Sources for the History of Medieval Books and Libraries (review)

This volume consists of papers presented at the fourth international Codicologendagen, a conference on manuscript studies held at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands from 8 to 11 October 1996. The contributions, which are in English, French, German, and Dutch, are divided into five headings: "Codicological Evidence," "Textual Information," "Visual Aspects," "Current Research—Thematic Approaches," and "Inventorising Medieval Books." The papers study what Hermans refers to as the "text-bearer," that is, not the text itself but the various aspects of the physical form of the text. While not the handbook to manuscript studies Hermans says is needed, the book does serve as a helpful introduction to the topic. Hermans notes in his introduction that "the history of books and libraries has become an indispensable part of the research on medieval texts" (xi). Previous studies have concentrated on the textual evidence concerning medieval books, that is, booklists and catalogs. These papers are meant to suggest other areas of research for a fuller understanding of medieval books and libraries. For example, one of the questions several of the contributions consider is how to determine the date and provenance of a text from an element of its physical characteristics: the binding, the illustrations, and so on. Hermans observes that the present volume "offers a series of contributions on the range of major topics in the field of book-historical studies in order to give some glimpses of the possibilities and limitations of different types of sources and some possible approaches to them." And indeed, this aim is accomplished most admirably.

The papers in the first section, "Codicological Evidence," examine the evidence that can be gleaned from manuscripts about particular medieval libraries. Gisela Gerritsen-Geywitz considers what can be learned about the library of the Augustinian monastery at Utrecht by examining the chronicle composed by one of the monks, Cornelis Block, in the sixteenth century; Irene Stahl describes the project to reconstruct the catalog of the library of the Augustinian monastery of Frenswegen at Nordheim (founded 1394); Elly Cockx-Indestege studies the notes, illuminated letters, and bindings to identify incunabula that originated from the community of the Brethren of the Common Life in Brussels; Frank Fürbeth uses the signature of the owner to identify books from the late medieval library of Anton von Annenberg.

In part 2, "Textual Information," E. A. Overgaauw considers the frequency of the presence of colophons in medieval manuscripts. These colophons, while usually stating the date and place of production, often also gave information about the scribe. He finds that, while in the early Middle Ages these colophons are rare, they become more frequent in late medieval manuscripts. He also compares the frequency of colophons in manuscripts produced by houses of different religious orders. Rita Schlusemann examines the manuscript tradition in the sixteenth-century Rheinland by looking at the spread of manuscripts of different romans and legends. Thomas Kock examines a medieval reading list for religious, while J. M. Gumbert treats of the management of the library of the Benedictine abbey of Edgmond in North Holland under Abbot Jan de Veert (1381-1404). Anne Bondeelle-Souchier and Monique Peyrafort-Huin consider the use of inventories to reconstruct the catalogs of some medieval libraries and the problems these postmedieval transcripts can present.

The articles in the third section focus on the visual aspects of medieval manuscripts. Several authors consider the characteristics of manuscripts in different regions. Elisabeth Hemfort treats of the illustrations in the manuscripts from the Crosier convent Marienfrede and their relationship to the art of the northern Rheinland region; A. J. Geurts considers the scriptorium of the Brothers of the Common Life at Hulsbergen and its influence on book production in the Ijssel region; and Anne Margreet W. As-Vijvers discusses the decorations in Ghent-Bruges manuscripts. Margriet H&uuml...