The 'long twelfth century' (1075-1225) was an era of seminal importance in the development of the book in medieval Europe and marked a high point in its construction and decoration. This comprehensive study takes the cultural changes that occurred during the 'twelfth-century Renaissance' as its point of departure to provide an overview of manuscript culture encompassing the whole of Western Europe. Written by senior scholars, chapters are divided into three sections: the technical aspects of making books; the processes and practices of reading and keeping books; and the transmission of texts in the disciplines that saw significant change in the period, including medicine, law, philosophy, liturgy, and theology. Richly illustrated, the volume provides the first in-depth account of book production as a European phenomenon.

The 'long twelfth century' (1075-1225) was an era of seminal importance in the development of the book in medieval Europe and marked a high point in its construction and decoration. This comprehensive study takes the cultural changes that occurred during the 'twelfth-century Renaissance' as its point of departure to provide an overview of manuscript culture encompassing the whole of Western Europe. Written by senior scholars, chapters are divided into three sections: the technical aspects of making books; the processes and practices of reading and keeping books; and the transmission of texts in the disciplines that saw significant change in the period, including medicine, law, philosophy, liturgy, and theology. Richly illustrated, the volume provides the first in-depth account of book production as a European phenomenon.

This is a new release of the original 1925 edition.

1925. A child's reading primer with the premise that the material should be at once easy enough to be pleasurable and interesting enough to be stimulating-so that the child, with a minimum of attention to the difficult mechanics of the process, may be led unconsciously to develop by much practice his newly acquired grasp and skill...Underneath all the changing problems of method lies the perennial problem of interest, and it is here that the special field of this little book is felt to lie. Due to the age and scarcity of the original we reproduced, some pages may be spotty or faded.

1925. A child's reading primer with the premise that the material should be at once easy enough to be pleasurable and interesting enough to be stimulating-so that the child, with a minimum of attention to the difficult mechanics of the process, may be led unconsciously to develop by much practice his newly acquired grasp and skill...Underneath all the changing problems of method lies the perennial problem of interest, and it is here that the special field of this little book is felt to lie. Due to the age and scarcity of the original we reproduced, some pages may be spotty or faded.

Books before print - manuscripts - were modified continuously throughout the medieval period. Focusing on the ninth and twelfth centuries, this volume explores such material changes as well as the varying circumstances under which handwritten books were produced, used and collected. An important theme is the relationship between the physical book and its users. Can we reflect on reading practices through an examination of the layout of a text? To what extent can we use the contents of libraries to understand the culture of the book? The volume explores such issues by focusing on a broad palette of texts and through a detailed analysis of manuscripts from all corners of Europe. This title is available in the OAPEN Library - http://www.oapen.org.