Book description
This seminal study addresses one of the most beautifully decorated
15th-century copies of the New Statutes of England, uncovering how the
manuscript's unique interweaving of legal, religious, and literary
discourses frames the reader's perception of the work. Taking internal
and external evidence into account, Rosemarie McGerr suggests that the
manuscript was made for Prince Edward of Lancaster, transforming a
legal reference work into a book of instruction in kingship, as well
as a means of celebrating the Lancastrians' rightful claim to the
English throne during the Wars of the Roses. A Lancastrian Mirror for
Princes also explores the role played by the manuscript as a
commentary on royal justice and grace for its later owners and offers
modern readers a fascinating example of the long-lasting influence of
medieval manuscripts on subsequent readers.
"This book is a model of contemporary manuscript scholarship.
By splicing together several disciplinary strands of medieval studies,
it sheds light on Lancastrian book patrons and what they had in common
with their Valois and Angevin relatives in France and other great
fifteenth-century bibliophiles. Rosemarie McGerr expertly shows what
pedagogical and political aims were served by the New Statutes of
England codex at Yale. A strong grasp of fifteenth-century iconography
and a sharp eye for tell-tale details enable her to decode the core
message lodged within the manuscript's program of miniatures, a
message of opposition to Edward IV's usurpation of the throne. A
Lancastrian Mirror for Princes splendidly investigates the
circumstances under which that pro-Lancastrian manuscript was first
created at the behest of Queen Margaret of Anjou and then later
preserved intact in spite of Yorkist supremacy. Here codicology
splendidly opens the way for lucid historical inferences." -M. A.
Bossy, Professor Emeritus of Comparative Literature and French
Studies, Brown University
Rosemarie McGerr is Remak Professor of Comparative Literature and
Director of the Medieval Studies Institute at Indiana University
Bloomington. She is author of Chaucer's Open Books: Resistance to
Closure in Medieval Discourse and The Pilgrimage of the Soul: A
Critical Edition of the Middle English Dream Vision.
