A Conspectus of Scribal Hands Writing English, 700-1100

This book documents the entire corpus of scribal hands writing in the vernacular from the eighth century to post-Conquest. More than a thousand hands are listed, together with details of their work, which ranges from a few words or sentences in marginalia to multiple volumes; glosses and marginalia are included, together with Latin charters containing some English. Overall, it offers a comprehensive view of the scale of literacy in early medieval England, locating the familiar material produced in Alfred’s day in a significantly wider context, and providing an invaluable starting point for a variety of manuscript studies.