Perceptions of Medieval Manuscripts takes as its starting point an understanding that a medieval book is a whole object at every point of its long history. As such, medieval books can be studied most profitably in a holistic manner as objects-in-the-world. This means readers might profitably account for all aspects of the manuscript in their observations, from the main texts that dominate the codex to the marginal notes, glosses, names, and interventions made through time. This holistic approach allows us to tell the story of the book's life from the moment of its production to its use, collection, breaking-up, and digitization--all aspects of what can be termed 'dynamic architextuality'. The ten chapters include detailed readings of texts that explain the processes of manuscript manufacture and writing, taking in invisible components of the book that show the joy and delight clearly felt by producers and consumers. Chapters investigate the filling of manuscripts' blank spaces, presenting some texts never examined before, and assessing how books were conceived and understood to function. Manuscripts' heft and solidness can be seen, too, in the depictions of miniature books in medieval illustrations. Early manuscripts thus become archives and witnesses to individual and collective memories, best read as 'relics of existence', as Maurice Merleau-Ponty describes things. As such, it is urgent that practices fragmenting the manuscript through book-breaking or digital display are understood in the context of the book's wholeness. Readers of this study will find chapters on multiple aspects of medieval bookness in the distant past, the present, and in the assurance of the future continuity of this most fascinating of cultural artefacts.

Perceptions of Medieval Manuscripts: The Phenomenal Book

Literature & Fiction

Treharne, Elaine

History & Criticism

Oxford University Press

Living Through Conquest: The Politics of Early English, 1020-1220 (Oxford Textual Perspectives)

Oxford Textual Perspectives is a new series of informative and provocative studies focused upon literary texts (conceived of in the broadest sense of that term) and the technologies, cultures and communities that produce, inform, and receive them. It provides fresh interpretations of fundamental works and of the vital and challenging issues emerging in English literary studies. By engaging with the materiality of the literary text, its production, and reception history, and frequently testing and exploring the boundaries of the notion of text itself, the volumes in the series question familiar frameworks and provide innovative interpretations of both canonical and less well-known works. Living through Conquest is the first ever investigation of the political clout of English from the reign of Cnut to the earliest decades of the thirteenth century. It focuses on why and how the English language was used by kings and their courts and by leading churchmen and monastic institutions at key moments from 1020 to 1220. English became the language of choice of a usurper king; the language of collective endeavour for preachers and prelates; and the language of resistance and negotiation in the post-Conquest period. Analysing texts that are not widely known, such as Cnut's two Letters to the English of 1020 and 1027, Worcester's Confraternity Agreement, and the Eadwine Psalter, alongside canonical writers like AElfric and Wulfstan, Elaine Treharne demonstrates the ideological significance of the native vernacular and its social and cultural relevance alongside Latin, and later, French. While many scholars to date have seen the period from 1060 to 1220 as a literary lacuna as far as English is concerned, this book demonstrates unequivocally that the hundreds of vernacular works surviving from this period attest to a lively and rich textual tradition. Living Through Conquest addresses the political concerns of English writers and their constructed audiences, and investigates the agenda of manuscript producers, from those whose books were very much in the vein of earlier English codices to those innovators who employed English precisely to demonstrate its contemporaneity in a multitude of contexts and for a variety of different audiences.

British & Irish

Oxford Textual Perspectives is a new series of informative and provocative studies focused upon literary texts (conceived of in the broadest sense of that term) and the technologies, cultures and communities that produce, inform, and receive them. It provides fresh interpretations of fundamental works and of the vital and challenging issues emerging in English literary studies. By engaging with the materiality of the literary text, its production, and reception history, and frequently testing and exploring the boundaries of the notion of text itself, the volumes in the series question familiar frameworks and provide innovative interpretations of both canonical and less well-known works. Living through Conquest is the first ever investigation of the political clout of English from the reign of Cnut to the earliest decades of the thirteenth century. It focuses on why and how the English language was used by kings and their courts and by leading churchmen and monastic institutions at key moments from 1020 to 1220. English became the language of choice of a usurper king; the language of collective endeavour for preachers and prelates; and the language of resistance and negotiation in the post-Conquest period. Analysing texts that are not widely known, such as Cnut's two Letters to the English of 1020 and 1027, Worcester's Confraternity Agreement, and the Eadwine Psalter, alongside canonical writers like AElfric and Wulfstan, Elaine Treharne demonstrates the ideological significance of the native vernacular and its social and cultural relevance alongside Latin, and later, French. While many scholars to date have seen the period from 1060 to 1220 as a literary lacuna as far as English is concerned, this book demonstrates unequivocally that the hundreds of vernacular works surviving from this period attest to a lively and rich textual tradition. Living Through Conquest addresses the political concerns of English writers and

