The Palaeography of Gothic Manuscript Books: From the Twelfth to the Early Sixteenth Century. By Albert Derolez. Cambridge Studies in Palaeography and Codicology, 9. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003. Pp. xi + 203 + 160 pl. $110.

Albert Derolez's book is introduced as "the first to present a detailed survey of all book scripts in use in Western and Central Europe from C. 1100 to C. 1530 (with the exception of Humanistic script) " (p. i). The study is concerned with book scriptsÊas opposed to documentary scriptsÊinasmuch as they constitute a coherent group that "must obey two rules, namely the demands of legibility and beauty " (p. 6). The book grew largely out of courses and seminars in late medieval paleography offered by the author at Columbia University, the University of Virginia, Princeton University, and Yale University (p. xiv). Throughout, Derolez shows himself to be a superb teacher, for the book is a model of clarity, lucid reasoning, and elegant argument.

Marianne E. Kalinke
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign