# Janet Backhouse

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English manuscripts curator (1938–2004)

Janet Backhouse Born (1938-02-08)8 February 1938 Corsham, Wiltshire, UK Died 3 November 2004(2004-11-03) (aged 66) Bath, Somerset, UK Occupation Curator of manuscripts

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

## Early life and education

Janet Backhouse was born in [Corsham](/source/Corsham), [Wiltshire](/source/Wiltshire), the daughter of Joseph Holme Backhouse and Jessie Chivers Backhouse. Her father was a [cattle-feed](/source/Cattle_feeding) salesman. Her brother David John Backhouse became a sculptor and author.[1]

Backhouse was educated at [Stonar School](/source/Stonar_School) and [Bedford College, London](/source/Bedford_College%2C_London).[1] At Bedford she worked with [Lillian Penson](/source/Lillian_Penson) and with paleographer [Francis Wormald](/source/Francis_Wormald).[2]

## Career

In 1962 Backhouse joined the British Museum's Manuscripts department as an Assistant Keeper of Western Manuscripts.[3][4] In that role, she catalogued the papers of horsewoman [Lady Anne Blunt](/source/Anne_Blunt%2C_15th_Baroness_Wentworth),[5] accompanied a manuscript of Tsar [Ivan Alexander](/source/Ivan_Alexander_of_Bulgaria) to Bulgaria in 1977, and escorted the [Lindisfarne Gospels](/source/Lindisfarne_Gospels) to be exhibited at [Durham Cathedral](/source/Durham_Cathedral) in 1987, to mark the 1300th anniversary of the death of [Cuthbert](/source/Cuthbert).[6] She also co-organised with [Leslie Webster](/source/Leslie_Webster_(art_historian)) a 1991 exhibition of Anglo-Saxon artifacts and manuscripts, at the British Museum.[7]

Backhouse was a longstanding member of the council of the [Henry Bradshaw Society](/source/Henry_Bradshaw_Society), a fellow of the [Society of Antiquaries](/source/Society_of_Antiquaries_of_London), and served as an advisor to the [National Art Collections Fund](/source/Art_Fund).[1] She was elected a member of the Comité International de Paléographie Latine in 1993.[2] She edited the proceedings of the Harlaxton Medieval Symposium in 1998.[1] She retired from the [British Library](/source/British_Library) (as it had since become) as Curator of Illuminated Manuscripts in 1998.[8] By the end of her career "she had established an international reputation as one of the foremost scholars in her field".[9]

Backhouse died in 2004 from cancer, aged 66 years, in [Bath, Somerset](/source/Bath%2C_Somerset).[1][2] She contributed to *A Masterpiece Reconstructed: The Hours of Louis XII* (2005), which was published after her death.[10] A [festschrift](/source/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](/source/Michelle_P._Brown) and Scot McKendrick (1998).[3][5]

## Select bibliography

- *The Illuminated Manuscript* (1979)[11]

- *The Lindisfarne Gospels* (1981) – on the [Lindisfarne Gospels](/source/Lindisfarne_Gospels)

- *Books of Hours* (1985)[12]

- *The Becket Leaves* (1988)[13]

- *The Luttrell Psalter* (1989) – on the [Luttrell Psalter](/source/Luttrell_Psalter)

- *The Bedford Hours* (1990)[14] – on the [Bedford Hours](/source/Bedford_Hours)

- *The Isabella Breviary* (1993)[15] – on the [Isabella Breviary](/source/Isabella_Breviary)

- *The Illuminated Page: Ten Centuries of Manuscript Painting in the British Library* (1997)[16]

- *The Hastings Hours* (1997)[17]

- *The Sherborne Missal* (1999)[18] – on the [Sherborne Missal](/source/Sherborne_Missal)

- *Medieval Rural Life in the Luttrell Psalter* (2000)[19]

- *Medieval Birds in the Sherborne Missal* (2001)[20]

- *Illumination from Books of Hours* (2004)[21]

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:0_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:0_1-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-:0_1-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-:0_1-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-:0_1-4) ["The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography"](https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-94459/version/0). *[Oxford Dictionary of National Biography](/source/Dictionary_of_National_Biography#Oxford_Dictionary_of_National_Biography)* (online ed.). Oxford University Press. 2004. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1093/ref:odnb/94459](https://doi.org/10.1093%2Fref%3Aodnb%2F94459). (Subscription, [Wikipedia Library](https://wikipedialibrary.wmflabs.org/partners/88/) access or [UK public library membership](https://www.oxforddnb.com/help/subscribe#public) required.)

