New essays on late medieval manuscripts highlight the complicated network of their production and dissemination. One of the most important developments in medieval English literary studies since the 1980s has been the growth of manuscript studies. Long regarded as mere textual repositories, and treated superficially by editors, manuscripts are now acknowledged as centrally important in the study of later medieval texts. The essays collected here discuss aspects of the design and distribution of manuscripts in late medieval England, with a particular focus on vernacular manuscripts of the late fourteenth, fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. Those in the first half consider material evidence for scribal decisions about design: these range from analysis of individual codices to broader discussions of particular types of manuscripts, both religious and secular. Later essays look at the evidence for the production and distribution of manuscripts of specific English texts or types of text. These include the major Middle English poems The Canterbury Tales and Piers Plowman, as well as key religious works such as Love's Mirror, Hilton's Scale of Perfection, the Speculum Vitae and The Pricke of Conscience, all of which survive in significant numbers of manuscripts. The comparison of secular and devotional texts illuminates shared networks of production and dissemination, and increases our knowledge of regional and metropolitan book production in the period before printing. Contributors: DANIEL W. MOSSER, JACOB THAISEN, TAKAKO KATO, SHERRY L. REAMES, AMELIA GROUNDS, ALEXANDRA BARRATT, JULIAN M. LUXFORD, LINNE R. MOONEY, MICHAEL G. SARGENT, JOHNJ. THOMPSON, MARGARET CONNOLLY, RALPH HANNA, GEORGE R. KEISER.

Published in 1998. John Shirley's importance as a scribe of late fourteen-and early fifteenth-century vernacular poetry (in particular the works of Chauncer and Lydgate) has long been recognised. Not only did Shirley bring these works to the attention of a wider audience in his own time, but the survival of some if his manuscripts has perpetuated these texts for future generations of readers. Indeed, some of these poems are now only known through his manuscripts. In this meticulously researched survey, Margaret Connolly makes a thorough examination of all extent documents relating to Shirley's life and carefully scrutinises the physical characteristics of his manuscripts. In so doing she dispels many of the false interpretations that have arisen from speculation about the nature of Shirley's scribal activities. The book concludes that there is no evidence to suggest that Shirley acted as a bookseller, but plenty to indicate that he lent his books extensively. This book's survey of volumes owned or used by Shirley provides general insights into the availability and circulation of literary texts in the fifteenth century. Palaeographers and those with a general interest in the history of the book will find this studying fascinating.

Published in 1998. John Shirley's importance as a scribe of late fourteen-and early fifteenth-century vernacular poetry (in particular the works of Chauncer and Lydgate) has long been recognised. Not only did Shirley bring these works to the attention of a wider audience in his own time, but the survival of some if his manuscripts has perpetuated these texts for future generations of readers. Indeed, some of these poems are now only known through his manuscripts. In this meticulously researched survey, Margaret Connolly makes a thorough examination of all extent documents relating to Shirley's life and carefully scrutinises the physical characteristics of his manuscripts. In so doing she dispels many of the false interpretations that have arisen from speculation about the nature of Shirley's scribal activities. The book concludes that there is no evidence to suggest that Shirley acted as a bookseller, but plenty to indicate that he lent his books extensively. This book's survey of volumes owned or used by Shirley provides general insights into the availability and circulation of literary texts in the fifteenth century. Palaeographers and those with a general interest in the history of the book will find this studying fascinating.

Cambridge University Library is one of Britain's major repositories of medieval manuscripts. Its two-letter collection (Dd-Oo) includes just over 1,000 medieval western manuscripts, and amongst these may be found examples of every type of Middle English prose composition. Religious works predominate: there are several copies of the Wycliffite Bible, various sermon cycles, and works by Love, Hilton and Rolle; there is also a vast number of unattributed religious works. Secular texts are represented by the works of Chaucer, Mandeville's Travels, and no fewer than eight copies of the Brut. The collection is also extremely rich in Middle English prose writing in the fields of science and information, preserving medical, gynaecological, veterinary, culinary, alchemical, mathematical, heraldic and linguistic texts. Altogether the current handlist covers 207 manuscripts, and indexes more than 1250 separate items. MARGARET CONNOLLY teaches in the School of English at the University of St Andrews.

