Book
The Destruction of Medieval Manuscripts in England: Institutional Collections
Combining cutting-edge quantitative approaches with more traditional book history approaches, this new book offers the first history of medieval manuscript destruction in England from the medieval period to the present.
- Author
- Krista Milne
- Date
- 01 April 2025
- Links
- Publisher: Oxford University Press
Which medieval manuscripts were more likely to have been destroyed in England? Which manuscripts were targeted during periods of religious reform and iconoclasm? Did the language, cost, or contents of a manuscript influence its chances of survival? How does the body of surviving manuscripts compare to the body of manuscripts that once existed in England?
These questions, which are explored in this book, are important for researchers working in multiple fields, including book history, literary studies, and cultural heritage. Combining quantitative approaches with some of the more traditional approaches of book history, this book offers the first history of medieval manuscript destruction in England from the medieval period to the present.
As this book shows, the destruction of medieval manuscripts in England was in many ways more extensive than is usually acknowledged. This book also shows that the manuscripts that have fallen under threat in England have tended to be those thought to be too new to be antique but too old to be cutting edge. As Milne shows, this pattern of destruction, which Milne terms the principle of 'age without vintage,' persists in various forms today and continues to pose a threat to documentary heritage—including digital texts.
The book is available in an open access format on the Oxford University Press website.