Janet Backhouse: Difference between revisions

{{Short description|English manuscripts curator}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2023}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Janet Backhouse

| birth_date = 8 February 1938

| birth_place = [[Corsham]], [[Wiltshire]], UK

| death_date = 3 November 2004

| death_place = [[Bath, Somerset]], UK

| nationality = English

| occupation = Curator of [[Illuminated manuscript|manuscripts]]

}}

'''Janet Moira Backhouse''' (8 February 1938 – 3 November 2004) was an English manuscripts curator at the [[British Museum]], and a leading authority in the field of [[illuminated manuscript]]s.

== Early life and education ==

Janet Backhouse was born in [[Corsham]], [[Wiltshire]], the daughter of Joseph Holme Backhouse and Jessie Chivers Backhouse. Her father was a [[Cattle feeding|cattle-feed]] salesman. Her brother David John Backhouse became a sculptor and author.<ref name=":0">{{Cite ODNB | url=https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-94459/version/0 |doi = 10.1093/ref:odnb/94459|title = The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography|year = 2004}}</ref>

Backhouse was educated at [[Stonar School]] and [[Bedford College, London]].<ref name=":0" /> At Bedford she worked with [[Lillian Penson]] and with paleographer [[Francis Wormald]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last=Stratford|first=Jenny|date=2005|title=Janet Backhouse (1938-2004)|url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/galim_0753-5015_2005_num_46_1_1898|journal=Gazette du Livre Médiéval|volume=46|issue=1|pages=108–109}}</ref>

== Career ==

In 1962 Backhouse joined the British Museum's Manuscripts department as an Assistant Keeper of Western Manuscripts.<ref name=":3">Pamela Porter and Shelley Jones, "Janet Backhouse: Colleague and Friend", in [[Michelle P. Brown]] and Scot McKendrick (eds), ''Illuminating the Book: Makers and Interpreters: Essays in Honour of Janet Backhouse'' (London: The British Library, 1998), p. 11.</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Smith|first=Mildred Ann|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/45897392/on-the-bookshelfmildred-ann-smith/|title=On the Bookshelf|date=1982-02-12|work=Santa Cruz Sentinel|access-date=2020-03-01|pages=53|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> In that role, she catalogued the papers of horsewoman [[Anne Blunt, 15th Baroness Wentworth|Lady Anne Blunt]],<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal|last=De Hamel|first=Christopher|date=2005|title=Janet Backhouse (1938-2004)|journal=The Burlington Magazine|volume=147|issue=1229|pages=554|jstor=20074079|issn=0007-6287}}</ref> accompanied a manuscript of Tsar [[Ivan Alexander of Bulgaria|Ivan Alexander]] to Bulgaria in 1977, and escorted the [[Lindisfarne Gospels]] to be exhibited at [[Durham Cathedral]] in 1987, to mark the 1300th anniversary of the death of [[Cuthbert]].<ref>{{Cite news|last=West|first=E. Hamilton|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/45897890/janet-backhousee-hamilton-west/|title=Janet Backhouse|date=1987-06-11|work=The Guardian|access-date=2020-03-01|pages=3|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> She also co-organised with [[Leslie Webster (art historian)|Leslie Webster]] a 1991 exhibition of Anglo-Saxon artifacts and manuscripts, at the British Museum.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Bailey|first=Martin|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/45898269/the-end-of-the-dark-ages-mythmartin/|title=The End of the 'Dark Ages' Myth|date=1991-11-03|work=The Observer|access-date=2020-03-01|pages=28|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

Backhouse was a member of the [[Henry Bradshaw Society]], a fellow of the [[Society of Antiquaries of London|Society of Antiquaries]], and served as an advisor to the [[Art Fund|National Art Collections Fund]].<ref name=":0" /> She was elected a member of the Comité International de Paléographie Latine in 1993.<ref name=":1" /> She edited the proceedings of the Harlaxton Medieval Symposium in 1998.<ref name=":0" /> She retired from the [[British Library]] (as it had since become) as Curator of Illuminated Manuscripts in 1998.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Heathcote|first=Graham|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/45897487/title-doesnt-fit-reproduction-of/|title=Title Doesn't Fit Reproduction of Lavish Medieval Book|date=1993-03-25|work=Muncie Evening Press|access-date=2020-03-01|pages=15|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> By the end of her career "she had established an international reputation as one of the foremost scholars in her field".<ref>[http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article406483.ece Obituary] in ''[[The Times]]'', 29 December 2004.</ref>

