Medieval and Renaissance manuscripts in New Zealand collections (review)

Reviews 161 those sent to neighbouring kingdoms. The English, it would seem, could be enticed to participate in crusades to the Holy Land only, not agdnst the Albigensians or the rebellious German kings. Any student of crusading history will appreciate not only the completeness of the footnotes but dso the six exemplary appendices, each accompanied by its own references to all relevant primary sources: 1) Calendar of Letters to English correspondents from the Latin East and its Allies, 1216-1307; 2) Embassies sent to Henry III and Edward I from the Latin East and its dlies 1216-1307; 3.1) Letters sent directiy to English correspondents by Crusaders on campdgn; 3.2) Letters sent from or forwarded by the Papacy; 3.3) Letters from other western correspondents; 3.4) Letters from diplomatic representatives and intelligence gatherers; 4) The English crusading force of 1270-1272; 5) Notification of agreement between John de Neville and Philip Basset; 6) Some dynastic connections (simplified) of Henry III, Edward I, and the rulers of the Latin East. The extensive bibliography includes twenty-two primary source manuscripts, references to several hundred printed editions of primary sources, and a long list of secondary material, complemented by a list of unpublished dissertations consdted. Considering the excellent qualitites of this work, its lucid and elegant writing style, its exhaustive notes, its careful and objective judgement, one hesitates to mention any possible shortcomings. However, the omission of any reference to the pontificate of Clement V is surprising. An occasional misspelling flaws the text. The omission of some excellent recent Crusade works, many of them of North American origin (for example, Kenneth Setton ed., A History of the Crusades ) is, to say the least, surprising. Nevertheless, the book is an essentid and extremely worthwhile complement to any academic library and should be read by all scholars with even the slightest interest in England and the Crusades in the thirteenth century. Anne Gilmour-Bryson Department of History University of Melbourne Manion, M.M., V.F. Vines and C. de Hamel, Medieval and Renaissance manuscripts in New Zealand collections, Melbourne, Thames and Hudson, 1989; pp. 200; 24 colour plates; 174 monochrome figures; R.R.P. A U S $75.00. The standard format for the 181 entries in this book is a codiocological report, an iconographical synopsis, notes on the texts, a provenance section, and a commentary and bibliography. The volume is strikingly bound in dark green cloth with gold tooling. The catalogue results from a communal effort of the 162 Reviews three authors; however, Manion has signed the Introduction and de Hamel the overview of collections in each major centre. The qudity of the type font makes for easy reading; although, a narrow margin at the top of the pages is an unfortunate layout and more space is desirable between the entries. One observes that some folio numbers are in bold while others are not. The qualifier 'known' could precede 'holdings' (p. 9) to dlow for detached leaves coming to light in other N.Z. collections (p. 99a). A deference to humility would be welcome in the place of the phrase Tt is the nature of dl good books...' (p. 12) where the authors speak of their own work and beg the question. One meets from time to time inelegant terms and even an overheated style. A description of a vanished frontispiece (p. 66a) is referred to as 'this sounds like...'. O n (p. 120b) the phrase 'This suggestion is supported by the fact...' occurs. Emotive words mar in places the academic presentation: 'notoriously' (p. 44b), 'foolish belief (p. 50b), 'disappointing' (p. 78a), 'sad' and 'sinister' (p. 116a). A colonial Governor of N.Z. is judged 'by our standards'tobe 'imperial' (p. 41a). The epithet 'imperious' would be less sociological. The codicological information supplied to the reader is generous even overwhelming, and in most cases appears to have rigorously proofed, dthough, one does regret the spelling 'Thot' (pp. 130b, 197) for Count Otto Thott, the celebrated bibliophile (1703-1785). Incidentally, his name is missing from the Index of former Owners. The codex Royal 1 E IV does notfigurein the British Library entry on (p. 197). The number '76' (pp. 58a and 197...