World authority on medieval manuscripts traces Dunedin roots

By Radio NZ - Nine to Noon | Posted: Tuesday Jun 02, 2026

World-renowned authority Christopher de Hamel traces his lifelong obsession with medieval manuscripts back to a childhood visit to the Dunedin Public Library.

There, ancient documents offered a vital connection to his distant European homeland after his family immigrated to New Zealand by steamboat in the 1950s.

He would go on to build an illustrious career as a cataloguer for Sotheby’s in London and a librarian at Cambridge’s Corpus Christi College, handling thousands of manuscripts dating as far back as the sixth century. In his new book, The Migrants, de Hamel reflects on his career and the journeys of people and texts, maintaining that he can still think of no greater thrill than cradling an original medieval book in his hands.

Listen here: World authority on medieval manuscripts traces Dunedin roots | RNZ