Libraries and Books in Medieval England: The Role of Libraries in a Changing Book Economy (The Lyell Lectures for 2018-19) - Hardcover

Sharpe, Richard

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1851246010 ISBN 13: 9781851246014

Publisher: Bodleian Library, University of Oxford, 2023

Synopsis

A history of books in medieval England, including libraries, private ownership, and the birth of the book trade.
 
Medieval England was full of books, but when the country’s monasteries were suppressed by King Henry VIII their libraries were scattered and lost. Twentieth-century historians have long worked to discover what those libraries once held. This volume, by the country’s leading expert in the field, paints a new picture of the history of books and libraries in medieval England from an impressive array of available evidence.

To reconstruct the transmission of culture in the Middle Ages, scholars need to understand and employ with care the evidence of both surviving books and medieval library catalogs. Libraries and Books in Medieval England seeks to move away from the modern conceptualization of the monastic library as the only venue for medieval book provision, broadening awareness of the wider book economy, including private ownership and the birth of the book trade. The result, based on author Richard Sharpe’s Lyell Lectures at the University of Oxford, is a work that offers an unparalleled view of the field.

About this title

About the Authors

Richard Sharpe (1954–2020) was Professor of Diplomatic at the University of Oxford and a fellow of Wadham College. One of the country’s leading experts on medieval books and libraries, he was also a critic and editor of medieval Latin texts and charters. For thirty years he oversaw a monumental series, the Corpus of British Medieval Library Catalogues, which aims to gather, print, and interpret the scattered documentary evidence for book ownership in the Middle Ages.

James Willoughby is a research fellow in Medieval History at New College, Oxford.

Edition details

• Publisher: Bodleian Library, University of Oxford
• Publication date: 2023
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1851246010
• ISBN 13: 9781851246014
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 192
• Editor: Willoughby James