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 document where the text is often supplemented with flourishes such as borders and miniature illustrations. Often used in the Roman Catholic Church for prayers, liturgical services and psalms, the ...

Education and career

Jonathan Alexander matriculated at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

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

University of Birmingham , mottoeng = Through efforts to heights , established = 1825 – Birmingham School of Medicine and Surgery1836 – Birmingham Royal School of Medicine and Surgery1843 – Queen's College1875 – Mason Science College1898 – Mason Univers ...

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 , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

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 on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its purpo ...

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 The Institute of Fine Arts (IFA) of New York University is dedicated to graduate teaching and advanced research in the history of art, archaeology and the conservation and technology of works of art. It offers Master of Arts and Doctor of Philoso ...

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 1985 Fellow,

British Academy The British Academy 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 same year. It is now a fellowship of more than 1,000 leading scholars span ...

1995 Honorary Fellow,

Pierpont Morgan Library The Morgan Library & Museum, formerly the Pierpont Morgan Library, is a museum and research library in the Murray Hill neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. It is situated at 225 Madison Avenue, between 36th Street to the south and 37th ...

1995-1996

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the ar ...

1999 Fellow,

Medieval Academy of America The Medieval Academy of America (MAA; spelled Mediaeval until c. 1980) 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 ...

2002 J. Clawson Mills Art History Fellowship,

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

, 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 Walter may refer to: People * Walter (name), both a surname and a given name * Little Walter, American blues harmonica player Marion Walter Jacobs (1930–1968) * Gunther (wrestler), Austrian professional wrestler and trainer Walter Hahn (born 19 ...

and

Madeline H. Caviness Madeline Harrison Caviness, FMAoA, FSA (born 1938) is a British-American scholar of European medieval art, and an expert on glass painting and medieval women as viewers of art. She is a Professor Emeritus at Tufts University in Medford, Massac ...

Selected works

* (ed. with

Otto Pächt Otto Pächt (7 September 1902, Vienna - 17 April 1988, Vienna) was an Austrian art historian and one of the representatives of the second wave of the Vienna School of Art History. He mostly wrote on the medieval and Renaissance art of Europe. An ...

) ''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 Francis Wormald (1904 - 11 January 1972), was a British educator who served as director of the Institute of Historical Research The Institute of Historical Research (IHR) is a British educational organisation providing resources and training ...

. 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. It is among the most prestigious specialist coll ...

, for The British Academy. Alexander has also contributed photographs to the

Conway Library 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. It is among the most prestigious specialist coll ...

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 Palaeographers New York University Institute of Fine Arts faculty Fellows of the British Academy Alumni of the University of Oxford