Parker manuscript featured in Silk Roads exhibition at the British Museum

A recipe found in 10th-century manuscript by the Director of the Parker Library, Professor Philippa Hoskin, is on display in a new exhibition at the British Museum. CCCC MS 223 contains a number of works by the Roman poet Prudentius (348-c. 410). In the front of the manuscript are some notes that date to the 11th century. The recipe, which is for incense, is on page 2.

The exhibition Silk Roads unpacks the myths and paints the complex and fascinating true story of this legendary trade route. Beyond images of spice, silks, and camel caravans, this groundbreaking new exhibition expands the modern popular concept of the ‘Silk Road’ as a simple history of trade between ‘East’ and ‘West' and looks at how the epic journeys of people, objects and ideas along the Silk Roads shaped cultures and histories. 

The recipe reflects the many types of goods that would have come down the Silk Road and ultimately to the British Isles, in this case spices, resins, types of wood and other ingredients. It also calls for local products such as honey, dried fruit and wine.