The Anglo-Saxon Library (Paperback)

Paperback. The cardinal role of Anglo-Saxon libraries in the transmission of classical and patristic literature to the later middle ages has long been recognized, for these libraries sustained the researches of those English scholars whose writings determined the curriculum of medieval schools: Aldhelm, Bede, and Alcuin, to name only the best known. Yet this is the first full-length account of the nature and holdings of Anglo-Saxon libraries from the sixth century to theeleventh.The early chapters discuss libraries in antiquity, notably at Alexandria and republican and imperial Rome, and also the Christian libraries of late antiquity which suppliedbooks to Anglo-Saxon England. Because Anglo-Saxon libraries themselves have almost completely vanished, three classes of evidence need to be combined in order to form a detailed impression of their holdings: surviving inventories, surviving manuscripts, and citations of classical and patristic works by Anglo-Saxon authors themselves.After setting out the problems entailed in using such evidence, the book provides appendices containing editions of all surviving Anglo-Saxoninventories, lists of all Anglo-Saxon manuscripts exported to continental libraries during the eighth century and then all manuscripts re-imported into England in the tenth, as well as a catalogue ofall citations of classical and patristic literature by Anglo-Saxon authors.A comprehensive index, arranged alphabetically by author, combines these various classes of evidence so that the reader can see at a glance what books were known where and by whom in Anglo-Saxon England. The book thus provides, within a single volume, a vast amount of information on the books and learning of the schools which determined the course of medieval literary culture. This invaluable study sets out the evidence for the nature and holdings of libraries in Anglo-Saxon England. It is furnished with appendices that include editions of all surviving Anglo-Saxon book inventories and a catalogue of all classical and patristic works cited by Anglo-Saxon authors. This item is printed on demand. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.…