From memory to written record: England 1066-1307 (review)

176 Short notices Clanchy, M . T., From memory to written record: England 1066-1307, Oxford and Cambridge Mass., Blackwell, 1993; 2nd ed.; paper; pp. xviii, 407; 20 plates; R.R.P. AUS$49.95 [distributed in Australia by Allen & Unwin]. Whenfirstissued in 1979, thisfinevolume was deemed to be both the most important book on English royal administration in the Middle Ages in a generation and also a seminal text on medieval literacy and consequent power. The new edition is an enriched one which must appeal to all readers of political, legal, and social history, as well as to students of mediaeval literature, theology, and instruction. Many of the original chapters are now expanded considerably, with such sections as: 'Documents and bureaucracy', 'Liturgical books', 'Ways of remembering', 'The writing down of French', 'Word and image', and some 300 items up to 1992 in the 'Further reading in the history of literacy' section, one particularly valuable on the history of art and literature. Quite certainly the new book will be valued for its probing into the workings of bureaucracy, into the making/preservation of sacred books, ways of reading (especially for women), and the symbolism behind documents' seals. Its conclusion, which links well with much earlier conceptions of the twelfth century Renaissance, is equally valid; namely, that 'the development of written record ... was a change of profound historical importance' (p. 21), when much was lost as well as gained. The last matter is treated passim, as well as in the fine section 'The spoken versus the written word' (pp. 260-66). Again, as with the question of the literacy of, and education for, women, the later twelfth century would appear to be a seminal period. Equally important are new luminous insights into the whole culture of Western Europe. In short, an already classic volume has exceUed itself in its second edition. It wUl appeal to all students of both early and high medieval civilization. John S. Ryan Department of English University of N e w England ...