Portable Manuscripts and their Utility in the Late Middle Ages

Julia Bruch, Katharina M. Hofer, Ulla Kypta, Paul Schweitzer-Martin

ISBN 10: 1802701923 / ISBN 13: 9781802701920

Published by Arc Humanities Press, GB, 2025

About this Item

This book explores the mobility of merchants' manuscripts-understood as written records in various forms-and their role in shaping and reflecting late medieval social structures. Focusing on merchants as key agents of manuscript circulation, it highlights their impact across fairs and markets in the Holy Roman Empire. Blending cultural and economic history, the chapters span fifteenth- and sixteenth-century case studies that challenge conventional periodization. Drawing on interdisciplinary methods, the book traces manuscripts from production to dissemination and the formation of reading communities. It argues that the history of the premodern economy is incomplete without accounting for the movement of manuscripts as material and social objects.

Seller Inventory # LU-9781802701920

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Portable Manuscripts and their Utility in the Late Middle Ages
• Publisher: Arc Humanities Press, GB
• Publication Date: 2025
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1802701923
• ISBN 13: 9781802701920
• Binding: Hardback
• Edition: New.
• Condition: New
• Dimensions: 15.21W x 1.63H x 23.22D centimeters 15.21 centimeters width by 1.63 centimeters height by 23.22 centimeters depth
• Weight: 363 grams

About this title

Synopsis

This book explores the mobility of merchants’ manuscripts―understood as written records in various forms―and their role in shaping and reflecting late medieval social structures. Focusing on merchants as key agents of manuscript circulation, it highlights their impact across fairs and markets in the Holy Roman Empire. Blending cultural and economic history, the chapters span fifteenth- and sixteenth-century case studies that challenge conventional periodization. Drawing on interdisciplinary methods, the book traces manuscripts from production to dissemination and the formation of reading communities. It argues that the history of the premodern economy is incomplete without accounting for the movement of manuscripts as material and social objects.

About the Author

Julia Bruch ===========

Julia Bruch is a postdoctoral researcher in Research Training Group 2212 “Dynamics of Conventionality 400–1550” at the Universität zu Köln.

Katharina M. Hofer ==================

Katharina Maria Hofer is a PhD candidate in the Department of History at the Universität Wien.

Ulla Kypta ==========

Ulla Kypta is an assistant professor for late medieval and early modern history at the Universität Hamburg.

Paul Schweitzer-Martin ======================

Paul Schweitzer-Martin is a postdoctoral researcher and lecturer in late medieval history at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München.