Erik Kwakkel is Professor at the School of Library, Archival and Information Studies at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver. His research is devoted to the relationship between the physical appearance of manuscripts and the historical context in which they were produced and used. His publications include Turning Over a New Leaf: Change and Development in the Medieval Book (2012), co-authored with Rosamond McKitterick and Rodney Thomson; Manuscript of the Latin Classics 800–1200 (2015), Writing in Context: Insular Manuscript Culture 500–1200 (2013) and Author, Reader, Book: Medieval Authorship in Theory and Practice (2012), co-edited with Stephen Partridge. Rodney Thomson FAHA. is Emeritus Professor of Medieval History at the University of Tasmania. His publications include Books and Learning in Twelfth-Century England: The Ending of 'Alter Orbis' (2006), and co-editor with Nigel Morgan of The Cambridge History of the Book in Britain 2: The Manuscript Book c.1100–1400 (Cambridge, 2008). Professor Thomson has compiled descriptive catalogues of the manuscript collections held at Lincoln, Hereford and Worcester Cathedrals, as well as Merton and Corpus Christi Colleges, Oxford and Peterhouse, Cambridge.

'The book should and probably will be perceived as a companion volume to twelfth-century manuscript studies. Whether you read it as a manual to acquire a broader knowledge of the period, or selectively, as a reference tool, its comprehensive character makes it a very accessible introduction to the subject for junior and experienced scholars alike.' Joanna Fronska, Manuscript Studies

• Introduction Erik Kwakkel and Rodney Thomson; Part I. Book Production: 1. Codicology Erik Kwakkel and Rodney Thomson; 2. Book script Erik Kwakkel; 3. Decoration and illustration Martin Kauffmann; 4. Scribes and scriptoria Rodney Thomson; Part II. Readers and Their Books: 5. Scholars and their books Constant Mews; 6. The libraries of religious houses Teresa Webber; 7. Modes of reading Jenny Weston; 8. Practices of appropriation: writing in the margin Mariken Teeuwen; Part III. Types of Books: 9. Hebrew books Judith Schlanger; 10. Liturgical books Nicolas Bell; 11. Books of theology and bible study Lesley Smith; 12. Logic John Marenbon and Caterina Tarlazzi; 13. Old texts in new contexts: the classical revival Irene O'Daly; 14. Reading the sciences Charles Burnett; 15. Medical books Monica Green; 16. Law books Charles Radding; 17. Vernacular books Ian Short and Nigel F. Palmer.