[MR] Book of interest to Scadians

[Garth G. Groff]

Noble friends,

Just cataloged for the UVA libraries: RECORDING MEDIEVAL LIVES, 
PROCEEDINGS OF THE 2005 HARLAXTON SYMPOSIUM; edited by Julia Boffrey and 
Virginia Davis (ISBN 9781900289955; our call # Alderman CT21 .H335 
2005). This is a scholarly work of historiography, but rich in detail 
that would be useful to understanding daily life in the middle ages, 
particularly in England. The chapters are contributed articles on a 
variety of topics, for example: "Fifteenth-Century Mercers and the 
Written Word: Mercers and their Scribes and Scriveners"; "The Will as 
Autobiography: the Case of Thomas Salter, Priest, Died November 1558"; 
"Ordinary Lives: Medieval Personal Seal Matrices", or everybody's 
favorite spiritual gadfly in "The Manuscript of The Book of Marjorie 
Kempe" (really more about the book itself, but with some observations 
about her life and times). Although the prose is a bit heavy, there is a 
lot of good material here for filling out characters, or just 
appreciating more mundane aspects of life in the late middle ages. All 
the articles are extensively documented, which could lead to other 
sources for the really obsessed (like me, but sadly there are only a 
couple of mentions of Scotland here). As a bonus, there are 32 pages of 
plates (all black-and-white) showing marginal illustrations, 
illuminations, grave slabs, stained glass windows, and even several seals.

As always, at your service,


Mungo Napier, Shire of Isenfir's Unofficial Librarian
(mka Garth Groff, UVA Library Cataloger)