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Reviews329 Gerii, E. Michael, ed. Medieval Iberia: Air Encyclopedia. New York: Routledge. 2003. xxx. 920 pp. ISBN 0-415-93918-6 Surprise! The quintessential mega-retailer Wal-Mart and the monumental volume Medieval Iberia are not unrelated. Not only do both of them aspire to encyclopedic reach; the scholarly tome edited by E. Michael Gerii landed quickly on the "big box" store's Web site (alas, on 9 January 2006 ir showed up as "our of stock"). What conclusions, if any, should we draw from this coincidence? A poll would no doubt yield a plethora of resjionses, but there is a srrong likelihood that, no matter where they might prefer to shop, reference librarians would agree that the latest addition to the Routledge (formerly Garland) Encyclopedias ofthe Middle Ages belonged in their collection. In fact, this was the unanimous finding of trade reviews in such sources as Choice (40, 2003, 1893, cited in Booh Review Index, 2004), Reference Reviews (17:7, 2003, 68-69, Online Emerald, 17 May 2004), and Reference âf User Semices Quarterly (43:2, 2003, 180-81, Online ProQuest, 14 May 2004). Will individual Hispanomedievalists want to purchase a book priced at $ 175? Will they feel comfortable listing it in bibliographies ofdieir graduate seminars or sending undergraduates to consult it at the library? Certainlymost will, since the work comes with the imprimatur of recognized experts, the choice ofwhom is entirely defensible. It says something about the strength of the field that the list of these scholars runs to six large, double-columned pages. The sad fact that some of these individuals passed to their eternal reward some years ago reminds us how a work of such magnitude requires heavy doses of both time and patience to come to fruition. This means that subsequent research may have invalidated some of the information in the volume, as is only natural. Nevertheless, it will be a fine starting point for study of a wide range of subjects relating to the Middle Ages in the Iberian Peninsula. All ofthe 800-plus articles, which cover the period 470-1500 and which run between 250 and 3,000 words, are in English, although the brief bibliography appended to each one often includes at least one irem in another language. Illustrations, maps and genealogical charts, all in black-and-white, are sparse. There is a deliberate emphasis on topics not readily available in other reference sources, and a broad perspective is favored. Short entries concentrate on facts, while lengthy ones adopt an interpretive stance. According to the Introduction, the subject matter falls into the following categories: twenty-five percent each for history; literature, language and La corónica 34.2 (Spring, 2006): 329-31 330ReviewsLa coronila 34.2, 2006 culture; and life and society; another fifteen percent for philosophy and science; and finally ten percent for the arts (viii). Readers would be well advised to acquaint themselves thoroughly with the volume's jieripheral apparatus before consulting the hoch of the encyclopedia. The Introduction provides succinct guidance on how to locate items and addresses the question of problems associated with names (of authors, works and places). A separate section jirovides the norms used here for .Arabic transliteration (xv). A useful time-saver is the .Alphabetical List of Entries (xxiii-xxx); the extensive Index (863-920) "is intended to guide users to topics that are frequently cited in the volume but lack their own entries" (viii). The authoritativeness of the two hundred contributors is one ofthe principal strengths of the encyclopedia. .Another is the welcome attention to the multi-faceted nature of medieval Iberia, with its fascinating cultural mix. The unsuspecting non-specialist user will almost effortlessly gain an appreciation of the complexity of medieval Iberian culture and civilization. Imagine that reader's wonderment at discovering that a search for "law" would yield four sejiarare entries on "Law, Canon", "Law, Civil", "Law, Islamic" and "Law, Jewish" (46(3-72), to sav nothing ofthe manv related references noted in the Index (892-93). Even Hisjianoinedievalists are certain to encounter surjirises, ol course, since no individual enjovs encyclopedic knowledge, and since some of the interpretive articles are bound to exjiose new points of view. Not the least ofthe...

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