Libraries and Books in Medieval England

The Role of Libraries in a Changing Book Economy

Richard Sharpe (Autor)

Buch | Hardcover

192 Seiten

2023
Bodleian Library (Verlag)
978-1-85124-601-4 (ISBN)

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Medieval England was full of books, many times the number that have survived. The great moment of loss was when the country’s religious houses were suppressed by King Henry VIII and their libraries scattered and destroyed. Twentieth-century scholarship has been enterprising in establishing what survives and in discovering what libraries once held. To understand that evidence, and to be able to reconstruct the transmission of culture in the Middle Ages, we need to employ with care the evidence of the surviving books and what medieval library catalogues can tell us about these lost collections. Libraries and Books in Medieval England paints a new picture of the circulation of books, from the totality of the available evidence. It seeks to move away from the modern conceptualization of the monastic library as the only venue for medieval book provision, and to broaden awareness of the wider book economy, including private ownership and the birth of the book trade. The result, by one of the country’s leading experts and based on his Lyell Lectures in the University of Oxford, is an unparalleled work offering a new view of the field.

Richard Sharpe is Professor of Diplomatic at the University of Oxford and a fellow of Wadham College. He was assistant editor of the Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, and is general editor of the Corpus of British Medieval Library Catalogues. JAMES WILLOUGHBY is Research Fellow in Medieval History at New College, Oxford, and a long-term collaborator of Professor Sharpe's.

Foreword by Richard Ovenden vii

Preface by James Willoughby x

List of Illustrations xviii

Abbreviations xix

1 Medieval Libraries of Great Britain 1

2 English Medieval Library Catalogues 25

3 Library Books and Personal Books 59

4 Turnover in Libraries 78

5 Growth, Competition, Stability, Loss, Renewal 96

6 Decay and Closure of Libraries 115

Notes 133

Select Bibliography 155

Index of Manuscripts 166

General Index 167

Erscheinungsdatum	11.05.2023
Sprache	englisch
Maße	156 x 234 mm
Gewicht	610 g
Themenwelt	Geisteswissenschaften ► Geschichte ► Regional- / Ländergeschichte
Themenwelt	Sozialwissenschaften ► Kommunikation / Medien ► Buchhandel / Bibliothekswesen
ISBN-10	1-85124-601-0 / 1851246010
ISBN-13	978-1-85124-601-4 / 9781851246014
Zustand	Neuware