No comments about The Making of Medieval Forgeries: False Documents in Fifteenth-Century England (British Library Studies in Medieval Culture).

2 comments about Medieval Birds in the Sherborne Missal (Medieval Life in Manuscripts).

1. If you are curious about bird illustrations before Audubon....this is a great example of what was done in the Medieval Manuscripts. Although small, it is packed with full page illustrations. It appears that the color representation are very close to the original works. I highly recommend this book to anyone intrested in medieval manuscripts as well as bird illustrations.



2. The Sherborne Missal gives a bird's-eye view of worship in 15th-century England. The beautifully illustrated and written manuscript was done for the Benedictine Abbey of Sherborne on the east coast of England, in Dorset. It gives the saints days, special intentions such as for the sick, and the words of the mass for each day.

   Birds decorate the pages. But there are only three places where it hits you in the face why a particular bird is shown on a particular page. The goldfinch, as a medieval Italian symbol for the crucified Christ, is shown with Epiphany, the robin with Sherborne Abbot Robert Brunyng, and the skylark soaring upwards into the skies with the Ascension.

   According to MEDIEVAL BIRDS IN THE SHERBORNE MISSAL, the artist must have owned or gotten easy hold of models or sketches. One known pattern book, from possibly around 1400, mainly showed initial letters, with only four leaves of bird studies. But Giovannino De' Grassi's late 14th-century sketchbook, now in the Biblioteca Civica in Bergamo, helped to spread the northern Italian style of drawing nature as it really was, without fantastic add-ons.

   Private collectors in France kept the Missal safe from 16th-century Reformation England, until calmer days at the end of the 18th century. Then the Missal ended up in the library of the dukes of Northumberland, at Alnwick Castle. In 1983 the 10th duke loaned the manuscript to the British Museum. With the death of the 11th duke the Sherborne Missal became, in 1998, additional ms 74326, as a permanent part of the British Library collection.

   It now is among the exhibits in the library galleries. But only two pages can be seen at any one time, and usually not of the birds. So Janet Backhouse's book is particularly valuable, as the first complete full-color publication under one roof of all the birds.

   The author has written many books on medieval manuscripts. But readers might particularly like THE LINDISFARNE GOSPELS and MEDIEVAL RURAL LIFE IN THE LUTTRELL PSALTER, for their similar themes on nature in the English Middle Ages.

No comments about Bookman's Price Index: A Guide to the Values of Rare and Other Out of Print Books (Bookman's Price Index) Volume 78.

No comments about Aston Villa.

No comments about Special Event Postmarks of the United Kingdom.

No comments about Columbia Papyri X (American Studies in Papyrology).

No comments about Greetings from Orlando, 1902-1950.

No comments about From Almeloveen to Whittington: Book & Manuscript Catalogues 1545-1995 From the Collection of George Ong.

2 comments about Joy Ride and Other Stories.

1. This book features a great collection of Story Minutes, and the Story "Hour" Joy Ride. Joy Ride reminded me a lot of one of Carol Lay's other extended pieces, Goodnight Irene. Where Irene was dealing with having an African Lip-Plate, the main character of Joy Ride is dealing with being overweight (in a futuristic society where fat is practically outlawed). But Joy Ride is drawn more in the style of Carol's Story Minutes, whereas Irene was drawn more like classic Romance Comics. While I prefer Irene, this is a great book too, and worth reading if you can get your hands on it!



2. Carol Lay, known for her imaginative, intelligent and fascinating weekly comic strip "Story Minute", provides a double treat in this volume. The first section of the book contains reprints of Story Minutes from the early to mid-nineties. These are self-contained stories told in twelve panels. Most are funny, some are creepy in a "Twilight Zone" way, some are touching.

   The latter part of the book offers an opportunity to see what Carol can do when she has a little more room; the sixty page science fiction graphic novellette "Joy Ride". (Note that Joy Ride is actually two words, not one as Amazon has listed it.)

   Joy Ride is aptly titled. It careens through a bizarre, twisted plot that blends elements like beauty, aging, lust, greed and the life-changing experience of literally getting inside someone else's head. The book is out of print, and may take a while to find, but it's worth the wait.

No comments about The Orientalist Poster.