The Cambridge Companion To Medieval British Manuscripts

Description

The scholarship and teaching of manuscript studies has been transformed by digitisation, rendering previously rarefied documents accessible for study on a vast scale. The Cambridge Companion to Medieval British Manuscripts orientates students in the complex, multidisciplinary study of medieval book production and contemporary display of manuscripts from c.600–1500. Accessible explanations draw on key case studies to illustrate the major methodologies and explain why skills in understanding early book production are so critical for reading, editing, and accessing a rich cultural heritage. Chapters by leading specialists in manuscript studies range from explaining how manuscripts were stored, to revealing the complex networks of readers and writers which can be understood through manuscripts, to an in depth discussion on the Wycliffite Bible. Cover......Page 1 Title......Page 2 Title - Full......Page 4 Copyright......Page 5 Contents......Page 6 Illustrations......Page 8 Contributors......Page 10 Acknowledgements......Page 13 Abbreviations......Page 14 Introduction: The Matter of Manuscripts and Methodologies......Page 16 Part I - How Do We Study the Manuscript?......Page 26 1 - Describing and Cataloguing Medieval English Manuscripts: A Checklist......Page 28 2 - Reading a Manuscript Description......Page 54 3 - Reading and Understanding Scripts......Page 64 4 - Working with Images in Manuscripts......Page 91 5 - The Sum of the Book: Structural Codicology and Medieval Manuscript Culture......Page 121 Part II - Why Do We Study the Manuscript?......Page 142 6 - Networks of Writers and Readers......Page 144 7 - The Written Word: Literacy across Languages......Page 164 8 - The Wycliffite Bible......Page 194 9 - Editing Medieval Manuscripts for Modern Audiences......Page 202 10 - Where Were Books Made and Kept?......Page 229 Part III - Where Do We Study the Manuscript?......Page 250 11 - Charming the Snake: Accessing and Disciplining the Medieval Manuscript......Page 252 12 - The Curation and Display of Digital Medieval Manuscripts......Page 282 13 - Medieval Manuscripts, the Collector, and the Trade......Page 299 Guide to Further Reading......Page 310 Index......Page 323 GENERAL INDEX......Page 325