Reading and Writing in Medieval England. Essays in Honor of Mary C. Erler ed. by Martin Chase and Maryanne Kowaleski (review)

Mary C. Erler's work invites us to think differently about the enactment of culture in literate practices and communities. This collection of essays intersects explicitly with her interests and pays homage to her influence. Themes of literacy, and particularly women's literacy, the practice of devotion by lay and religious women, and the ownership and transfer of books, are prevalent. This is not to say the work is in any way repetitive. Far from it. Rather, this book is a crafted exploration of ways to do history, with exemplary essays in different styles. Each chapter in this book provides insight into ways of understanding the past and engaging with it through objects, imagery, and words.

Joyce Coleman's chapter on Criseyde and domestic reading explores female book ownership and communal reading by peeling back layers of interpretation. This rich reading of the text examines the textual, physical, and social contexts for women's reading communities. It is stimulating, challenging, draws connections, and takes us beyond Chaucer's text to its implications and possibilities.

Whereas Coleman's chapter draws on historical imagination, postulation, exploration, and inference, Caroline M. Barron's chapter is meticulous in its thorough detail, its mapping of connections between women, and the implications of these connections for book ownership. Barron provides a detailed account of the life and relationships of London gentlewoman Beatrice Melreth, tracing her family relationships through book ownership and gifting. This study of Beatrice's networks and values documents the use and impact of books in the life of one lay woman.

Sheila Lindenbaum's chapter examines the degree of intellectual curiosity amongst Londoners by tracing encounters between Londoners and university graduates. This highly original essay offers insight into our own practices as historians: how do the questions we ask influence the answers we find? Notions of intellectual practice and status; the role of education for merchants; familiarity with classical learning; the public representation of learning; and the meaning of the term 'critical inquiry' are all explored. While Lindenbaum argues that literacy does not imply critical thinking, limited scholarly views of the nature of intellectual curiosity are unpicked and analysed.

Joel T. Rosenthal moves the book into the area of memory. His study of 'Proof of Age' hearings identifies a number of stock recollections employed by people giving evidence. He uses these to explore the ways in which social memory guides and controls. His discussion of men's memories of women's social agency is particularly apt in the context of this book. Rosenthal's chapter is both entertaining and challenging: how do we decide what to believe? What processes make certain memories 'real', even if they are not accurate?

The analysis of the Old Testament in the Queen Mary Psalter, undertaken by Kathryn A. Smith, is beautifully illustrated, bringing alive Smith's study. Her discussion of cross-genre intervisual references identifies secular resonances in sacred imagery. She untangles layers of meaning in the imagery, and further draws out her analysis to consider the rich artistic and readerly cultures in which this book was produced.

Michael Sargent's essay on affective reading at Syon Abbey explores the nexus of textual, material, and social culture at Syon. His description of 'completely embodied reading' (p. 136) is a fine example of the intersection of text with historical imagination. Medieval affective reading is skilfully linked to our own experiences of history today.

Heather Blatt takes us on a journey into reading practices and their gendered, cultural implications via a study of book accessories. Her understandings of bodies and books in late medieval culture open new ways of thinking about the roles of men and women, and the practice of reading. Her study of bookmarkers as manifesting and symbolizing ways of reading and narratives of relationships is masterful. [End Page...