Medieval Rural Life in the Luttrell Psalter (Medieval Life in Manuscripts) [Paperback]

Janet Backhouse (Author)

Book Description

Series: Medieval Life in Manuscripts | Publication Date: October 1, 2000

The Luttrell Psalter is one of the best-known English manuscripts. Written and illuminated in the early 14th century for Sir Geoffey Luttrell, it is celebrated for its long series of attractive marginal illustrations showing scenes of life in medieval England. The most celebrated sequence of pictures represents the annual cycle of growing crops including plouging, sowing, weeding, harvesting, threshing, and the delivery of the grain. Animal illustrations include domestic boars, geese, pigs, cattle, ferrets, rabbits, birds, cats and mice. Sports, pastimes, entertainers and musicians are all represented, showing the reader that rural life did have a lighter side beyond the routine of work. Janet Backhouse's entertaining study reminds us that although The Luttrell Psalter was created to provide a reflection of the status of the Luttrell family, its preservation has given us a supremely emotive pictorial source for the daily life of rural England.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Janet Backhouse is an internationally respected manuscript expert and former Curator of Illuminated Manuscripts at The British Library.

Product Details

• Paperback: 64 pages
• Publisher: University of Toronto Press, Scholarly Publishing Division; 1 edition (October 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802083994
• ISBN-13: 978-0802083999
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 7.1 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,871,639 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Large and gorgeous, January 21, 2003

By 

Monica L. Kroger (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Medieval Rural Life in the Luttrell Psalter (Medieval Life in Manuscripts) (Paperback)

A lovely book with large color photos of some of the pages of the original Luttrell Psalter. Wonderful representation of rural life in the 13th century. My only quibble is that some of the nicer larger images stradle two pages which means that some of the details are lost in the gap between the pages.