Elizabeth Morrison – författare

Brimming with lively animals both real and fantastic, the bestiary was one of the great illuminated manuscript traditions of the Middle Ages. Encompassing imaginary creatures, such as the unicorn, siren and griffin; exotic beasts, including the tiger, elephant and ape; as well as animals native to Europe, like the beaver, dog and hedgehog, the bestiary is a vibrant testimony to the medieval understanding of animals and their role in the world. So iconic were the stories and images of the bestiary that its beasts essentially escaped from the pages, appearing in a wide variety of manuscripts and other objects, including tapestries, ivories, metalwork and sculpture.With over 270 colour illustrations and contributions by twenty-five leading medieval scholars, this gorgeous volume explores the bestiary and its widespread influence on medieval art and culture as well as on modern and contemporary artists like Pablo Picasso and Damien Hirst.

'Beasts Factual and Fantastic' is the first in the Medieval Imagination series of small, affordable books that will draw on manuscript illuminations from the Middle Ages and early Renaissance. Often, as is in the case of the imaginary beasts that readers will encounter in this volume, artists depicted that which they did not see or know but which was nonetheless shaped by the prevailing beliefs, fears, and rudimentary science of the time. In other cases, manuscript illuminators recorded what they indeed did see - which, centuries later, reveals much about the world in which they lived.This volume features vivid and charming details from the wealth of manuscripts in the collections of the J. Paul Getty Museum and the British Library, along with a lively text; together both word and image provide an accessible and delightful introduction to the imagination of the medieval world.

Engines of Influence is a fifty-year history of Victoria's country newspapers, beginning with James Harrison's ""Geelong Advertiser"" in 1840 and ending in December 1890 when 166 papers were being published in 122 country towns. This significant book identifies all press sites and newspapers of the era, whether long-lasting or short-lived, and highlights the major part played by them in helping construct the machinery of government, lay the foundations of party politics and foster a sense of rural Victorian identity. The country press was an important agent of political change leading up to events such as the separation of the Port Phillip District from New South Wales in 1851, and the federation of the colony of Victoria with other British dependencies into a single nation at the end of the nineteenth century. ""Engines of Influence"" shows how country newspapers also exercised cultural authority, circulating ideas generated both within local communities and from the wider world. Towards the end of the fifty years examined, this rural press was becoming a close part of a unified political state, linked through the metropolitan press and agencies to a technologically-based global communications network.

A companion to the prize-winning exhibition catalogue "Illuminating the Renaissance: The Triumph of Flemish Manuscript Painting in Europe", edited by Thomas Kren and Scot McKendrick (2003), this volume contains thirteen selected papers presented at the two conferences held in conjunction with the exhibition. The first was organized by the Getty Museum, and the second was held at the Courtauld Institute of Art, under the sponsorship of the Courtauld and the Royal Academy of Arts. Added here is an essay by Margaret Scott on the role of dress in the Burgundian court. Chapters include Lorne Campbell's research into Rogier van der Weyden's work as an illuminator, Nancy Turner's investigation of materials and methods of painting in Flemish manuscripts, and trenchant commentary by Jonathan Alexander and James Marrow on the state of current research on Flemish illumination. Although topics are wide ranging, one recurring theme is the structure of collaboration in manuscript production. Essays uncover an important new patron of manuscript illumination and address the role of illuminated manuscripts at the Burgundian court along with the contributions of individual illuminators.A series of biographies of Burgundian scribes is also included.

From around 1250 to the close of the fifteenth century, the most important and original work being done in secular illumination was unquestionably in French vernacular history manuscripts. This volume celebrates the vivid historical imagery produced during these years by bringing together some of the finest masterpieces of illumination created in the Middle Ages. It is the first major publication to focus on exploring the ways in which text and illumination worked together to help show medieval readers the role and purpose of history. The images enabled the past to come alive before the eyes of medieval readers by relating the adventures of epic figures such as Hector of Troy, Alexander the Great, the Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne, and even the Virgin Mary. Presented here are approximately fifty-five manuscripts from over twenty-five libraries and museums across the United States and Europe, supplemented by medieval objects ranging from tapestries to ivory boxes. Together they show how historical narratives came to play a decisive role at the French court and in the process inspired some of the most original and splendid artworks of the time. Additional contributors to this volume include Élisabeth Antoine, R. Howard Bloch, Keith Busby, Joyce Coleman, Erin K. Donovan, and Gabrielle M. Spiegel.

