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008 210602t20212021nyuaf b 001 0 eng
010 _a 2021004832
019 _a1269630457
_a1272904447
_a1274175752
_a1284932337
_a1285001343
020 _a1541675088
_q(hardcover)
020 _a9781541675087
_q(hardcover)
020 _z9781541675094
_q(electronic book)
035 _a(OCoLC)1237345704
_z(OCoLC)1269630457
_z(OCoLC)1272904447
_z(OCoLC)1274175752
_z(OCoLC)1284932337
_z(OCoLC)1285001343
040 _aDLC
_beng
_erda
_cDLC
_dOCLCO
_dOCLCF
_dOCLCO
_dYDX
_dPHA
_dTOH
_dVTS
_dPTS
_dOCLCO
_dIAK
_dMiTN
042 _apcc
043 _ae-uk-en
050 0 0 _aZ106.5 .G7
_bW45 2021
082 0 0 _a091.0942
_223
100 1 _aWellesley, Mary,
_d1986-
245 1 4 _aThe gilded page :
_bthe secret lives of medieval manuscripts /
_cMary Wellesley.
250 _aFirst edition.
264 1 _aNew York :
_bBasic Books,
_c2021.
264 4 _c©2021
300 _aix, 340 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates :
_bcolor illustrations ;
_c25 cm
336 _astill image
_bsti
_2rdacontent
336 _atext
_btxt
_2rdacontent
337 _aunmediated
_bn
_2rdamedia
338 _avolume
_bnc
_2rdacarrier
504 _aIncludes bibliographical references and index.
505 0 _aIntroduction -- Prologue: The alchemy of parchment -- Discoveries -- Near disasters -- Patrons -- Artists -- Scribes -- Authors and scribes -- Authors hidden -- Epilogue: The death of the manuscript -- Afterword: The Use and misuse of the past -- Glossary.
520 _a"The Gilded Page is the story of the written word in the pre-Gutenberg age. Ranging from the earliest intact book in Europe, to the only known literary manuscript to be written in Shakespeare's hand, scholar Mary Wellesley reveals the secret lives of these literary and artistic treasures. Traipsing through the remarkable history, she recounts fires (the only surviving Beowulf manuscript is singed at its edges, losing a bit of its matter every decade) and threats ("this is Elisabeth Danes's book / he that steals it shall be hanged by the neck," reads the marginalia in one treasured text). Some manuscripts were designed to reinforce power-like the psalter commissioned by Henry VIII, with a bold illustration of David fighting Goliath, the king's likeness as David's and his archnemesis Pope Paul III's face drawn on Goliath. Some survive and remain celebrated because of an author's political connections-we have so much of Chaucer's writings, and thus study and revere them, because he was a government official first, a poet second. And although work identified with men was more likely to survive through time, some of the most beguiling and beautiful texts were created by women. Many have been lost, like Julian of Norwich's Revelations of Divine Love. Yet others are relatively recent discoveries, like the manuscript of illiterate Margery Kempe, found in a country house closet by a family searching for ping pong balls, the book's cover nibbled on by mice. But all these objects have their secrets, and their creation and survival tell us much about power and art, knowledge and beauty. Today we associate illuminated manuscripts with wealthy elites, but they were made by ordinary people: the grinders and binders, the scribes and rubricators. We remember the patrons and the authors, but these objects have been much altered-text embroidered by upstart scribes, mistakes made in copying poems, whole chapters lost to time-and our literary inheritance is one of collective authorship. Rich, dazzling, and passionately told, Untitled is a tribute to some of the most exquisite objects ever made by human hands"--
_cProvided by publisher.
650 0 _aEnglish literature
_yMiddle English, 1100-1500
_xHistory and criticism
650 0 _aEnglish literature
_yOld English, ca. 450-1100
_xHistory and criticism
650 0 _aIllumination of books and manuscripts, Medieval
_zEngland
650 0 _aManuscripts, Medieval
_zEngland
_xHistory.
650 0 _aMarginalia
_zEngland
_xHistory.
650 0 _aTransmission of texts
_xSocial aspects
_zEngland
_xHistory.
999 _c523116
_d523116