Richard Gameson, Professor at Durham University, specialises in the history of the book from Antiquity to the Renaissance, and also in medieval art. He recently completed a catalogue of the medieval manuscripts of Trinity College, Oxford and is working on a catalogue of the manuscript collection of Durham Cathedral. Once an inhabitant of Canterbury, Richard now lives in Durham and regularly makes a daylong commute to the British Library to examine in person the original manuscripts he is studying. He muses on the improved travel time to London and on how the world wide web may impact people’s desire to study in libraries in future. He explains how touching a manuscript itself informs him in a wealth of ways. He also shares his impressions of King’s Cross in the 1970’s, and today.
Story by Sarah Monk