Richard Rawlinson Center Series
Home 
Richard Rawlinson Center
Series
Publications of the Richard Rawlinson Center is a scholarly series covering the general field of Anglo-Saxon studies, with particular emphasis on the study of manuscripts. The series is published by the Richard Rawlinson Center for Anglo-Saxon Studies and Manuscript Research in association with Medieval Institute Publications, Western Michigan University.
 |
THE OLD ENGLISH HEXATEUCH:
|
Cotton Claudius B.iv, an illustrated Old English Hexateuch that is among the treasures of the British Library, contains one of the first extended projects of translation of the Bible in a European vernacular. Its over four hundred images make it one of the most extensively illustrated books to survive from the early Middle Ages and preserve evidence of the creativity of the Anglo-Saxon artist and his knowledge of other important early medieval picture cycles. In addition, the manuscript contains the earliest copy of Ælfric's Preface to Genesis, a work that discusses issues of translation and interpretation.
Given the complexities of its textual history and illustrations, Claudius
B.iv invites approaches such as those included here that merge different
disciplines in complementary ways. Some of the essays consider the authorship
and investigate how the translations contained in the manuscript came
to be; others concern the nature of the possible audience and question
when, how, and by whom the text was read in the eleventh century; still
others study the illustrations and the importance of this manuscript for
English culture.
The ten essays in this volume significantly expand our understanding of
the importance of the Old Testament in Anglo-Saxon England, of the role
of the vernacular translator, and of the consequence of narrative illustration
for the eleventh century and, as two essays show, for early modern and
modern England as well.
Copyright 2000, pp. xvi +358
ISBN 1-58044-024-X (casebound) $40.00
ISBN 1-58044-050-9 (paperbound) $20.00
|
THE RECOVERY OF OLD ENGLISH:
|
The eight essays in The Recovery of Old English consider major aspects of the progress of Anglo-Saxon studies from their Tudor beginnings until their coming of age in the second half of the seventeenth century.
Individual essays focus on the work of key figures who opened up the study of the Anglo-Saxon language and culture: John Joscelyn, Richard Verstegen, William L'Isle, William Somner, and Francis Junius. The aims and methods of these and other scholars are explored through analysis of the ways in which they studied such landmarks of Anglo-Saxon literature as the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, the homilies of Ælfric, and the Old English poetic corpus. A special feature of the volume is the emphasis placed upon unpublished materials which are richly informative, but which hitherto have not received the attention they merit: the early scholars' workbooks, their transcriptions of Old English texts, and their annotations in the Anglo-Saxon manuscripts that they acquired, borrowed, or read in the major antiquarian libraries established during this period. The Recovery of Old English should appeal to a broad audience of those interested in Anglo-Saxon language, literature, and history, and in the religious and political context in which study of these fields first developed.
Copyright 2000, pp. xvi + 422
ISBN 1-58044-013-4 (casebound) $40.00
ISBN 1-58044-014-2 (paperbound) $20.00
|
|
Space provided by Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI. |
 |
