Daniel Wakelin introduces and reinterprets the misunderstood and overlooked craft practices, cultural conventions and literary attitudes involved in making some of the most important manuscripts in late medieval English literature. In doing so he overturns how we view the role of scribes, showing how they ignored or concealed irregular and damaged parchment; ruled pages from habit and convention more than necessity; decorated the division of the text into pages or worried that it would harm reading; abandoned annotations to poetry, focusing on the poem itself; and copied English poems meticulously, in reverence for an abstract idea of the text. Scribes' interest in immaterial ideas and texts suggests their subtle thinking as craftspeople, in ways that contrast and extend current interpretations of late medieval literary culture, 'material texts' and the power of materials. For students, researchers and librarians, this book offers revelatory perspectives on the activities of late medieval scribes.

A compelling reassessment of the craft practices, cultural conventions and literary attitudes of late medieval English scribes.

About the Author
Daniel Wakelin is Jeremy Griffiths Professor of Medieval English Palaeography at the University of Oxford. He is the author and editor of books including Scribal Correction and Literary Craft (Cambridge University Press, 2014), and Designing English (2017). He is also joint-winner of the 2015 SHARP De Long Prize in Book History.

Reviews
'The author's ability to identify strikingly anomalous details across this sprawling body of material is impressive.' A. S. G. Edwards, Times LIterary Supplement



Book Information
ISBN 9781009100588
Author Daniel Wakelin
Format Hardback
Page Count 300
Imprint Cambridge University Press
Publisher Cambridge University Press
Weight(grams) 610g
Dimensions(mm) 234mm * 157mm * 18mm