Originally published: 1990. 2nd reprint 1994 of paperback Edition. Light shelfwear and minimal evidence of handling on Page Edges, otherwise clean, clear text in a tightly bound book. Bibliography: p351-371. - Includes index p 372 -393. The Book of Memory is a magisterial and beautifully illustrated account of the workings and function of memory in medieval society. Memory was the psychological faculty valued above all others in the period stretching from late antiquity through the Renaissance. The prominence given to memory has profound implications for the contemporary understanding of all creative activity, and the social role of literature and art. Drawing on a range of fascinating examples from Dante, Chaucer, and Aquinas to the symbolism of illuminated manuscripts, this unusually wide-ranging book offers new insights into the medieval world. Mary Carruthers's classic study of the training and uses of memory in European cultures during the Middle Ages has fundamentally changed the way scholars understand medieval culture. This fully revised and updated second edition considers afresh all the material and conclusions of the first. The scope of the book is impressive. The author begins by discussing the various memory models, a subject which should not only be of interest to medievalists, but those working in educational and cognitive psychology. Building upon this base, she then examines the neuropsychology of memory and elementary memory design, using numerous specific cases from the period as examples and as subjects for examination. Having established this base (and quite frankly, it might take digesting this material first necessary to truly grasp the overall thrust of the book), she then proceeds to discuss the arts and memory, memory and the ethics of reading, memory and authority, and finally, memory and the book. Each section is replete with examples (both individuals and material items, such as manuscripts, teaching lessons, art works, etc.). The book is lavishly supported with extensive post-text notes and a large bibliographic library of references. Illustrations are sparse, but are useful when used. For anyone who has spent any time learning about Hugh of St-Victor, Thomas Aquinas, Abelard, or Boethius (or any of a dozen or more historical personages from the era) the work will illuminate the teachings of these individuals by allowing the examination of their historical artifacts through a completely new lens. This is a complex, scholarly work. Although anyone with an interest in the subjects here--be they medievalists, psychologists, or educators--can benefit from the work, it will take a careful and methodical examination of this relatively dense and richly layered content. But the rewards can be substantial: this is a work that will certainly be considered a text de rigueur for most anyone studying in the field. It brings to light important ideas and concepts about human psychology and memory processes that allow us to increase our knowledge of the middles ages, but also to examine our own concepts of the same. Truly a tour de force.
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