Includes bibliographical references (p. [335]-345) and index.
Contents:
List of plates -- Preface to the first edition -- Preface to the second edition -- List of abbreviations -- Introduction -- Being prejudiced in favour of literacy -- Medieval, renaissance, and reformation literacy -- England's place in medieval literacy -- Part I: Making Of Records -- 1: Memories and myths of the Norman Conquest -- Anglo-Saxon uses of writing -- Uses of domesday book -- Edward I's 'Quo Warranto' proceedings and the Earl Warenne -- 2: Proliferation of documents -- Documents at village level -- Chronology of charter making -- Output of royal documents -- Documents and bureaucracy -- Work of Hubert Walter -- Royal influence on other records -- 3: Types of record -- Variety of writings -- Statements issued by individuals -- Memoranda kept by institutions -- Learned and literary works -- Liturgical books -- 4: Technology of writing -- Scribe and his materials -- Wax, parchment, and wood -- Committing words to writing -- Layout and format -- Rolls or books? -- 5: Preservation and use of documents -- Monastic documents for posterity -- Secular documents for daily use -- Archives and libraries -- Royal archives -- Ways of remembering -- Ways of indexing -- Part 2: Literate Mentality -- What reading meant -- 6: Languages of record -- Walter of Bibbesworth's Treatise -- Variety of languages -- Spoken and written language -- Chronological development -- Writing down of French -- Royal documents in Latin, French, and English -- 7: Literature and illiterate -- Meanings of 'Clericus' and 'Litteratus' -- Question of the literacy of the laity -- Knowledge of Latin among Non-churchmen -- Acquisition of clerical education -- Educated knights -- 8: Hearing and seeing -- Symbolic objects and documents -- Spoken versus the written word -- Listening to the word -- Spoken word in legal procedure -- Writings as works of art -- Word and image -- 9: Trusting writing -- Memory and writing -- Dating documents -- Signing documents -- Symbolism of seals and crosses -- Forging documents -- 10: Practical literacy -- Further reading on the history of literacy -- Literacy in history in general -- Readers and writers in medieval Europe -- Methods of writing and making books in Medieval Europe -- Readers and writers in Medieval England -- Records and manuscript-making in Medieval England -- Plates -- Index.
Summary:
From the Publisher: The second edition of Michael Clanchy's widely-acclaimed study of the history of the written word in the Middle Ages is now, after a much lamented absence, republished in an entirely new and revised edition. The text of the original has been revised throughout to take account of the enormous amount of new research following publication of the first edition. The introduction discusses the history of literacy up to the present day; the guide to further reading brings together over 300 new titles up to 1992. In this second edition there are substantially new sections on bureaucracy, sacred books, writing materials, the art of memory, ways of reading (particularly for women), the writing of French, and the relationship of script, imagery and seals. Publication of the new edition also represents the book's first appearance in the United States in paperback.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.