Projects per year
Abstract
The explosive growth of Europe’s literary culture in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries was unprecedented as an urban phenomenon. Cities began to emerge as literary centers, and clerks and commercial scribes played a central role in this cultural shift. In London the hub for this activity was the city of Westminster and the area around Rolls House and Chancery Lane.
New findings reveal that London's clerks and scriveners, who moved between English, French, and Latin, formed professional “communities of practice,” which played a significant part in the dissemination of literary manuscripts. These findings are transforming our knowledge of the contexts of English literary culture, book production, and ideas of authorship. This article will concentrate on a few connected communities of practice centered on Westminster and civic clerks, and on the use of the secretary script during this period. In the world of London’s communities of practice, the poet and Privy Seal clerk Thomas Hoccleve emerges as a central figure.
New findings reveal that London's clerks and scriveners, who moved between English, French, and Latin, formed professional “communities of practice,” which played a significant part in the dissemination of literary manuscripts. These findings are transforming our knowledge of the contexts of English literary culture, book production, and ideas of authorship. This article will concentrate on a few connected communities of practice centered on Westminster and civic clerks, and on the use of the secretary script during this period. In the world of London’s communities of practice, the poet and Privy Seal clerk Thomas Hoccleve emerges as a central figure.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 51-106 |
Number of pages | 56 |
Journal | Journal of the Early Book Society |
Volume | 24 |
Publication status | Published - 2021 |
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- 2 Active
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Inner Circles: Reading and Writing in Late Medieval London (British Academy Neil Ker Memorial Fund Grant / Visiting Fellowship, Magdalen College, Oxford)
Sobecki, S. (PI)
01/01/2021 → …
Project: Research
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Government Scribes and Middle English Literature, 1400-1475 (H.P. Kraus Fellowship in Early Books and Manuscripts, Beinecke Library, Yale University)
Sobecki, S. (PI)
01/09/2019 → …
Project: Research