Book Series Manuscripta Illuminata, vol. 4

Illustrated Medieval Alexander-Books in French Verse

David Ross, Alison Stones, Maud Pérez-Simon

  • Pages: 639 p.
  • Size:216 x 280 mm
  • Illustrations:260 col., 10 tables b/w., 1 maps b/w
  • Language(s):English, French
  • Publication Year:2019

  • € 130,00 EXCL. VAT RETAIL PRICE
  • ISBN: 978-2-503-58105-7
  • Hardback
  • Available


Illustrated Medieval Alexander-Books in French Verse offers new perspectives on the reception of one of the most popular medieval heros of history and legend.

 

Review(s)

« En s’attelant à la tâche de publier ce texte en friche, de l’actualiser et d’en offrir toutes les potentialités, M. Pérez-Simon et A.S. ont sans nul doute rendu le plus bel hommage qui soit à D.J.A.R. » (Sandrine Hériché Pradeau, dans Le Moyen Âge, 126/2, 2020, p. 375)

“Any scholar working with a text in one of the manuscripts described here, or engaged with the regional practices of manuscript production and illustration involved, or with text-image relationships across multiple exemplars of the same text, will find much of interest and utility.” (Kathy Krause, in Speculum, 96/1, 2021, p 250)

“That said, Stones and Pérez-Simon should be commended, not only for carrying out Ross’s wishes, but for bringing to fruition such a large and complex project. Illustrated Medieval Alexander-Books in French Verse is a much-needed addition to the study of European medieval manuscripts, and clearly illustrates the necessity of considering the text-image relationship when engaging with medieval romance manuscripts.” (Katherine A. Rush, in The Medieval Review, 21.09.43)

BIO

David J.A. Ross was Professor of French at Birkbeck College, University of London. Maud Pèrez-Simon is Maître de conférences at L'Université Sorbonne Nouvelle-Paris-3.  Alison Stones is Professor Emerita of History of Art and Architecture at the University of Pittsburgh.

Summary

The core of this book on the French verse Alexander in France and Italy was written by eminent Alexander specialist David J.A. Ross, who left an incomplete typescript at his death. The baton was taken up by an international team of specialists in medieval literature and art history, Maud Pèrez-Simon, author of Les manuscrits du Roman d’Alexandre en prose, and Alison Stones, author of Manuscripts Illuminated in France: Gothic Manuscripts 1260–1320. In its emphasis on illustration, this book complements the volumes of the Alexander Redivivus series and offers new perspectives on the reception of one of the most popular medieval heroes of history and legend. It forms a sequel to Ross’s collected essays and his Illustrated Medieval Alexander-Books in Germany and the Netherlands, to the work of the editors in the field of medieval manuscripts, and to the first volume in the Manuscripta Illuminata series, on the illustrations of Valerius Maximus in French.