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A Lancastrian Mirror for Princes Rosemarie McGerr

A Lancastrian Mirror for Princes By Rosemarie McGerr

A Lancastrian Mirror for Princes by Rosemarie McGerr


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Summary

How language and marginalia shape the perception of a landmark legal text

A Lancastrian Mirror for Princes Summary

A Lancastrian Mirror for Princes: The Yale Law School New Statutes of England by Rosemarie McGerr

This seminal study addresses one of the most beautifully decorated 15th-century copies of the New Statutes of England, uncovering how the manuscript's unique interweaving of legal, religious, and literary discourses frames the reader's perception of the work. Taking internal and external evidence into account, Rosemarie McGerr suggests that the manuscript was made for Prince Edward of Lancaster, transforming a legal reference work into a book of instruction in kingship, as well as a means of celebrating the Lancastrians' rightful claim to the English throne during the Wars of the Roses. A Lancastrian Mirror for Princes also explores the role played by the manuscript as a commentary on royal justice and grace for its later owners and offers modern readers a fascinating example of the long-lasting influence of medieval manuscripts on subsequent readers.

A Lancastrian Mirror for Princes Reviews

. . . an indisputably good book. . . assiduous scholarship illumines . . . .

* American Historical Review *

McGerr has done an excellent job in reminding her audience to pay attention not only to the words in the manuscript, but their margin as well. McGerr's prose is fantastic, too, flowing naturally and being free from unnecessary jargon.

* Mediaevistik *

[McGerr's] study, scholarly and intuitive in equal measure, demonstrates that what may appear to be an inert status symbol, is actually a highly charged, and exquisitely wrought, political document.

* Renaissance Quarterly *

McGerr has examined what might otherwise appear to be a common fifteenth-century legal text and has successfully demonstrated the ways in which its visual characteristics may have much greater political implications.

* RBM: A Journal of Rare Books, Manuscripts, and Cutlural Heritage *

Combining evidence and analyses from literature, codicology, history, and art history, A Lancastrian Mirror for Princes returns a considerable dividend for investing sustained attention in one manuscript.

* The Medieval Review *

About Rosemarie McGerr

Rosemarie McGerr is Professor of Comparative Literature and Director of the Medieval Studies Institute at Indiana University Bloomington. She is author of Chaucer's Open Books: Resistance to Closure in Medieval Discourse and The Pilgrimage of the Soul: A Critical Edition of the Middle English Dream Vision.

Table of Contents

Preface
Introduction: The Margin and the Center-Framing a Reading of a Legal Manuscript
1. The Yale New Statutes Manuscript and Medieval English Statute Books: Similarities and Differences
2. Royal Portraits and Royal Arms: The Iconography of the Yale New Statutes Manuscript
3. The Queen and the Lancastrian Cause: The Yale New Statutes Manuscript and Margaret of Anjou
4. Educating the Prince: The Yale New Statutes Manuscript and Lancastrian Mirrors for Princes
5. Grace Be Our Guide: The Cultural Significance of a Medieval Law Book
Appendix 1: Chronology of Events
Appendix 2: Codicological Description of New Haven, Yale Law School, Lillian Goldman Law Library MssG +St11 no.1
Notes
Bibliography
Index

Plates appear after page 000.

Additional information

GOR013072054
9780253356413
0253356415
A Lancastrian Mirror for Princes: The Yale Law School New Statutes of England by Rosemarie McGerr
Used - Very Good
Hardback
Indiana University Press
20111115
232
N/A
Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
This is a used book - there is no escaping the fact it has been read by someone else and it will show signs of wear and previous use. Overall we expect it to be in very good condition, but if you are not entirely satisfied please get in touch with us

Customer Reviews - A Lancastrian Mirror for Princes