One of the finest works from the golden era of Flemish manuscript illumination, the Getty's copy of the Romance of Gillion de Trazegnies tells of the adventures of a medieval nobleman. Part travelogue, part romance, and part epic, the text traces the exciting exploits of Gillion as he journeys to Jerusalem on pilgrimage, is imprisoned in Egypt and rises to the command of the Sultan's armies, mistakenly becomes a bigamist first with a Christian and then a Muslim wife, and dies in battle as a glorious hero. The tale encompasses the most thrilling elements of the Western romance genre -- love, villainy, loyalty, and war -- set against the backdrop of the East. This lavishly illustrated volume reveals for the first time the complexity of this illuminated romance. A complete reproduction of the book's illustrations and a partial translation of the text appear along with essays that explore the manuscript's vibrant cultural, historical, and artistic contexts. The innovative illuminations, by the renowned artist Lieven van Lathem, juxtapose the reality of medieval Europe with an idealized vision of the East. This unusual pairing, found in the text and illustrations, is the source of a rich discussion of the fifteenth-century political situation in the West and the Crusades in the East.

The Livre des faits de Jacques de Lalaing (Book of the Deeds of Jacques de Lalaing), a famous Flemish illuminated manuscript, relays the audacious life of Jacques de Lalaing (1421-1453), a story that reads more like a fast-paced adventure novel. Produced in the tradition of chivalric biography, a genre developed in the mid-fifteenth century to celebrate the great personalities of the day, the manuscript's text and illuminations begin with a magnificent frontispiece by the most acclaimed Flemish illuminator of the sixteenth century, Simon Bening.A Knight for the Ages: Jacques de Lalaing and the Art of Chivalry presents a kaleidoscopic view of the manuscript with essays written by the world's leading medievalists, adding rich texture and providing a greater understanding of the many aspects of the manuscript's background, creation, and reception, revealing for the first time the full complexity of this illuminated romance.The texts are accompanied by stunning reproductions of all of the manuscripts' miniatures-never before published in colour-as well as a plot summary and translations, allowing the reader to follow Jacques de Lalaing on his knightly journeys and experience the thrilling triumphs of his legendary tournaments and battles.

From the classical encyclopedias of Pliny to famous tales such as The Travels of Marco Polo, historical travel writing has had a lasting impact, despite the fact that it was based on a curious mixture of truth, legend, and outright superstition. One foundational medieval source that expands on the ancient idea of the "wonders of the world" is the fifteenth-century French Book of the Marvels of the World, an illustrated guide to the globe filled with oddities, curiosities, and wonders-tales of fantasy and reality intended for the medieval armchair traveler. The fifty-six locales featured in the manuscript are presented in a manner that suggests authority and objectivity but are rife with stereotypes and mischaracterizations, meant to simultaneously instill a sense ofwonder and fear in readers.In this volume, the authors explore the tradition of encyclopedias and travel writing, examining the various sources for geographic knowledge in the Middle Ages. They look closely at the manuscript copies of the French text and its complex images, delving into their origins, style, content, and meaning. Ultimately, this volume seeks to unpack how medieval white Christian Europeans saw their world and how the fear of difference-so pervasive in society today-is part of a long tradition stretching back millennia.“Like the richly illuminated medieval travel guides it describes, this beautifully illustrated publication takes the reader-viewer on a journey to distant and exotic lands and, with great sensitivity, highlights fifteenth-century European reactions to human difference, fantastic animals, and unfamiliar cultural practices that they found both fascinating and disturbing. With engaging essays that situate these remarkable manuscripts in their broader historical, artistic, and ideological contexts, the authors invite us to consider them in relation to the long traditions of travel-writing and cultural stereotypes, and most importantly, remind us that ‘otherness’ is always in the eye of the beholder.”—Debra Higgs Strickland, Professor of Medieval Art History, University of Glasgow