Apuleius
(Circa 550 – 625)

One of the Oldest Surviving Illuminated Manuscripts of the New Testament
(Circa 555)

The Ashburnham Pentateuch
(Circa 580 – 620)

The Syriac Bible of Paris
(Circa 585)

The End of the Continuity of Late Latin Culture in Most of Italy
(Circa 585)

Signed by the Scribe Rabbula in 586
(586)

A Manuscript from Pope Gregory's Scriptorium
(590 – 604)

A Volume Brought by St. Augustine to England in 597
(597)

Foundation of the Monastery and Library at Bobbio
(614)

Possibly the Earliest Surviving Irish Codex
(Circa 625)

The Naples Dioscorides
(Circa 625)

The Illuminated Gospel Book as a Tool for Evangelization
(627)

Possibly the Oldest Irish Manuscript
(Circa 650)

The Book of Mulling
(Circa 650)

One of the Smallest Surviving Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts and the Earliest Surviving Western Binding in Europe
(Circa 650)

The Earliest Surviving Complete Bible in the Latin Vulgate, and One of the Earliest Surviving Images of Bookbindings and a Bookcase
(Circa 685)

Creation of the Lindisfarne Gospels
(715 – 720)

The Oldest English Translation of Any Portion of the Bible
(725 – 750)

The Earliest Known Example of an Historiated Initial and the Earliest Witnesses to Bede's Text
(Circa 750)

The Book of Dimma
(Circa 750)

The Stockholm Codex Aureus, Looted Twice by Vikings
(Circa 750)

The Codex Aureus of Lorsch and its Dispersal
(778 – 820)

The Gellone Sacramentary: a Masterpiece of Carolingian Manuscript Illumination
(Circa 790)

The Book of Kells
(Circa 800)

The Book of Durrow
(Circa 800)

Charlemagne Renews Book and Library Culture
(800 – 877)

Carmina Figurata Word Pictures
(Circa 810)

An Unusual, Energetic Style of Illustration
(Circa 816 – 841)

"A Perfect Relationship between Text and Picture"
(Circa 820 – 830)

Medieval Natural History Bestseller
(825 – 850)

Lavishly Illuminated for Charles the Bald
(846)

Byzantine Iconophile Psalter from the Time of the Iconoclasm
(Circa 850)

The Codex Aureus of St. Emmeram
(Circa 870)

The Magnificent Upper Cover of the Lindau Gospels
(Circa 875)

The Earliest Surviving Illustrated Surgical Codex
(Circa 900)

The Morgan Dioscorides
(Circa 930 – 970)

The Oldest Surviving Translation of the Gospels into English
(Circa 950 – 960)

Possible Inspiration for Picasso's Guernica?
(June 19, 960)

The Earliest Picture Cycle of the Life of Christ in Manuscript Illumination
(Circa 977 – 993)

The Golden Gospels of Henry VIII
(Circa 977 – 993)

Possibly the Most Valuable Book in the World
(Circa 998 – 1001)

Production of Medieval Arabic Manuscripts
(Circa 1025)

The Oldest Scottish Book Remaining in Scotland
(Circa 1025)

Medieval Encyclopedia, of which the Autograph Manuscript Survived
(Circa 1090 – 1125)

Medieval Handbook of Applied Arts Including Book Production
(1100 – 1120)

The Only Surviving Illustrated Manuscript of a Greek Chronicle
(Circa 1150)

Twelfth Century Images of the Processes in Book Production
(Circa 1150)

Written and Illuminated by the Nun Herrad of Landsberg
(1167 – 1185)

Origins of the Paris Book Trade
(Circa 1170)

The Hunterian Psalter
(Circa 1170)

A Graphic Portrayal of 12th Century Life in Italy and Sicily
(1196)

Beginnings of an Active Book Trade Outside of Monasteries
(Circa 1200)

Most Important Law Book of the German Middle Ages
(1220 – 1235)

The Largest Extant Medieval Manuscript- The Devil's Bible
(1229)

Le Roman de la Rose: A Medieval Best Seller
(Circa 1230 – 1275)

The Lure and Romance of Travel to the East
(1298 – 1299)

A Celebrated Medieval Map & the Greatest Extant 13th Century Pictorial Manuscript
(Circa 1300)

The Oldest Surviving Ashkenazi Illuminated Manuscript
(Circa 1300)

The Metz Pontifical: An Unfinished Medieval Masterpiece
(Circa 1303 – 1316)

The Use of Manuscript Rolls in the Middle Ages
(Circa 1304 – 1340)

The Earliest Notice of Chinese Printing from a Non-Chinese Source
(1307)

The Oldest Sephardic Haggadah
(Circa 1350)

One of the Earliest Sources of Trecento Secular Polyphonic Music
(1370)

An Idea of the Costs of Producing Medieval Manuscripts
(1374)

The Earliest Surviving Example of Old Polish Literature
(Circa 1375)

Both of the Earliest and Most Authoritative Manuscripts of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales Were Written by the Same Scribe
(Circa 1380)

Costs for a Missal Produced in 1382
(1382)

The Guild of Stationers
(1403)

The Largest Primary Source for Music of the Trecento
(Circa 1410 – 1415)

The Most Famous Late Medieval Illuminated Manuscript
(Circa 1413 – 1416)

Serial Workshop Production of Medieval Manuscripts
(Circa 1420 – 1470)

One of the Earliest Surviving Italian Manuscripts on Technology and War Machines
(Circa 1420)

One of the Few Surviving Documents of Roman Government Circa 420 CE
(January 1436)

Model Book for Manuscript and Printed Book Illumination
(Circa 1450)

The Giant Bible of Mainz
(April 4, 1452 – July 9, 1453)

A Scribe and Illuminator Adopts the New Technology
(Circa 1458)

Integrating Illustrations into the Printed Text
(Circa 1460 – 1490)

The First Atlas of Pediatric Surgery
(1465)

Three Ways that Printing Changed Manuscript Culture
(Circa 1470)

The Most Complete Pattern Book from Medieval Britain
(Circa 1490)

The Persistence of Illuminated Manuscript Production
(Circa 1499)

The Codex Mendoza
(Circa 1540)

Masterpiece of High Renaissance Manuscript Illumination
(1546)

Book Collector Matthew Parker Donates his Library
(1574)

Foundation of the Ecole nationale des chartes
(February 22, 1821)

Prayerbook Woven by the Jacquard Loom
(1886 – 1887)

From the Sixth Century to the Twenty-First
(2005)

The Vatican Library Plans the Scanning of all its Manuscripts into the FITS Document Format
(March 24, 2010)