The idea of the labyrinth from classical antiquity through the Middle Ages (review)

248 Short notices dealing with these chapters unless they already have a very sound grounding in medieval history. John H. Pryor Department of History University of Sydney Doob, Penelope R., The idea of the labyrinth from classical antiquity through the Middle Ages, rpt Ithaca, Cornell University Press, 1992; paper; pp. xvii, 355; 25 plates; R.R.P. ? The first printing of this book in 1990 attracted much attention from reviewers and readers, more so among medievalists and Early M o d e m literary scholars than among classicists; although, it was also reviewed in classical journals as a book of considerable interest to the intellectual historian. In fact the book has more to say about the Middle Ages than the classical period, in spite of its title. Most reviewers of thefirstprinting welcomed The idea of the labyrinth and found it full of interesting and provocative ideas and connections, especially about the laybrinthine nature of medieval textuality and the centrality of the labyrinth as a figure in medieval and Early M o d e m literature. However, some found the book's incessant signposting overdone and a little tedious. Others doubted the extent to which various of texts analysed in part three had the labyrinth as then central image. The most common response, however, was to find the book original and suggestive of further lines of enquiry. This, though, is not helped though by the lack of a bibliography. One threads one's way through the learned footnotes. One reviewer even called the book 'magisterial' and 'a classic'. SmaU wonder then that Cornell University Press has been prompted to reissue it as a paperback. Margaret Clunies Ross Department of English University of Sydney Goodwin, Godfrey, A history of Ottoman architecture, rpt, London, Thames and Hudson, 1992; paper; pp. 511; 520 plates, 3 maps, chronological table; R.R.P. AUS$49.45. This book,firstpublished in 1971 and reprinted recently, consists largely of very detailed descriptions of every important Ottoman budding built during ...