Illuminating the word in the early Middle Ages / Lawrence Nees.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Nees, Lawrence, author.

Series:

Cambridge studies in palaeography and codicology

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Illumination of books and manuscripts, Medieval.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xxix, 558 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2023.

Summary:

This richly illustrated study addresses the essential first steps in the development of the new phenomenon of the illuminated book, which innovatively introduced colourful large letters and ornamental frames as guides for the reader's access to the text. Tracing their surprising origins within late Roman reading practices, Lawrence Nees shows how these decorative features stand as ancestors to features of printed and electronic books we take for granted today, including font choice, word spacing, punctuation and sentence capitalisation. Two hundred photographs, nearly all in colour, illustrate and document the decisive change in design from ancient to medieval books. Featuring an extended discussion of the importance of race and ethnicity in twentieth-century historiography, this book argues that the first steps in the development of this new style of book were taken on the European continent within classical practices of reading and writing, and not as, usually presented, among the non-Roman 'barbarians'.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 15 Sep 2023).

Other Format:

Print version:

ISBN:

9781009193870 (ebook)

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license.