The Role of the Scroll: An Illustrated Introduction to Scrolls in the Middle Ages

Thomas Forrest Kelly

ISBN 10: 0393285030 / ISBN 13: 9780393285031

Published by W. W. Norton & Company, 2019

About this Item

The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Seller Inventory # GOR009771709

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Role of the Scroll: An Illustrated Introduction to Scrolls in the Middle Ages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Publication Date: 2019
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0393285030
• ISBN 13: 9780393285031
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: Very Good

About this title

Synopsis

"...[a] lively book...There are many beautiful images here: we are able to study scrolls containing recipes - culinary, medical, magical and alchemical (some of them were lavishly illustrated); rolls of arms; maps for pilgrimages; and royal genealogies." Times Literary Supplement

Why make a scroll when you can make a book? This is the key question that music historian Thomas Forrest Kelly answers in The Role of the Scroll. Scrolls were the standard form of book in Western antiquity, but from the fourth century onward, the codex began to outnumber scrolls. And yet, people in the Middle Ages continued to make them.

In these colourful pages, you'll discover remarkable scrolls that range from showy court documents for empresses to tiny amulets for pregnant women, from pilgrimage maps to small, portable actors scrolls. An alchemical recipe for gold will give you a glimpse into medieval life as a metalsmith and surveying a lengthy list of gifts for Queen Elizabeth I enables you to observe a royal court party. Lively and accessible, The Role of the Scroll is essential reading and viewing for anyone interested in how people have kept record of life through the ages.

Don't miss selected images from the book - scroll down!

About the Author

Thomas Forrest Kelly is professor of music at Harvard University. He studied musicology and chant on a Fulbright in France, and he has taught at Wellesley, Smith, Amherst, and Oberlin Colleges. His previous books include Capturing Music, Music Then and Now, First Nights: Five Musical Premieres, and First Nights at the Opera. He lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.