Richard Gameson

This is the first comprehensive survey of the history of the book in Britain from Roman through Anglo-Saxon to early Norman times. The expert contributions explore the physical form of books, including their codicology, script and decoration, examine the circulation and exchange of manuscripts and texts between England, Ireland, the Celtic realms and the Continent, discuss the production, presentation and use of different classes of texts, ranging from fine service books to functional schoolbooks, and evaluate the libraries that can be associated with particular individuals and institutions. The result is an authoritative account of the first millennium of the history of books, manuscript-making, and literary culture in Britain which, intimately linked to its cultural contexts, sheds vital light on broader patterns of political, ecclesiastical and cultural history extending from the period of the Vindolanda writing tablets through the age of Bede and Alcuin to the time of the Domesday Book.

The Cambridge History of the Book in Britain: Volume 1, c.400–1100

Beginning with Bede the Venerable’s account of its remarkable founding by St. Augustine, Canterbury Cathedral has long been thought of as one of the greatest literary centers of the Middle Ages. For the first time, The Earliest Books of Canterbury Cathedral presents the entirety of Canterbury’s pre-thirteenth-century volumes—illustrated in full color—including the Alfredian translation of Gregory the Great’s Dialogues, Lanfranc’s gloss on the Epistles, and an extraordinarily grand copy of Peter Comestor’s Historia scholastica. Each manuscript is accompanied by a clear description and a broad-ranging analysis that not only explains the significance of the work in general, but of the Canterbury copy in particular—benefiting scholars of literary and archival history alike. A substantial introduction on the history of book production in Kent and Canterbury prior to the thirteenth century contextualizes the collection as whole and offers information on its development and use in the later Middle Ages, as well as the fate of its books during the course of the Reformation.

Manuscripts and Fragments to C. 1200

The Earliest Books of Canterbury Cathedral

Embracing poetic and prose writings on philosophy, contemplation and bibliophily, key service books for the clergy, and devotional texts for the laity, this book explores the interrelated themes of literature and devotion in England from the Black Death to the Reformation as seen through the lens of twenty-six precious manuscripts in Durham University Library.

A selection of manuscripts from Durham University Library

Literature and Devotion in Later Medieval England

Colophons in Early English Manuscripts

The Scribe Speaks?

Ian R. Willison

Formerly Professor of Bibliography and Textual Criticism D F McKenzie

D. F. McKenzie

Michael F. Suarez

David McKitterick

Nigel J. Morgan

Claire Squires

Andrew Nash

Joseph Burney Trapp

Maureen Bell

Michael L. Turner

John Barnard

Lotte Hellinga

Rodney M. Thomson

This volume contains thirty-eight chapters on print culture in a time of religious divisions and civil war.

The Cambridge History of the Book in Britain

Richard Gameson

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