Backhouse died in 2004 from cancer, aged 66 years, in [[Bath, Somerset]].<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> She contributed to ''A Masterpiece Reconstructed: The Hours of Louis XII'' (2005), which was published after her death.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Evans|first1=Mark|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rh02AgAAQBAJ|title=A Masterpiece Reconstructed: The Hours of Louis XII|last2=Backhouse|first2=Janet|last3=Kren|first3=Thomas|last4=Turner|first4=Nancy|date=2005|publisher=Getty Publications|isbn=978-0-89236-829-7|language=en}}</ref> A [[festschrift]], ''Illuminating the Book: Makers and Interpreters: Essays in Honour of Janet Backhouse'', was published on the occasion of her retirement, edited by [[Michelle P. Brown]] and Scot McKendrick (1998).<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":2" />

* ''The Illuminated Manuscript'' (1979)<ref>{{Cite book|last=Backhouse|first=Janet|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=60brAAAAMAAJ|title=The illuminated manuscript|date=1979|publisher=Phaidon|isbn=9780714819693|language=en}}</ref>

* ''The Lindisfarne Gospels'' (1981) – on the Lindisfarne Gospels

* ''Books of Hours'' (1985)<ref>{{Cite book|last=Backhouse|first=Janet|url=https://archive.org/details/booksofhours00back|url-access=registration|title=Books of Hours|date=1985|publisher=British Library|isbn=978-0-7123-0052-0|language=en}}</ref>

*''The Becket Leaves'' (1988)<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Backhouse|first1=Janet|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jflvAAAAIAAJ|title=The Becket Leaves|last2=Hamel|first2=Christopher De|date=1988|publisher=British Library|isbn=978-0-7123-0141-1|language=en}}</ref>

* ''The Bedford Hours'' (1990)<ref>{{Cite book|last=Backhouse|first=Janet|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oHtIAQAAIAAJ|title=The Bedford Hours|date=1990|publisher=British Libr.|isbn=978-0-7123-0231-9|language=en}}</ref> – on the [[Bedford Hours]]

* ''The Isabella Breviary'' (1993)<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Backhouse|first1=Janet|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/version/28843413|title=The Isabella breviary|last2=Master of James IV of Scotland|first2=fl.|last3=Master of the Dresden Hours|first3=fl.|last4=David|first4=approximately Gérard|last5=British Library|first5=issuing body.|date=1993|publisher=London : The British Library|isbn=978-0-7123-0269-2|language=en}}</ref> – on the [[Isabella Breviary]]

*''The Illuminated Page: Ten Centuries of Manuscript Painting in the British Library'' (1997)<ref>{{Cite book|last=Backhouse|first=Janet|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q25IAQAAIAAJ|title=The Illuminated Page: Ten Centuries of Manuscript Painting in the British Library|date=1997|publisher=British Library|isbn=978-0-7123-4542-2|language=en}}</ref>

*''The Hastings Hours'' (1997)<ref>{{Cite book|last=Backhouse|first=Janet|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s9NeMGhRiUQC|title=The Hastings Hours|date=1997|publisher=Pomegranate|isbn=978-0-7649-0002-0|language=en}}</ref>

* ''The Sherborne Missal'' (1999)<ref>{{Cite book|last=Backhouse|first=Janet|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hd7dRk4CCkoC|title=The Sherborne Missal|date=1999-01-01|publisher=University of Toronto Press|isbn=978-0-8020-4743-4|language=en}}</ref> – on the [[Sherborne Missal]]

* ''Medieval Rural Life in the Luttrell Psalter'' (2000)<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Backhouse|first1=Janet|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JYISrn9TUrwC|title=Medieval Rural Life in the Luttrell Psalter|last2=Sarkonak|first2=Ralph William|last3=Staff|first3=British Library|date=2000-01-01|publisher=University of Toronto Press|isbn=978-0-8020-8399-9|language=en}}</ref>

* ''Medieval Birds in the Sherborne Missal'' (2001)<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Backhouse|first1=Janet|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0btarSB0uwYC|title=Medieval Birds in the Sherborne Missal|last2=Library|first2=British|date=2001-01-01|publisher=University of Toronto Press|isbn=978-0-8020-8434-7|language=en}}</ref>

*''Illumination from Books of Hours'' (2004)<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Backhouse|first1=Janet|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f4EyAQAAIAAJ|title=Illumination from Books of Hours|last2=Library|first2=British|date=2004|publisher=British Library|isbn=978-0-7123-4849-2|language=en}}</ref>

== External links ==

* [https://www.historytoday.com/author/janet-backhouse Writings by Janet Backhouse] for ''[[History Today]]'' magazine.

[[Category:Alumni of Bedford College, London]]

[[Category:British women medievalists]]

[[Category:British women curators]]