This innovative study investigates the reception of medieval manuscripts over a long century, 1470-1585, spanning the reigns of Edward IV to Elizabeth I. Members of the Tudor gentry family who owned these manuscripts had properties in Willesden and professional affiliations in London. These men marked the leaves of their books with signs of use, allowing their engagement with the texts contained there to be reconstructed. Through detailed research, Margaret Connolly reveals the various uses of these old books: as a repository for family records; as a place to preserve other texts of a favourite or important nature; as a source of practical information for the household; and as a professional manual for the practising lawyer. Investigation of these family-owned books reveals an unexpectedly strong interest in works of the past, and the continuing intellectual and domestic importance of medieval manuscripts in an age of print.

Contemplations of the Dread and Love of God (also known as Fervor Amoris) is a late Middle English devotional prose text. In essence it is a manual of guidance for the spiritual and ethical life, directed at the lay population, and intended for both sexes, rather than at a monastic audience (although there is evidence that the text was read by nuns). It is a useful index of English popular spirituality since its circulation seems to have been extensive: it survives in sixteen manuscripts, dating from the early-to-mid fifteenth century, and two early sixteenth century printed editions, evidence of its enduring popularity into the early modern period. Despite this, previous treatment by scholars has been negligible, and this is the first critical edition of the text. This edition is based on one manuscript, with variant readings cited from the other witnesses where necessary; the volume has a full critical apparatus, and an introduction which discusses manuscript relations, matters of textual criticism, editorial technique, language, and dating.

This innovative study investigates the reception of medieval manuscripts over a long century, 1470-1585, spanning the reigns of Edward IV to Elizabeth I. Members of the Tudor gentry family who owned these manuscripts had properties in Willesden and professional affiliations in London. These men marked the leaves of their books with signs of use, allowing their engagement with the texts contained there to be reconstructed. Through detailed research, Margaret Connolly reveals the various uses of these old books: as a repository for family records; as a place to preserve other texts of a favourite or important nature; as a source of practical information for the household; and as a professional manual for the practising lawyer. Investigation of these family-owned books reveals an unexpectedly strong interest in works of the past, and the continuing intellectual and domestic importance of medieval manuscripts in an age of print.

Essays bringing out the richness and vibrancy of pre-modern textual culture in all its variety. Linne R. Mooney, Emeritus Professor of Palaeography at the University of York, has significantly advanced the study of later medieval English book production, particularly our knowledge of individual scribes; this collection honours her distinguished scholarship and responds to her wide-ranging research on Middle English manuscripts and texts. The thirteen essays brought together here take a variety of approaches - palaeographical, codicological, dialectal, textual, art historical - to the study of the English medieval book and to the varied environments (professional, administrative, mercantile, ecclesiastical) where manuscripts were produced and used during the period 1300-1550. Acknowledging that books and readers are no respecters of borders, this collection's geographical scope extends beyond England in the east to Ghent and Flanders, and in the west to Waterford and the Dublin Pale. Contributors explore manuscripts containing works by key writers, including Geoffrey Chaucer, John Gower, John Wyclif, and Walter Hilton. Major texts whose manuscript traditions are scrutinized include Speculum Vitae, the Scale of Perfection, the Canterbury Tales, and Confessio Amantis, along with a wide range of shorter works such as lyric poems, devotional texts, and historical chronicles. London book-making activities and the scribal cultures of other cities and monastic centres all receive attention, as does the book production of personal miscellanies. By considering both literary texts and the letters, charters, and writs that medieval scribes produced, in Latin and Anglo-French as well as English, this collection celebrates Professor Mooney's influence on the field and presents a holistic sense of England's pre-modern textual culture.