The Romance of the rose illuminated

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Julie Garwood

In the feuding English court, gentle Lady Madelyne suffered the cruel whims of her ruthless brother, Baron Louddon. Then, in vengeance for a bitter crime, Baron Duncan of Wexton-the Wolf-unleashed his warriors against Louddon's main. Exquisite Madelyne was the prize he captured...but when he gazed upon the proud beauty, he pledged to protect her with his life. In his rough-hewn castle, Duncan proved true to his honor. But when at last their noble passion conquered them both, she surrendered with all her soul. Now, for love, Madelyne would stand fast...as bravely as her Lord, the powerful Wolf who fought for...Honor's Splendour. (From the Author's web-site.)

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Elizabeth L'Estrange

"This book brings images of holy motherhood and childbearing into the centre of an art-historical enquiry. By focusing on images of St Anne and the Holy Kinship in Books of Hours made for aristocratic women in relation to the dynastic importance of heirs, it reassesses the role of the female viewer as an active agent in the interpretation of pictures and popular devotional rites." "Holy Motherhood combines an innovative methodology that draws on art-historical and contemporary gender studies with empirical evidence from fifteenth-century manuscripts, to show how images worked, not only to script and maintain gender and social roles within patriarchal society, but also to offer viewers ways of managing those roles." "The book will appeal to advanced students, academics and researchers of Art History, Illuminated Manuscripts, Medieval History and Gender Studies."--Jacket.

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Janet Backhouse

Illuminated manuscripts are among the richest and most revealing relics of the pre-print Western world, and are central to our understanding of medieval social and cultural history. The British Library boasts the world's finest collection of medieval manuscripts, and in this new and lavishly illustrated survey, Janet Backhouse draws on these collections to provide a comprehensive introduction to these exciting and colourful materials. The British Library boasts the world's finest collection of medieval manuscripts, due largely to the interest and enterprise of individual bibliophiles and connoisseurs over several centuries whose libraries have made their way, by a variety of routes, into the national collection. The manuscripts featured in this book range in date from the 7th to the 17th century, embrace both devotional and secular material, and span a geographical area bounded by the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem in the east and the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Northumbria in the north-west. Some of them, such as the Luttrell Psalter or the Bedford Hours, are already well-known but the majority remain unfamiliar to the general public. Most of the subjects chosen are reproduced here in colour for the first time.

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Isidore de Séville

"This work is the first complete English translation of the Latin Etymologies of Isidore, Bishop of Seville (c.560-636). Isidore compiled the work between c.615 and the early 630s and it takes the form of an encyclopedia, arranged by subject matter. It contains much lore of the late classical world beginning with the Seven Liberal Arts, including Rhetoric, and touches on thousands of topics ranging from the names of God, the terminology of the Law, the technologies of fabrics, ships and agriculture to the names of cities and rivers, the theatrical arts, and cooking utensils. Isidore provides etymologies for most of the terms he explains, finding in the causes of words the underlying key to their meaning. This book offers a highly readable translation of the twenty books of the Etymologies, one of the most widely known texts for a thousand years from Isidore's time"--Provided by publisher.