Parallel Narratives examines several richly illustrated manuscripts as reflections of a transitional moment in the history of the book in medieval Germany. In the thirteenth century the nobility and their emulators had aspirations to own and to read books privately as an alternative to the traditional social experience of listening to recitation or to a reading in a group, large or small. But comfortable reading skills were not yet widespread. One solution was to read' privately an illustrated book in which the images could carry the storyline without recourse to the written text. The focus...

Drawing on the remarkable wealth of documentation in the college's archives and richly illustrated with stunning photography, this brief history of Europe's oldest academic library explores the collections, buildings, readers and staff across more than 700 years.