Jonathan James Graham Alexander, FBA (born August 1935), known in print as J. J. G. Alexander, is a medievalist and expert on manuscripts, "one of the most profound and wide-ranging of all historians of

illuminated manuscripts An illuminated manuscript is a formally prepared manuscript, document where the text is decorated with flourishes such as marginalia, borders and Miniature (illuminated manuscript), miniature illustrations. Often used in the Roman Catholic Churc ...

Education and career

Jonathan Alexander matriculated at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

in the 1960s (BA, MA, D.Phil.) before becoming a Lecturer and Reader in History of Art at the

University of Manchester The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...

from 1971 to 1987. Alexander edited the ''Survey of Manuscripts Illuminated in the British Isles'' from 1975 onwards and wrote the first volume of the six volume series, ''Insular Manuscripts, 6th to the 9th century'', just one of the many books and articles he has written on manuscripts. The outcome of the survey he undertook with Elzbieta Temple of the illuminated manuscripts held in the collections of the University of Oxford colleges resulted in the co-authored book ''Illuminated Manuscripts in the Oxford College Libraries, the University Archives and the Taylor Institution'' which was published in 1985''.'' This work is said to be the inspiration for the more recent cataloguing of the manuscripts in the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

collection with which J.J.G. Alexander was also involved. In 1987 Alexander worked on the exhibition ''Age of Chivalry: Art in Plantagenet England, 1200-1400'' at the

Royal Academy of Arts The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its ...

and co-edited the catalogue with Paul Binski (see below). He moved to New York in 1988 becoming Professor of Fine Arts at New York University Institute of Fine Arts and was awarded the Sherman Fairchild Professorship of Fine Arts in 2002. He is now Emeritus Professor of Fine Arts following his retirement from university life in 2011.

Honours

1981 Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries 1982-1983 Lyell Lecturer in Bibliography at the

1984-1985 Sandars Readership in Bibliography at

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

1985 Fellow,

British Academy The British Academy for the Promotion of Historical, Philosophical and Philological Studies is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the sa ...

1995 Honorary Fellow,

Pierpont Morgan Library The Morgan Library & Museum (originally known as the Pierpont Morgan Library and colloquially known the Morgan) is a museum and research library in New York City, New York, U.S. Completed in 1906 as the private library of the banker J. P. Morg ...

1995-1996

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...

1999 Fellow,

Medieval Academy of America The Medieval Academy of America (MAA; spelled Mediaeval until ) is the largest organization in the United States promoting the field of medieval studies. It was founded in 1925 and is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The academy publishes the q ...

2002 J. Clawson Mills Art History Fellowship,

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

, New York The

festschrift In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the h ...

collection ''Tributes to Jonathan J.G. Alexander: the Making and Meaning of Illuminated Medieval & Renaissance Manuscripts, Art & Architecture'' (London: Harvey Miller, 2006, ) was edited by Susan L’Engle and Gerald B. Guest. Contributors included Walter Cahn and Madeline H. Caviness.

Selected works

* (ed. with Otto Pächt) ''Illuminated Manuscripts in the Bodleian Library, Oxford'', 3 vols.1966 * ''Italian Renaissance Illuminations'', New York: Braziller, 1977, * ''Insular Manuscripts, 6th to the 9th century'', London: H. Miller, 1978. ''Survey of manuscripts Illuminated in the British Isles'' vol. 1, * ''The Decorated Letter'', New York: Braziller, 1978, * (ed. with T. Julian Brown and Joan Gibbs) ''Collected writings'' of Francis Wormald. 2 vols, New York: Oxford University Press, 1984–88. * (with Elzbieta Temple) ''Illuminated Manuscripts in the Oxford College Libraries, the University Archives and the Taylor Institution'', Oxford : Clarendon, 1985, * (ed. with Paul Binski) ''Age of Chivalry: Art in Plantagenet England, 1200-1400'', London: Royal Academy of Arts, 1987, * ''Medieval Illuminators and their methods of work'', New Haven: Yale University Press, 1994. * (ed.) ''The Painted Page : Italian Renaissance Book Illumination, 1450-1550'', New York: Prestel, 1994, * (ed. with James H. Marrow and Lucy Freeman Sandler) ''The Splendor of the Word: Medieval and Renaissance Illuminated Manuscripts at the New York Public Library'', New York: New York Public Library, 2005, Professor Alexander wrote the obituary of T. S. R. Boase, a former director of the

Courtauld Institute of Art The Courtauld Institute of Art (), commonly referred to as The Courtauld, is a self-governing college of the University of London specialising in the study of the history of art and conservation. The art collection is known particularly for ...

, for The British Academy. Alexander has also contributed photographs to the Conway Library that are currently being digitised by the

, as part of the Courtauld Connects project.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alexander, Jonathan James Graham 1935 births Living people American medievalists 20th-century American non-fiction writers English palaeographers New York University Institute of Fine Arts faculty Fellows of the British Academy Alumni of the University of Oxford