Review of Martyn, John R. C.

, Letters of Pope Gregory: A Study of an Unknown Tenth

Century Manuscript Bound in Tenbury and Found in Melbourne Containing all or part of
Forty Letters sent by Pope Gregory the Great, Melbourne, Macmillan Art, 2013; hardback;
pp. 184; 35 colour illustrations; R.R.P. AU$79.95; ISBN 9781921394935.
One does not expect to find a unique early medieval manuscript stored in an unlocked
filing cabinet in Australia. Yet, as John Martyn explains in his stimulating new monograph,
Letters of Pope Gregory, this is exactly what happened to a distinctive tenth-century
manuscript of forty letters written by the late sixth- century Pope, Gregory I (c. 540 604).
Purchased in 1975 from a London book-seller by the University of Melbourne for a course
offered by the author, it took a long time for Martyn to realise that his copy was something
special. Far more than just a translation, this study is the by-product of Martyns forty-year
exploration of this fascinating text.
The Introduction offers an explanation of how this manuscript ended up in Australia
and also a short summary of the complex political world of Gregorys pontificate. As Martyn
points out, scholars have long mined Gregorys 854 letters for their valuable perspective on
Italy during a troubled period when Byzantines, Lombards, and Italians competed for
hegemony. One small criticism. Granted the primary aim here was not to provide an in-depth
account of late sixth-century Italy and the letters author, but this section would have
benefited from greater interaction with recent scholarship on Gregory and his world. For
example, many modern scholars would be uncomfortable with Martyns descriptions of the
Lombards as the Germans (pp. 11-12).
Replete with coloured illustrations, chapter 1 reproduces the glory of the Melbourne
manuscript and the tenth-century craftsmanship behind its creation. As Martyn explains, this
type of intricate illumination was rarely utilised in sets of letters, which points to the special
devotion on the part of these medieval men for Gregory and his writings.
Chapter 2 offers a one-page schema of the letters. Chapter 3 provides the Latin text,
followed by an English translation in the next chapter. Clearly at home within the corpus of
Gregorys letters many of which he has translated previouslyMartyn transfers Gregorys
often ornate Latin into lucid English prose. Chapter 5 presents the variants. Here, Martyn
uncovers the parts of the Melbourne text that support the previously accepted readings for the
letters and, more importantly, the unique sections that may offer a different reading of the
text. As Martyn explains (p. 162), these variants will need to be consulted by any future
editor hoping to produce the overdue update on the corpus of Gregorys letters.
Utilising more coloured illustrations, Chapter 6 analyses the illuminated capital letters
scattered throughout the text. Why is this important? Because, as Martyn argues
convincingly, the style and care taken by this scribe or scribes, link the manuscript with two
other copies of Gregorys letters that we know were created in the tenth-century Fleury
scriptorium.
Chapter seven offers an account of the near destruction and lucky survival of the text in
the hands of a group of seventeenth-century musicians who utilised the medieval
manuscripts tough folios to protect their musical scrolls. While this service caused some

damage, as Martyn argues, these men may have unwittingly assured the manuscripts ultimate
survival.
Chapters 8 and 9in my mind misplaced at the terminus of the studyreturn once
again to the tenth century in order to establish once and for all that the manuscript found in
Melbourne was created on the continent under the auspices of Fleurys famous preserver of
ancient manuscripts and noted admirer of Gregory, the abbot Abbo (c. 945 1004).
Admittedly, without much tangible evidence, Martyn constructs a plausible explanation of
how and why sometime in the late tenth century a manuscript of Gregorys letters so lovingly
created in Fleury-sur-Loire wound up in England .
.
In closing, Martyn and his publisher should be applauded for producing an affordable
and visually pleasing monograph that pays homage to the visible artistry of the Melbourne
manuscript. One hopes, that Martyn takes up his own challenge (p.162), to utilise this
distinctive source to create a modern critical edition of Gregorys important letters.
MICHAEL EDWARD STEWART, Gold Coast, Australia