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Chronicon Monasterii de Abingdon. Edited by The Rev. Joseph Stevenson, M.A., of University College, Durham, and Vicar of Leighton Buzzard. Published by the Authority of the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury, under the direction of the Master of the Rolls. Vol I. From the Foundation of the Monastery until the Norman Conquest. (Vol II. From the Norman Conquest until the Accession of Ricard the First.) London: Longman, Brown, Green, Longmans, and Roberts, 1858. Paginates: Vol 1; (4), xxxii 494, (2) p., Vol 2; (4), cxi, 615, (4) p. Complete. With Half Titles, 2 coloured Day & Sons lithographs of Medieval manuscripts, advertising leaves at the end of Vol 2. Bound in the publisher's quarter sheep with coloured boards. Both volumes in Very Good (Vol 1) to Near Fine (Vol 2) Condition. Corners bumped, scuffing to Vol 1 boards. Largely uncut. No stains or foxing. Presentation Copy with the Lord's Commissioners presentation plate. The volumes measure 26 x 17 x 5 / 7 cm. Each leaf measures 245 x 155 mm. This two-volume chronicle covers approximately 500 years, from the seventh-century foundation of Abingdon Abbey to the accession of Richard I in 1189. Editor Joseph Stevenson (1806 95) claims that its value is less as a detailed history than as an illustration of England's journey from barbarism to civilisation. Although ostensibly a record of the fortunes of the Benedictine monastery, it is a rich source of not only local but also national and international history. In his prefaces to the Latin text, Stevenson discusses the manuscript sources as well as the context of the monastery's development. He goes on to describe the influence of Christianity and the monastic system on such areas as agriculture and commerce. Volume 1, which ends at the Norman Conquest, consists largely of the monastery's title deeds, with a sketch of the circumstances under which each grant was executed. Volume 2, which begins with the Norman Conquest, includes a life of the tenth-century abbot and saint Ethelwold, among other appendices, as well as helpful glossaries, chronological lists of documents and an index to both volumes. Note: Heavy items, extra postage.
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