A decoration and delight.

A decoration and delight. Edwards, ASG ASG AssignASG Allen Systems Group (Naples, FL)ASG Abu Sayyaf Group (terrorist group)ASG Associated Student GovernmentASG Area Support GroupASG Adaptive Services GridASG Assistant Secretary General Decoration and illustration in medieval Englishmanuscripts. English manuscript studies 1100-1700, Volume 10. London:British Library British Library,national library of Great Britain, located in London. Long a part of the British Museum, the library collection originated in 1753 when the government purchased the Harleian Library, the library of Sir Robert Bruce Cotton, and groups of manuscripts. , 2002. 241 p 45.00 [pounds sterling] hard ISBN ISBNabbr.International Standard Book NumberISBNInternational Standard Book NumberISBNn abbr (= International Standard Book Number) → ISBN m0712347321 THE SERIES ENGLISH MANUSCRIPT STUDIES 1100-1700 HAS BEEN ANIMPORTANT addition to the list of international periodicals devoted tomanuscript studies since its inception in 1989, and reflects the growthof scholarly interest in manuscript sources for literature andintellectual history from medieval to early modern times. Devoted to thestudy of manuscripts produced in the British Isles British Isles:see Great Britain; Ireland. between the NormanConquest and the end of the 17th century, it has provided a forum forinterdisciplinary investigation of medieval and Renaissance manuscriptsand has stimulated awareness of the possibilities of manuscript study ingeneral. The various studies contained in this volume are concerned with thephysical make-up and decoration of manuscripts of all periods. The listof essays includes 'The decorative ornament of the text and page inThirteenth-century England: initials, border extensions and linefillers' (Nigel Morgan); 'Marvels of the West: GiraldusCambrensis and the role of the author in the development of marginalillustrations' (Michelle Brown); 'A pictorial ex libris in theSmithfield Decretals' (Alixe Bovey); 'Images of the vernacularin the Taymouth Hours' (Jessica Brantley); 'Political imageryin the Bohun Manuscripts' (Lucy Freeman Sandler); 'Iconographyand meaning in the Sherbrooke Missal' (William Marx); 'Fourearly Fifteenth-century English manuscripts of the speculum humanaesalvationis The Speculum Humanae Salvationis or Mirror of Human Salvation was a bestselling anonymous illustrated work of popular theology in the late Middle Ages, part of the genre of encyclopedic speculum literature, in this case concentrating on the medieval theory of and a Fourteenth-century exemplar' (Kathleen Scott);'Staying with the programme: illustrated manuscripts of John ofArderne c. 1380-1550' (Peter M Jones). Two were of special interest to this reviewer. In most studies onmanuscript decoration the usual emphasis is on the major illustrationsor illuminations. Nigel Morgan's essay on the decorativecomponents, however, focuses on those aspects which are often only givena brief notation in any bibliographical description of manuscriptexemplars, and traces their development in England throughout thethirteenth century. This concentration on what are often overlookedaspects has the potential to add greatly to descriptive bibliography. Similarly, Michelle Brown's study of Giraldus Cambrensis andher postulation of the inter-relationship between the author and thedevelopment of illustrations for his Topographia Hibernica and otherworks greatly extends our knowledge of manuscript transmission. In thecourse of the study Brown analyses the physical evidence presented bythe twenty-four surviving manuscripts and five other works that containexcerpts of Giraldus' works. It is gratefully noted that the illustrations of manuscriptsprovided in this volume are much clearer than was the case with earliervolumes in the series. This is an important improvement in a volumedevoted to the study of decoration and illustration, as arguments basedon the imagery contained in the texts under discussion need to be clearenough for them to be followed, not just assumed. Nell Boness, University of Sydney The University of Sydney, established in Sydney in 1850, is the oldest university in Australia. It is a member of Australia's "Group of Eight" Australian universities that are highly ranked in terms of their research performance.