Image, Knife, and Gluepot: Early Assemblage in Manuscript and Print - cover image

Copyright

Kathryn M. Rudy

Published On

2019-07-16

ISBN

Paperback978-1-78374-516-6
Hardback978-1-78374-517-3
PDF978-1-78374-518-0
HTML978-1-80064-564-6
XML978-1-78374-725-2
EPUB978-1-78374-519-7
MOBI978-1-78374-520-3

Language

  • English

Print Length

374 pages (xvi+358)

Dimensions

Paperback156 x 26 x 234 mm(6.14" x 1.02" x 9.21")
Hardback156 x 29 x 234 mm(6.14" x 1.13" x 9.21")

Weight

Paperback1563g (55.13oz)
Hardback2006g (70.76oz)

Media

Illustrations137

OCLC Number

1193079598

BIC

  • DSBB
  • HRLC

BISAC

  • LIT011000

Keywords

  • Medieval manuscripts
  • Netherlandish book of hours
  • 1500
  • manuscript
  • history of early books
  • medievalism
  • medieval studies

Image, Knife, and Gluepot

Early Assemblage in Manuscript and Print

In this ingenious study, Kathryn Rudy takes the reader on a journey to trace the birth, life and afterlife of a Netherlandish book of hours made in 1500. Image, Knife, and Gluepot painstakingly reconstructs the process by which this manuscript was created and discusses its significance as a text at the forefront of fifteenth-century book production, when the invention of mechanically-produced images led to the creation of new multimedia objects. Rudy then travels to the nineteenth century to examine the phenomenon of manuscript books being pillaged for their prints and drawings: she has diligently tracked down the dismembered parts of this book of hours for the first time. Image, Knife, and Gluepot also documents Rudy’s twenty-first-century research process, as she hunts through archives while grappling with the logistics and occasionally the limits of academic research.

This is a timely volume, focusing on questions of materiality at the forefront of medieval and literary studies. Beautifully illustrated throughout, its use of original material and its striking interdisciplinary approach, combining book and art history, make it a significant academic achievement.

Image, Knife, and Gluepot is a valuable text for any scholar in the fields of medieval studies, the history of early books and publishing, cultural history or material culture. Written in Rudy’s inimitable style, it will also be rewarding for any student enrolled in a course on manuscript production, as well as non-specialists interested in the afterlives of manuscripts and prints.

Reviews

This is an extraordinary book about extraordinary books. Kate Rudy's recent study challenges the boundaries of academic books both in its format, a freely available e-book (as well as paperback and hardback versions) containing QR codes and a digital appendix, and in its contents, moving seamlessly between in-depth manuscript analysis, a "methodological self-portrait" (7), and an honest assessment of the ability to conduct research in the twenty-first century.

Eyal Poleg, School of History, Queen Mary University of London

"Rudy, Image, Knife, and Gluepot". The Medieval Review (1096-746X), 2020.

Full Review

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