Late Medieval Devotional Compilations in England

This volume considers texts that are defined as devotional compilations. A compilation consists of a series of texts or extracts of texts that have intentionally been put together to constitute a new single and unified text. The focus is primarily on devotional compilations, but the volume includes discussions of pastoral compilations as well. The texts considered here are works that invite readers to develop a personal relationship with the divine at a fairly advanced personal level. An exploration of devotional compilations allows a more sophisticated understanding of authorial roles, reading practices and patronage among religious and secular individuals and communities. In this volume, leading scholars in the field of medieval English literature consider the role and impact of a substantial corpus of devotional compilations. Their work yields groundbreaking evidence on devotional compilations and the manuscripts in which they occur. It provides new information on the way compilations are designed, on the literary role of compilers and the authorial strategies they use, on patronage, book ownership, readership, reading communities and reception, as well as on manuscript contexts and affinities with other texts.