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:1_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:1_2-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-:1_2-2) Stratford, Jenny (2005). ["Janet Backhouse (1938-2004)"](https://www.persee.fr/doc/galim_0753-5015_2005_num_46_1_1898). *Gazette du Livre Médiéval*. **46** (1): 108–109.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:3_3-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:3_3-1) Pamela Porter and Shelley Jones, "Janet Backhouse: Colleague and Friend", in [Michelle P. Brown](/source/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.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Smith, Mildred Ann (12 February 1982). ["On the Bookshelf"](https://www.newspapers.com/clip/45897392/on-the-bookshelfmildred-ann-smith/). *Santa Cruz Sentinel*. p. 53. Retrieved 1 March 2020 – via Newspapers.com.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:2_5-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:2_5-1) De Hamel, Christopher (2005). "Janet Backhouse (1938-2004)". *The Burlington Magazine*. **147** (1229): 554. [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [0007-6287](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0007-6287). [JSTOR](/source/JSTOR_(identifier)) [20074079](https://www.jstor.org/stable/20074079).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** West, E. Hamilton (11 June 1987). ["Janet Backhouse"](https://www.newspapers.com/clip/45897890/janet-backhousee-hamilton-west/). *The Guardian*. p. 3. Retrieved 1 March 2020 – via Newspapers.com.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** Bailey, Martin (3 November 1991). ["The End of the 'Dark Ages' Myth"](https://www.newspapers.com/clip/45898269/the-end-of-the-dark-ages-mythmartin/). *The Observer*. p. 28. Retrieved 1 March 2020 – via Newspapers.com.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** Heathcote, Graham (25 March 1993). ["Title Doesn't Fit Reproduction of Lavish Medieval Book"](https://www.newspapers.com/clip/45897487/title-doesnt-fit-reproduction-of/). *Muncie Evening Press*. p. 15. Retrieved 1 March 2020 – via Newspapers.com.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** [Obituary](https://archive.today/20100615225104/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article406483.ece) in *[The Times](/source/The_Times)*, 29 December 2004.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** Evans, Mark; Backhouse, Janet; Kren, Thomas; Turner, Nancy (2005). [*A Masterpiece Reconstructed: The Hours of Louis XII*](https://books.google.com/books?id=rh02AgAAQBAJ). Getty Publications. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-89236-829-7](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-89236-829-7).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** Backhouse, Janet (1979). [*The illuminated manuscript*](https://books.google.com/books?id=60brAAAAMAAJ). Phaidon. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780714819693](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780714819693).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-12)** Backhouse, Janet (1985). [*Books of Hours*](https://archive.org/details/booksofhours00back). British Library. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-7123-0052-0](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-7123-0052-0).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-13)** Backhouse, Janet; Hamel, Christopher De (1988). [*The Becket Leaves*](https://books.google.com/books?id=jflvAAAAIAAJ). British Library. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-7123-0141-1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-7123-0141-1).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-14)** Backhouse, Janet (1990). [*The Bedford Hours*](https://books.google.com/books?id=oHtIAQAAIAAJ). British Libr. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-7123-0231-9](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-7123-0231-9).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-15)** Backhouse, Janet; Master of James IV of Scotland, fl.; Master of the Dresden Hours, fl.; David, approximately Gérard; British Library, issuing body. (1993). [*The Isabella breviary*](https://trove.nla.gov.au/version/28843413). London : The British Library. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-7123-0269-2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-7123-0269-2).{{[cite book](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Cite_book)}}: CS1 maint: publisher location ([link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:CS1_maint:_publisher_location))

1. **[^](#cite_ref-16)** Backhouse, Janet (1997). [*The Illuminated Page: Ten Centuries of Manuscript Painting in the British Library*](https://books.google.com/books?id=q25IAQAAIAAJ). British Library. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-7123-4542-2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-7123-4542-2).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-17)** Backhouse, Janet (1997). [*The Hastings Hours*](https://books.google.com/books?id=s9NeMGhRiUQC). Pomegranate. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-7649-0002-0](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-7649-0002-0).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-18)** Backhouse, Janet (1 January 1999). [*The Sherborne Missal*](https://books.google.com/books?id=hd7dRk4CCkoC). University of Toronto Press. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-8020-4743-4](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-8020-4743-4).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-19)** Backhouse, Janet; Sarkonak, Ralph William; Staff, British Library (1 January 2000). [*Medieval Rural Life in the Luttrell Psalter*](https://books.google.com/books?id=JYISrn9TUrwC). University of Toronto Press. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-8020-8399-9](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-8020-8399-9).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-20)** Backhouse, Janet; Library, British (1 January 2001). [*Medieval Birds in the Sherborne Missal*](https://books.google.com/books?id=0btarSB0uwYC). University of Toronto Press. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-8020-8434-7](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-8020-8434-7).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-21)** Backhouse, Janet; Library, British (2004). [*Illumination from Books of Hours*](https://books.google.com/books?id=f4EyAQAAIAAJ). British Library. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-7123-4849-2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-7123-4849-2).

## External links

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

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