This is the first comprehensive survey of the history of the book in Britain from Roman through Anglo-Saxon to early Norman times. The expert contributions explore the physical form of books, including their codicology, script and decoration; examine the circulation and exchange of manuscripts and texts between England, Ireland, the Celtic realms and the Continent; discuss the production, presentation and use of different classes of texts, ranging from fine service books to functional schoolbooks; and evaluate the libraries that can be associated with particular individuals and institutions. The result is an authoritative account of the first millennium of the history of books, manuscript-making and literary culture in Britain which, intimately linked to its cultural contexts, sheds vital light on broader patterns of political, ecclesiastical and cultural history extending from the period of the Vindolanda writing tablets through the age of Bede and Alcuin to the time of the Domesday Book.
'… the essays achieve an admirable balance between the big picture and the telling details … this collection of texts is useful and stimulating for a wide readership, and a valuable introduction to the seven-volume Cambridge series …'
Source: The Times Literary Supplement
'The range of topics discussed and the scholarship involved make this the best one-volume guide we have to a field which has been expanding at a rapid rate throughout the last century.'
Source: Contemporary Review
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