The queen's library : image-making at the court of Anne of Brittany, 1477-1514 / Cynthia J. Brown.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Brown, Cynthia Jane.

Series:

Material texts.

Material texts

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Anne, of Brittany, Queen, consort of Louis XII, King of France, 1476-1514--Library.

Anne.

Books and reading--History--16th century.

Books and reading.

Books and reading--History--To 1500.

Queens--Books and reading--Political aspects.

Queens.

Women and literature--Political aspects.

Women and literature.

Women--Books and reading--Political aspects.

Women.

Women--History--Middle Ages, 500-1500.

Physical Description:

xii, 402 p. : ill.

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Philadelphia : University of Pennsylvania Press, c2011.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

What do the physical characteristics of the books acquired by elite women in the late medieval and early modern periods tell us about their owners, and what in particular can their illustrations-especially their illustrations of women-reveal? Centered on Anne, duchess of Brittany and twice queen of France, with reference to her contemporaries and successors, The Queen's Library examines the cultural issues surrounding female modes of empowerment and book production. The book aims to uncover the harmonies and conflicts that surfaced in male-authored, male-illustrated works for and about women. In her interdisciplinary investigation of the cultural and political legacy of Anne of Brittany and her female contemporaries, Cynthia J. Brown argues that the verbal and visual imagery used to represent these women of influence was necessarily complex because of its inherently conflicting portrayal of power and subordination. She contends that it can be understood fully only by drawing on the intersection of pertinent literary, historical, codicological, and art historical sources. In The Queen's Library, Brown examines depictions of women of power in five spheres that tellingly expose this tension: rituals of urban and royal reception; the politics of female personification allegories; the "famous-women" topos; women in mourning; and women mourned.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

Illustrations

Introduction

Chapter One. Rituals of Entry: Women and Books in Performance

Chapter Two. Female Patronage and the Politics of Personification Allegory

Chapter Three. Women Famous and Infamous: Court Controversies About Female Virtues

Chapter Four. Famous Women in Mourning: Trials and Tribulations

Chapter Five. Women Mourned

Appendix. Manuscript and Printed Books Associated with Anne of Brittany

Abbreviations

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Acknowledgments

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references (p. [373]-392) and index.

ISBN:

9781283896856

1283896850

9780812204902

0812204905

OCLC:

794700623