Migrations ― Medieval Manuscripts in New Zealand

New Zealand is not the first place a medievalist would think of for manuscript study. However as the essays in this volume prove, there are a number of important folios in libraries throughout New Zealand. Unusually, the greater number of them are in public libraries where any patron can see them. Hollis (medieval and early modern European studies, University of Aukland) and Barratt (English, University of Wikato) first present essays on the compelling question of why and how these manuscripts arrived in New Zealand. This leads to other considerations about symbolic remnants of colonial patronization. Also the manuscripts were generally bought through European booksellers so that the collections amassed by New Zealander bibliophiles had an entirely different composition from local archives in Europe. The second group of essays deals with the manuscripts, themselves, and how they fit in to our understanding of medieval society. One of the worst crimes of sellers of manuscripts is to take them apart to sell by the page. Many of these orphan pages are in New Zealand and it is exciting to think that one day they may be reunited, if only digitally. The beautiful color plates from the collection make one eager to examine the whole manuscripts. Considering how many medieval holdings were lost during the wars of the twentieth century, we should be grateful that some, at least, made their way to the antipodes. Annotation c2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Stephanie Hollis is Director of the Centre for Medieval and Early Modern Studies at the University of Auckland, and is the author of Anglo-Saxon Women and the Church. She has contributed to the Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts in Microfiche Facsimile Series and is a member of the Australian NEER Research Cluster on Manuscript Studies. Alexandra Barratt is Professor of English at the University of Waikato. She has published several editions of Middle English texts, including Dame Eleanor Hull's translation of a commentary on the Penitential Psalms, and an anthology, Women's Writing in Middle English. She is currently working on a study of British Library, MS Harley 494, to be published as Anne Bulkeley and Her Book in Early Tudor England.