The European Book in the Twelfth Century

The first comprehensive study of the European book in the historical period known as the 'long twelfth century' (1075–1225).

The first comprehensive study of how European books were made and used in the historical period known as the 'long twelfth century' (1075–1225). The book takes a multidisciplinary approach, blending book history (codicology, palaeography, art-history) and contextual studies (reading, libraries) with text-based investigations in such fields as medicine, classics, and philosophy.The 'long twelfth century' (1075–1225) was an era of seminal importance in the development of the book in medieval Europe and marked a high point in its construction and decoration. This comprehensive study takes the cultural changes that occurred during the 'twelfth-century Renaissance' as its point of departure to provide an overview of manuscript culture encompassing the whole of Western Europe. Written by senior scholars, chapters are divided into three sections: the technical aspects of making books; the processes and practices of reading and keeping books; and the transmission of texts in the disciplines that saw significant change in the period, including medicine, law, philosophy, liturgy, and theology. Richly illustrated, the volume provides the first in-depth account of book production as a European phenomenon.