New Science Out of Old Books: Studies in Manuscripts and Early Printed Books in Honour of A.I. Doyle.

Edwards, A.S.G.

ed. Richard Beadle and A. J. Piper (Aldershot: Scolar Press, 1995). xi + 455 pp.; 69 plates. ISBN 1-85928-003-x. 65.00 [pounds sterling].

That this should be the second festschrift in honour of Ian Doyle is an indication of the esteem and affection in which he is so widely held. For over forty years (few unpublished dissertations are cited so frequently as his 1953 Cambridge one still is) he has remained the leading authority on Middle English manuscripts, the point of first resort for aspiring students and established scholars alike. His generosity has nurtured many projects, and one would approach with caution any study of manuscripts of the later Middle Ages in England that did not acknowledge his assistance.

This collection comprises fifteen essays, together with an affectionate memoir by Alan Piper and a bibliography of Doyle's writings by Elizabeth Rainey. The articles reflect the range of his interests: not just manuscripts, but printed books, works in Latin as well as Middle English; and a chronological range that extends into the early seventeenth century. Several of these studies are of fundamental importance. Kathleen Scott categorizes English limning and book-producing terms and signs. George Keiser offers a valuable study of textual divisions in English manuscripts of verse and prose. Malcolm Parkes gives an absorbing account of the early circulation of manuscripts of Gower, particularly his Cronica tripertita, which, he concludes, do not support assumptions of 2 Gower `scriptorium'.

The other studies offer testimony to Doyle's influence in different fields. Mary and Richard Rouse print and translate a twelfth-century sermon from a Durham manuscript. Anne Hudson analyses the Largest single collection of the Latin works of Wyclif in Cambridge Trinity College, MS B.16.2. Michael Sargent describes Carthusian ordinances relating to book-production. Toshiyuki Takamiya prints and helpfully annotates in unrecorded Middle English poem. Lotte Hellinga offers a new interpretation of Wynkyn de Worde's origins, locating him in Holland rather than Alsace-Lorraine. Mary Erler traces the female lay and religious circulation of several Middle English manuscripts. William O'Sullivan adds manuscripts to those owned by Bale. Peter Lucas writes about Capgrave as copyist of his own works. Linda Voigts enumerates the manuscripts owned by Roger Marshall, royal surgeon. Richard Beadle argues that Thomas Hyngham, monk of Bury St Edmunds, is the scribe of the Macro Plays. Jan Rhodes describes a number of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century manuscript and printed devotional works on the Eucharist.

Such a bald summary gives no proper sense of this book's riches. Festschriften do not invariably redound to the credit of contributors or of dedicatee. That Dr Doyle should bring out the best in those who write in his honour is entirely characteristic of the example he has set for so long.