Manuscripts and Libraries in the Age of Charlemagne

This rich collection provides a full, coherent study of Carolingian culture from a number of different yet interdependent aspects.

Bernhard Bischoff (Author), Michael Gorman (Edited and translated by)

9780521037112, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 30 April 2007

212 pages, 1 map
24.3 x 16.7 x 1 cm, 0.344 kg

"Both selection and translation are excellent....A volume as important as it is beautiful, Manuscripts and Libraries in the Age of Charlemagne is essential to scholars and students of the early Middle Ages in history, the fine arts, sociology, and culture who may not have access to the original German publications." Uta-Renate Blumenthal, History of Education Quarterly

Bernhard Bischoff (1906–1991) was one of the most renowned scholars of medieval palaeography of the twentieth century. His most outstanding contribution to learning was in the field of Carolingian studies, where his work is based on the catalogue of all extant ninth-century manuscripts and fragments. In this book, Michael Gorman has selected and translated seven of his classic essays on aspects of eighth- and ninth-century culture. They include an investigation of the manuscript evidence and the role of books in the transmission of culture from the sixth to the ninth century, and studies of the court libraries of Charlemagne and Louis the Pious. Bischoff also explores centres of learning outside the court in terms of the writing centres and the libraries associated with major monastic and cathedral schools respectively. This rich collection provides a full, coherent study of Carolingian culture from a number of different yet interdependent aspects, providing insights for scholars and students alike.

Foreword
Preface
List of abbreviations
Map: writing centres and writing provinces in the age of Charlemagne
1. Manuscripts in the early Middle Ages
2. Manuscripts in the age of Charlemagne
3. The court library of Charlemagne
4. The court library under Louis the Pious
5. Libraries and schools in the Carolingian revival of learning
6. Palaeography and the transmission of classical texts in the early Middle Ages
7. Benedictine monasteries and the survival of classical literature
Bernhard Bischoff, bibliography, 1981–1993
Index of manuscripts
Index of authorities cited
General index.

Subject Areas: Palaeography [history of writing CFL]