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First multi-year cumulation covers six years: 1965-70.
This book by Carl Barnes presents the first high-quality colour facsimile of a key manuscript of Gothic art and architecture and medieval scientific thought, the 'Portfolio' of Villard de Honnecourt, and gives the first complete codicological and palaeographical analysis of the text. Barnes clearly identifies what is and what is not known about Villard himself and the drawings and text in the manuscript, so removing many of the multiple layers of speculation that have clouded study of the work. The book is completed by an extensive bibliography of studies relating to Villard.
"Embark on a medieval odyssey with 'The Travels of Sir John Mandeville.' This captivating work, believed to be a fictional travel narrative written in the 14th century, presents the adventures of an English knight as he journeys through distant lands. As Sir John Mandeville encounters mythical creatures, explores exotic cultures, and narrates fantastical tales, this literary travelogue offers readers a glimpse into the medieval imagination and the curiosity that fueled exploration during that era. Join Sir John Mandeville on this literary voyage where each page unfolds a new marvel, making 'The Travels of Sir John Mandeville' an essential read for those fascinated by medieval literature and the early spirit of exploration."
Formed under Philip the Bold and passed down to his successors, John the Fearless and Philip the Good, the Library of the Dukes of Burgundy comprised no less than nine hundred manuscripts copied and illuminated by the greatest artists of the Middle Ages by the time of Charles the Bold. This extraordinary and unique library included essential texts of medieval literature such as the works of Christine de Pizan, the Roman de la Rose by Jean de Meung and Guillaume de Lorris, the History of Charles Martel, as well as the Ethics and Politics of Aristotle. It was one of the largest collections of books of its time alongside those of the King of France Charles V, the Duke of Berry, the Medici and t...
The story of the color black in art, fashion, and culture—from the beginning of history to the twenty-first century Black—favorite color of priests and penitents, artists and ascetics, fashion designers and fascists—has always stood for powerfully opposed ideas: authority and humility, sin and holiness, rebellion and conformity, wealth and poverty, good and bad. In this beautiful and richly illustrated book, the acclaimed author of Blue now tells the fascinating social history of the color black in Europe. In the beginning was black, Michel Pastoureau tells us. The archetypal color of darkness and death, black was associated in the early Christian period with hell and the devil but als...
The Critical Nexus is the first book to trace the development of the notational matrix of Western music from Antiquity to the fourteenth century. It shows how principles of ancient Greek theory were grafted onto medieval practice, leading to a theory of both tone-system and mode, and a concomitant system of musical notation, that is uniquely Western.
Despite calls for electronic, virtual, digital libraries without walls, the walled variety are still being built, some of them massive. This book explores the reasons for this contradiction by examining several notable new library facilities around the world to see how modern expectations for libraries are being translated into concrete and steel. More and more libraries are looking at change not as a dreaded hazard but as an opportunity that can itself be seized to strengthen the library in the areas of mission, technologies, facilities, funding, and organizational structure. Thirteen libraries are discussed--by a librarian or administrator who worked on the project. Each author writes about the design and building concerns that were particularly relevant to that library: philosophy, political issues, or any other concerns that affected planning, building, and services in the new facility. Introductory and concluding chapters identify underlying values and themes, tying everything together. The unique combinations of issues, constraints, and opportunities show how libraries are planning to fit into the approaching era of virtual information delivery.
The Mongol Archive in Late Medieval France is the first comprehensive study of contact between France and the Mongols in the late Middle Ages. As these realms expanded across Eurasia—the French through crusade and settlement, the Mongols through conquest—their encounters altered each other's understanding of the world and their place in it. The Mongol influence on French culture is visible in what Mark Cruse calls the Mongol archive—a wide range of materials including chronicles, crusade treatises, encyclopedias, manuscript illuminations, maps, romances, and travel accounts—revealing how the French court made sense of a people previously unknown to the European intellectual tradition...