The Ages of Man: A Study in Medieval Writing and Thought (Clarendon Paperbacks) - Softcover

Burrow, J. A.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0198117558 ISBN 13: 9780198117551

Publisher: Clarendon Press, 1989

Synopsis

A profoundly organic view of humanity in nature, the concept of "ages of man" made itself felt in nearly all forms of medieval discourse--sermons, Bible commentaries, moral and political treatises, encyclopedias and lexicons, medical and astrological handbooks, didactic and courtly poems, and even stained glass windows. J.A. Burrow's analysis ranges over the many manifestations of this idea, and considers the ways in which such ideas of natural order entered into medieval writers' assessment of human nature.

About this title

Review

'Burrow's characteristically lucid and well-documented book, an important contribution to the history of ideas, surveys for the first time medieval applications of the cursus aetatis, the belief that human life is naturally divisible into distict 'ages'... Highly recommended.' Choice 'If we regret anything as we read this excellent book, we regret that it is not longer.' Christina von Nolcken, Review of English Studies 'an ideal example, I should say, of what comparative literary studies might be but too often aren't: short, pointed, witty, tightly packed, richly illustrated, inspiring and illuminating.' Essays in Criticism `This book is likely to be about as permanent as scholarly books ever are: other people may add footnotes to it, but I cannot believe that it will ever be superseded. What one is especially grateful for, though, is its grace and size: it is the very strong but perfectly clear distillate of a great amount of labour and thought.' London Review of Books

Edition details

• Publisher: Clarendon Press
• Publication date: 1989
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0198117558
• ISBN 13: 9780198117551
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 240