Essays discussing the medieval book, its owners and its readers.
Reading, writing, sharing texts, and book ownership in the
fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, and how they fostered social and
intellectual links and networks between individuals, particularly
among women: these are subjects whichthe pioneering work of Mary C.
Erler has done so much to illuminate. The essays here, in this
volume in her honour, build on her scholarship, engaging with
Professor Erler's characteristic use of bibliography in the service
of biography by investigating how the physical object of the book
can enlighten our understanding of medieval readers and writers.
They analyze, for example, what "reading" means in terms of the act
itself (and the accessories, such asbookmarks, that helped to set
the stage for reading), whether done aloud or silently, in such
different venues as an aristocratic court, bourgeois household,
village community, and monastic cloister. They also consider the
culture of medieval reading practices, especially those of women,
across social classes, and in terms of the transition between the
pre- and post-Reformation periods; the fluidity of genre
boundaries; and changes in devotional reading and writing in this
liminal period. A wide variety of genres are covered, including
secular romance, devotional texts, schoolbooks, and the illustrated
Old Testament preface to the famous Queen Mary Psalter, which
recasts the story and image of ancient Israelites to suit elite
readerly taste. MARTIN CHASE is Professor of English and Medieval
Studies at Fordham University; MARYANNE KOWALESKI is Joseph
Fitzpatrick S.J. Distinguished Professor of History and Medieval
Studies at Fordham University. CONTRIBUTORS: Allison Alberts,
Caroline M. Barron, Heather Blatt, Martin Chase, Joyce Coleman,
Sheila Lindenbaum, Joel T. Rosenthal, Michael G. Sargent, Kathryn
A. Smith.
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