This volume contains sixteen important studies by widely
respected scholars dealing with manuscripts produced in England in
the Middle Ages.
The Study of Medieval Manuscripts of England: Festschrift in
Honor of Richard Pfaff, edited by George Hardin Brown and
Linda Ehrsam Voigts, consists of sixteen important
studies, all dealing with manuscripts produced in medieval England.
The first group reflects the meticulous analysis of
liturgical manuscripts that characterize the honorand’s
career. These treat both early and late medieval liturgical
concerns and include liturgy for Gilbertine lay brothers, a lost
treatise by Amalarius, the re-working of an Anglo-Saxon Gospel
book; the music for the Vigil of St. Thomas Becket; and the
continuity of Processions from Old Sarum to Salisbury Cathedral.
Two studies examine the liturgies having to do with saints in Sarum
missals and breviaries. The second, historical, section of
this volume includes three studies on Anglo-Saxon manuscripts.
Six other analyses concern the high and later Middle Ages: an
illuminated crusade manuscript; codicological evidence for revising
the traditional dates associated with Gilbertus Anglicus’s
life and writing; evidence for Bishop William Reed’s
collection and donation of books to Oxford colleges in the later
fourteenth century; anomalous writings in a sermon codex; the
records of the private incomes of monks at Westminster Abbey; and a
catalogue and analysis of medieval manuscripts containing moral
philosophy.
"This volume is well produced and the editors have chosen distinguished contributors whose essays illustrate the richness of current scholarly interaction with medieval manuscript sources." (M. C. Salisbury, in: The Journal of Ecclesiastical History, Vol. 63/2, April 2012, p. 382-383)
"This remarkable volume, with all sixteen essays equally informative in their specific fields, certainly advances the study of manuscripts, but it also at times presents interesting vistas of daily life in medieval England." (A. Mouron, in: Rare Books and Special Collections Group Newsletter, issue 91, January 2012, p. 12-13)
"This is a worthy tribute to a superlative scholar." (T. Graham, in: The Catholic Historical Review, April 2012, Vol. 98, No. 2, p. 350-353)