Scribal Cultures in Late Medieval England: Essays in Honour of Linne R. Mooney (York Manuscript and Early Print Studies, 3) (Middle English Edition)

Essays bringing out the richness and vibrancy of pre-modern textual culture in all its variety. Linne R. Mooney, Emeritus Professor of Palaeography at the University of York, has significantly advanced the study of later medieval English book production, particularly our knowledge of individual scribes; this collection honours her distinguished scholarship and responds to her wide-ranging research on Middle English manuscripts and texts. The thirteen essays brought together here take a variety of approaches - palaeographical, codicological, dialectal, textual, art historical - to the study of the English medieval book and to the varied environments (professional, administrative, mercantile, ecclesiastical) where manuscripts were produced and used during the period 1300-1550. Acknowledging that books and readers are no respecters of borders, this collection's geographical scope extends beyond England in the east to Ghent and Flanders, and in the west to Waterford and the Dublin Pale. Contributors explore manuscripts containing works by key writers, including Geoffrey Chaucer, John Gower, John Wyclif, and Walter Hilton. Major texts whose manuscript traditions are scrutinized include Speculum Vitae, the Scale of Perfection, the Canterbury Tales, and Confessio Amantis, along with a wide range of shorter works such as lyric poems, devotional texts, and historical chronicles. London book-making activities and the scribal cultures of other cities and monastic centres all receive attention, as does the book production of personal miscellanies. By considering both literary texts and the letters, charters, and writs that medieval scribes produced, in Latin and Anglo-French as well as English, this collection celebrates Professor Mooney's influence on the field and presents a holistic sense of England's pre-modern textual culture. Linne R. Mooney, Emeritus Professor of Palaeography at the University of York, has significantly advanced the study of later medieval English book production, particularly our knowledge of individual scribes; this collection honours her distinguished scholarship and responds to her wide-ranging research on Middle English manuscripts and texts.

The thirteen essays brought together here take a variety of approaches - palaeographical, codicological, dialectal, textual, art historical - to the study of the English medieval book and to the varied environments (professional, administrative, mercantile, ecclesiastical) where manuscripts were produced and used during the period 1300-1550. Acknowledging that books and readers are no respecters of borders, this collection's geographical scope extends beyond England in the east to Ghent and Flanders, and in the west to Waterford and the Dublin Pale.

