Scraped, Stroked, and Bound: Materially Engaged Readings of Medieval Manuscripts

This collection of essays makes an original contribution to medieval manuscript studies through its deep engagement with the material side of book creation, anchored by bringing together major scholars of medieval manuscripts with leading contemporary book artists. The result is a ground-breaking collection that will be of interest both for its methodological implications and for the insights that the case studies provide. In a sequence of interconnected essays, experts in the field of literature, history, art, and manuscript studies enact readings of medieval manuscripts that incorporate extreme attention to the materiality of the object of their study. While the digital revolution has provided unparalleled access to medieval manuscripts, these essays are attentive to what has got left behind - not just the aura of the original, but also the engagement of the senses, such as the feel of the binding, the heft of the volume, the smell of the parchment, or the sound of the pages. By bringing together experienced medievalist scholars with practicing book artists of today, the present collection brings back an artisanal sense of the complete book to an understanding of medieval manuscripts.