This Very Short Introduction provides a compelling account of the emergence of the earliest literature in Britain and Ireland, including English, Welsh, Scottish, Irish, Anglo-Latin and Anglo-Norman. Introducing the reader to some of the greatest poetry, prose and drama ever written, Elaine Treharne discusses the historical and intellectual background to these works, and considers the physical production of the manuscripts and the earliest beginnings of print culture. Covering both well-known texts, such as Beowulf, The Canterbury Tales and the Mabinogion, as well as texts that are much less familiar, such as sermons, saints' lives, lyrics and histories, Treharne discusses major themes such as sin and salvation, kingship and authority, myth and the monstrous, and provides a full, but brief, account of one of the major periods in literary history. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Medieval Literature: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)

The Year's Work in English Studies 1991

DEAN, PAUL

Regan, Steven

Humanities Pr

"The Year's Work in English Studies" is an annual critical bibliography which covers, for a given year, all work of quality in English studies. This volume evaluates work published in 1992. It includes: critical notices of some 1000 books; extensive coverage of English language, English literature, American literature and new literatures in English; coverage of specialist periodicals (including volume numbers for journals and pagination of all articles cited); comprehensive indexing by critic, author and subject; and bibliographical endnotes for each chapter.

The Year's Work in English Studies 1992

Reference

Daly, Macdonald

Encyclopedias & Subject Guides

Old and Middle English: An Anthology (Blackwell Anthologies)

Wiley/Blackwell

Old and Middle English c.890-c.1400: An Anthology (Blackwell Anthologies)

Spanning almost seven centuries, this anthology encapsulates the foundation and consolidation of literature written in English, culminating in some of the finest works produced in English in the high Middle Ages.     New edition of this widely-used anthology of Old and Middle English literature.  Spans almost seven centuries, from the earliest writings in English to the time of Chaucer.  Encapsulates the foundation and consolidation of literature written in English, culminating in some of the finest works produced in the high Middle Ages.  Now extended to include newly-edited versions of key late medieval texts, namely ‘Sir Gawain and the Green Knight’, extracts from ‘Piers Plowman’, and selections from Chaucer.  Texts are arranged by date of manuscript.  Full translations are offered for the Old and earlier Middle English material, along with marginal glosses for the later texts.  A general introduction gives an outline of key works and the historical context in which they were written.

Spanning almost seven centuries, this anthology encapsulates the foundation and consolidation of literature written in English, culminating in some of the finest works produced in English in the high Middle Ages. 
<ul> <li>New edition of this widely-used anthology of Old and Middle English literature. 
</li> <li>Spans almost seven centuries, from the earliest writings in English to the time of Chaucer. 
</li> <li>Encapsulates the foundation and consolidation of literature written in English, culminating in some of the finest works produced in the high Middle Ages. 
</li> <li>Now extended to include newly-edited versions of key late medieval texts, namely ‘Sir Gawain and the Green Knight’, extracts from ‘Piers Plowman’, and selections from Chaucer. 
</li> <li>Texts are arranged by date of manuscript. 
</li> <li>Full translations are offered for the Old and earlier Middle English material, along with marginal glosses for the later texts. 
</li> <li>A general introduction gives an outline of key works and the historical context in which they were written.</li> </ul>

Text Technologies: A History (Stanford Text Technologies)

The field of text technologies is a capacious analytical framework that focuses on all textual records throughout human history, from the earliest periods of traceable communication―perhaps as early as 60,000 BCE―to the present day. At its core, it examines the material history of communication: what constitutes a text, the purposes for which it is intended, how it functions, and the social ends that it serves. This coursebook can be used to support any pedagogical or research activities in text technologies, the history of the book, the history of information, and textually based work in the digital humanities. Through careful explanations of the field, examinations of terminology and themes, and illustrated case studies of diverse texts―from the Cyrus cylinder to the Eagles' "Hotel California"―Elaine Treharne and Claude Willan offer a clear yet nuanced overview of how humans convey meaning. Text Technologies will enable students and teachers to generate multiple lines of inquiry into how communication―its production, form and materiality, and reception―is crucial to any interpretation of culture, history, and society.

Politics & Social Sciences

Willan, Claude

Social Sciences

Stanford University Press

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Treharne, Elaine. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Treharne, Elaine

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Treharne, Elaine. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Perceptions of Medieval Manuscripts: The Phenomenal Book

Living Through Conquest: The Politics of Early English, 1020-1220 (Oxford Textual Perspectives)

Living Through Conquest: The Politics of Early English, 1020-1220 (Oxford Textual Perspectives)

Medieval Literature: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)

The Year's Work in English Studies 1991

The Year's Work in English Studies 1992

Old and Middle English: An Anthology (Blackwell Anthologies)

Old and Middle English c.890-c.1400: An Anthology (Blackwell Anthologies)

Old and Middle English c.890-c.1400: An Anthology (Blackwell Anthologies)

Text Technologies: A History (Stanford Text Technologies)