A SERIES WHICH IS "A MONUMENTAL ACHIEVEMENT" (_REVIEW OF ENGLISH
STUDIES_).
In 1755 Richard Rawlinson bequeathed his vast collection of books and
manuscripts to the Bodleian Library. The manuscripts alone numbered
over 5,000, and the 167 of these which contain Middle English prose
are indexed in this Handlist. These are divided fairly evenly between
religious and secular texts: Rawlinson does not seem to have been
interested in any particular genre; if a book was old and deemed to be
of historical interest it entered his collection, either as an
acquisition or a contemporary transcription. Scriptural and devotional
writing is represented by copies of the New Testament, three different
works by Rolle and three by Hilton, _Love's Mirror_, a Primer,
_Sacerdos Parochialis, The Chastising of God's Children, The Mirror of
Our Lady, The Mirror to Lewd Men and Women_, excerpts from the works
of St Catherine of Siena and St Bridget of Sweden, Mirk's _Festial_,
other sermons,Wycliffite treatises, the only English copy known of
William Thorpe's _Testimony_, prayers, several copies of _Pore
Caitiff_, and more. Secular and political writing includes versions of
Mandeville's _Travels_, John Fortescue's _On the Governance of
England_, translations of two works by Alain Chartier, and _The
English Conquest of Ireland_. There is a rich selection of historical
prose, with ten _Bruts_ in whole or part, royal genealogies, accounts
of royal weddings and of the coronation of Richard II, descriptions of
court etiquette, the deposition of Richard II, the challenge for the
English throne of Henry IV and his speech of acceptance. Scientific
and utilitarian prose is illustrated by Chaucer's _Astrolabe_,
grammatical treatises, alchemical writings by Lull and Ripley, medical
treatises, especially urologies, and, in a lighter vein, extracts from
the J.B. Treatiseon hunting and country life, as well as separate
works on hawking, angling and gardening. The abundance of recipes,
medical, culinary and veterinary, singly and in collection, have been
treated in this Handlist in particular detail.
Sarah Ogilvie-Thomson is a former lecturer in language and medieval
literature at St Edmund Hall, Oxford.
Les mer
Handlist XXIII: The Rawlinson Collection, Bodleian Library, Oxford
Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9781787440753
Publisert
2020
Utgave
1. utgave
Utgiver
Vendor
D. S. Brewer
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Digital bok
Forfatter