Beyond Fidelity: The Illustration of Late Medieval English Literary Texts

Author / Editor
Pearsall, Derek.

Title
Beyond Fidelity: The Illustration of Late Medieval English Literary Texts

Published
Marlene Villalobos Hennessy, ed. Tributes to Kathleen L. Scott. English Medieval Manuscripts: Readers, Makers and Illuminators (London: Harvey Miller, 2009), pp. 197-220.

Description
Distinguishes between the modern "expressive" function of book illustration and various medieval practices. Modern practice is evident in W. Russell Flint's 1928 illustrations to CT, while the Ellesmere illustrations evince efforts to "restore social and cultural norms" that the poem undermines. Pearsall comments on the horses and costumes of the Ellesmere illustrations and those in Cambridge University Library MS Gg.4.27. He discusses medieval practices exemplified in manuscripts of Gower's "Confessio Amantis" and of "Piers Plowman. 29 b&w illus.

Alternative Title
Tributes to Kathleen L. Scott. English Medieval Manuscripts: Readers, Makers and Illuminators.

Chaucer Subjects
Manuscripts and Textual Studies.
Facsimiles, Editions, and Translations