Recent Books

Germany

Küchenmeisterei. Edition, Übersetzung, Kommentar zweier Kochbuch-Handschriften des 15. Jahrhunderts Solothurn S 490 und Köln, Historisches Archiv GB 4^° 27. Mit einem reprographischen Nachdruck der Kölner Handschrift. Ed. by Trude Ehlert. (Kultur, Wissenschaft, Literatur. Beiträge zur Mittelalterforschung, 21.) Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang. 2010. 494 pp. €76.80. isbn 978 3 631 59580 0.

Küchenmeisterei was the first German cookery book to be printed, by Peter Wagner, at Nuremberg in 1485. Further editions soon followed. This study draws attention to two manuscript versions whose relationship to the printed tradition is examined in detail. The author provides a translation, commentary, and glossary, and reproduces the Cologne manuscript (which, meanwhile, has presumably been lost in the disaster that has recently befallen the Historisches Archiv in Cologne).

Die skandinavischen Rätselbücher auf der Grundlage der deutschen Rätselbuch-Traditionen (1540–1805). By Frauke Rademann-Veith. (Texte und Untersuchungen zur Germanistik und Skandinavistik, 60.) Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang. 2010. 340 pp. + 6 illus. €56.50. isbn 978 3 631 58205 3.

A study of the hugely popular 'Strasbourg riddle-book', first printed in 1509, and its later influence in Denmark and Sweden. Includes a comprehensive bibliography of Scandinavian riddle-books published between 1540 and 1805.

Bibliotheken von Arbeiterbildungsvereinen im Königreich Württemberg, 1848–1918. By Elke Brünle. (Mainzer Studien zur Buchwissenschaft, 20.) xiv + 753 pp. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz. 2010. €86. isbn 978 3 447 06195 7.

A painstaking study based on the scattered archival sources still extant relating to libraries established in the nineteenth century in the Kingdom of Württemberg to support the work of workers' educational associations.

London
John L. Flood

Romania

Vechile manuscrise româneşti din Ţara Bihorului. By Florian Dudaş. Oradea: Biblioteca Revistei 'Familia'. 2007. 2 vols. 388 pp. + 24 colour plates; 417 pp. + 24 colour plates. isbn 978 973 9401 69 2.

Thirty years after his first publishing activity in the field of old books, Florian Dudaş presents, in two volumes, an ample synthesis of Romanian culture as found in manuscripts in the county of Bihor (situated in the western part of Romania). In the first volume, he presents the origins and florescence of Romanian writing, reconstructing the activity of over 150 scholarly copyists who worked in this territory. In the second volume he publishes a catalogue of old Romanian manuscripts in Bihor; he describes more than 400 manuscripts containing old texts dating from the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries. The index of names and places at the end of the second volume enables full access to this rich information.

Suceava
Olimpia Mitric

Switzerland

Ronsard et le livre. Etude de critique génétique et d'histoire littéraire. Première partie: lectures et textes manuscrits. By François Rouget. (Cahiers d'Humanisme et Renaissance, 95.) Geneva: Droz. 2010. 288 pp. + 39 illus. CHF 63.50. isbn 978 2 600 01400 7.

First volume of a study investigating how the literary projects of Pierre de Ronsard (1524–85) evolved in relation to their material production (both in manuscript and printed form), ultimately showing how he profited from his book production to establish his position as a royal poet.

London
John L. Flood