the Kalamazoo haul
Sep. 8th, 2006 10:14 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
anotheranonIt occurred to me I hadn't done a book post in awhile, so I've made a list of everything (that I remember) getting at the Medieval Congress back in May. I've not read all of them yet, and in the process of putting things away it's possible I forgot some things, but here they are:
The Inventory of Henry VIII: The Transcript: This is the one volume I'd planned for, as one of the vendors had it for half off. It's exactly what it sounds like it is - a transcript (with the original spelling/syntax) of the inventory of Henry's goods that his son Edward VI commissioned in the first year of his reign. Not something you read cover to cover, but a great reference and certainly interesting to flip through - I had my jewelry dictionary at hand when going through the listings from Henry's "greate juelhouses". And I've not even got to the clothes yet!
Jewellery in Britain 1066-1837: A Documentary, Social, Literary and Artistic Survey: Not read yet, but purchased for the long history and many illustrations.
Medieval Costume and Textiles 2: I'm familiar with the editor and many of the contributors and would eventually like to get my hot little hands on the first volume. Have not read yet as this is seriously scholarly and I want to take my time with it.
Renaissance Rivals: the history of the professional/personal rivalries between the great Renaissance artists Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael and Titian. Towering artistic temperaments butting heads, what could be better? I've read previously about the rivalry between Leonardo and Michelangelo, but I'm curious to see how Rapahel and Titian got pulled in...
Woven Into the Earth: Textiles from Norse Greenland: not really a time or place of my interest, but the photos, OH MY, I just had to! It still amazes me that garments from before the 15th century have survived, let alone in nearly as complete a form as these have - for me the intimate, everyday nature of such artifacts are gritty, on the ground history, more concrete than names in books or ruins of buildings.
Women in the Middle Ages and Medieval Women: I found myself gravitating towards lectures about medieval women, gender, and sexuality, and realized I had very little background in the same, so I picked these two up for a song with the jewelry book. Very thorough, very readable, and burst a lot of mythologies about the medieval lady waiting to be rescued.
Sexuality in Medieval Europe: Doing Unto Others: See above. With self-explanatory chapter titles like "Sex and Marriage", "Sexuality of Chastity" (really!) and chapters on both men and women outside of marriage, this is about as straightforward an introduction to the topic as you can get. From a modern viewpoint of sexuality as identity it's a real eye-opener to realize that for medieval people sexuality was a series of roles - and that sex was often viewed not as a mutual activity but as something one person did to another (hence the title). Recommended!
La cazzaria: The Book of the Prick: Yep, Renaissance smut :P Written by a man for other men, I don't expect to find it especially sexy but more revealing about the attitude of a 16th century man towards sex and women. I picked it up for it's academic value. Honestly.
Digital History: I'm a history geek who works with computers, it was utterly necessary that I pick up this volume about how to best share historical data using computers. Have not read yet (I'm a bad, bad person).
If I find I'm forgetting anything, I'll add it on later.
The Inventory of Henry VIII: The Transcript: This is the one volume I'd planned for, as one of the vendors had it for half off. It's exactly what it sounds like it is - a transcript (with the original spelling/syntax) of the inventory of Henry's goods that his son Edward VI commissioned in the first year of his reign. Not something you read cover to cover, but a great reference and certainly interesting to flip through - I had my jewelry dictionary at hand when going through the listings from Henry's "greate juelhouses". And I've not even got to the clothes yet!
Jewellery in Britain 1066-1837: A Documentary, Social, Literary and Artistic Survey: Not read yet, but purchased for the long history and many illustrations.
Medieval Costume and Textiles 2: I'm familiar with the editor and many of the contributors and would eventually like to get my hot little hands on the first volume. Have not read yet as this is seriously scholarly and I want to take my time with it.
Renaissance Rivals: the history of the professional/personal rivalries between the great Renaissance artists Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael and Titian. Towering artistic temperaments butting heads, what could be better? I've read previously about the rivalry between Leonardo and Michelangelo, but I'm curious to see how Rapahel and Titian got pulled in...
Woven Into the Earth: Textiles from Norse Greenland: not really a time or place of my interest, but the photos, OH MY, I just had to! It still amazes me that garments from before the 15th century have survived, let alone in nearly as complete a form as these have - for me the intimate, everyday nature of such artifacts are gritty, on the ground history, more concrete than names in books or ruins of buildings.
Women in the Middle Ages and Medieval Women: I found myself gravitating towards lectures about medieval women, gender, and sexuality, and realized I had very little background in the same, so I picked these two up for a song with the jewelry book. Very thorough, very readable, and burst a lot of mythologies about the medieval lady waiting to be rescued.
Sexuality in Medieval Europe: Doing Unto Others: See above. With self-explanatory chapter titles like "Sex and Marriage", "Sexuality of Chastity" (really!) and chapters on both men and women outside of marriage, this is about as straightforward an introduction to the topic as you can get. From a modern viewpoint of sexuality as identity it's a real eye-opener to realize that for medieval people sexuality was a series of roles - and that sex was often viewed not as a mutual activity but as something one person did to another (hence the title). Recommended!
La cazzaria: The Book of the Prick: Yep, Renaissance smut :P Written by a man for other men, I don't expect to find it especially sexy but more revealing about the attitude of a 16th century man towards sex and women. I picked it up for it's academic value. Honestly.
Digital History: I'm a history geek who works with computers, it was utterly necessary that I pick up this volume about how to best share historical data using computers. Have not read yet (I'm a bad, bad person).
If I find I'm forgetting anything, I'll add it on later.