Contributors explore manuscripts containing works by key writers, including Geoffrey Chaucer, John Gower, John Wyclif, and Walter Hilton. Major texts whose manuscript traditions are scrutinized include Speculum Vitae, the Scale of Perfection, the Canterbury Tales, and Confessio Amantis, along with a wide range of shorter works such as lyric poems, devotional texts, and historical chronicles. London book-making activities and the scribal cultures of other cities and monastic centres all receive attention, as does the book production of personal miscellanies. By considering both literary texts and the letters, charters, and writs that medieval scribes produced, in Latin and Anglo-French as well as English, this collection celebrates Professor Mooney's influence on the field and presents a holistic sense of England's pre-modern textual culture. Linne R. Mooney, Emeritus Professor of Palaeography at theUniversity of York, has significantly advanced the study of latermedieval English book production, particularly our knowledge ofindividual scribes; this collection honours her distinguishedscholarship and responds to her wide-ranging research on MiddleEnglish manuscripts and texts. The thirteen essays brought togetherhere take a variety of approaches - palaeographical, codicological,dialectal, textual, art historical - to the study of the Englishmedieval book and to the varied environments (professional,administrative, mercantile, ecclesiastical) where manuscripts wereproduced and used during the period 1300-1550. Acknowledging thatbooks and readers are no respecters of borders, this collection'sgeographical scope extends beyond England in the east to Ghent andFlanders, and in the west to Waterford and the Dublin Pale.Contributors explore manuscripts containing works by key writers,including Geoffrey Chaucer, John Gower, John Wyclif, and WalterHilton. Major texts whose manuscript traditions are scrutinizedinclude Speculum Vitae, the Scale of Perfection,the Canterbury Tales, and Confessio Amantis,along with a wide range of shorter works such as lyric poems,devotional texts, and historical chronicles. London book-makingactivities and the scribal cultures of other cities and monasticcentres all receive attention, as does the book production ofpersonal miscellanies. By considering both literary texts and theletters, charters, and writs that medieval scribes produced, inLatin and Anglo-French as well as English, this collectioncelebrates Professor Mooney's influence on the field and presents aholistic sense of England's pre-modern textual culture Linne R. Mooney, Emeritus Professor of Palaeography at the University of York, has significantly advanced the study of later medieval English book production, particularly our knowledge of individual scribes; this collection honours her distinguished scholarship and responds to her wide-ranging research on Middle English manuscripts and texts. 0The thirteen essays brought together here take a variety of approaches - palaeographical, codicological, dialectal, textual, art historical - to the study of the English medieval book and to the varied environments (professional, administrative, mercantile, ecclesiastical) where manuscripts were produced and used during the period 1300-1550. Acknowledging that books and readers are no respecters of borders, this collection's geographical scope extends beyond England in the east to Ghent and Flanders, and in the west to Waterford and the Dublin Pale.0Contributors explore manuscripts containing works by key writers, including Geoffrey Chaucer, John Gower, John Wyclif, and Walter Hilton. Major texts whose manuscript traditions are scrutinized include Speculum Vitae, the Scale of Perfection, the Canterbury Tales, and Confessio Amantis, along with a wide range of shorter works such as lyric poems, devotional texts, and historical chronicles. London book-making activities and the scribal cultures of other cities and monastic centres all receive attention, as does the book production of personal miscellanies. By considering both literary texts and the letters, charters, and writs that medieval scribes produced, in Latin and Anglo-French as well as English, this collection celebrates Professor Mooney's influence on the field and presents a holistic sense of England's pre-modern textual culture Front Cover 1 Contents 6 Illustrations 10 Contributors 16 Acknowledgements 18 Abbreviations 20 Introduction 24 Part I International Perspectives 46 HOW ENGLISH IS IT? 48 MIDDLE HIBERNO-ENGLISH POETRY AND THE NASCENT BUREAUCRATIC LITERARY CULTURE OF IRELAND 68 Part II Identities and Localities 88 FAMOUS SCRIBE, UNRECOGNISED STINT 90 THE HANDWRITING OF FIFTEENTH-CENTURY SIGNET CLERKS AND THE KING’S FRENCH SECRETARIES 105 SEEKING SCRIBAL COMMUNITIES IN MEDIEVAL LONDON 148 SCRIBES AND BOOKLETS: THE ‘TRINITY ANTHOLOGIES’ RECONSIDERED 169 Part III Scribal Production 204 SOME CODICOLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS ON MANUSCRIPTS OF WALTER HILTON’S SCALE OF PERFECTION 206 THE FIRST EMERGENCE OF THE RICARDIAN CONFESSIO: MORGAN M. 690 223 THE ANONYMOUS ‘KINGS OF ENGLAND’ AND THE SIGNIFICANCE OF ITS MATERIAL FORM 245 JOHN BENET, SCRIBE AND COMPILER, AND DUBLIN, TRINITY COLLEGE, MS 516 264 THE FOUNDERS’ BOOK OF TEWKESBURY ABBEY (OXFORD, BODLEIAN LIBRARY, MS TOP. GLOUC. D. 2): SCRIPTS AND 282 Part IV Chaucerian Contexts 306 WHEN IS A ‘CANTERBURY TALES MANUSCRIPT’ NOT JUST A CANTERBURY TALES MANUSCRIPT? 308 CAMBRIDGE, TRINITY COLLEGE, MS R.3.15 AND THE CIRCULATION OF CHAUCERIAN MANUSCRIPTS IN THE SIXTEENT 335 AFTERWORD: A PERSONAL TRIBUTE 352 LINNE R. MOONEY: LIST OF PUBLICATIONS 356 Index of Manuscripts 362 General Index 369 TABULA GRATULATORIA 387 YORK MEDIEVAL PRESS: PUBLICATIONS 388