Medieval Manuscript Production in the Latin West

Eltjo Buringh, Ph.D (1980, Wageningen University and 2009, Utrecht University) has worked in academia, industry and for the Dutch government, and now is a post-doc at the Research Group Economic History, Utrecht University. He published ten books in various fields.

• AcknowledgementsList of Figures and TablesList of Symbols, Acronyms and Abbreviations1. Introduction2. Methodological Approach2.1. Manuscripts2.2. Database2.3. Validations of the Database2.4. Shelf Marks2.5. Categories of Uses2.6. Loss Rates2.7. Extrapolations and Calibrations2.8. Similarity Quantification 2.9. Inferences2.10. Historical Data in the Latin West2.11. Discussion and Conclusions3. Global Distributions of Manuscripts3.1. Total Manuscript Numbers3.2. Distributions of Manuscripts in the Database3.3. Global Uses3.4. Shifts in Regional Uses of Manuscripts3.5. Discussion and Conclusions4. Losses of Medieval Manuscripts4.1. Loss Rates4.2. Loss Rates in England4.3. Loss Rates in the Rest of the World4.4. Survival of Manuscripts in the Latin West4.5. Discussion and Conclusions on Losses of Manuscript5. Production of Medieval Manuscripts in the Latin West5.1. Calculation of Production Rates5.2. Comparison of Estimates5.3. On Uncertainties in the Production Estimates5.4. Further Discussions and Conclusions6. Historical Support for the Production Estimates in the Latin West6.1. ‘Early-Christian equilibrium’ (Sixth to Seventh Century)6.2. ‘Early-Medieval Stability’ (Ninth to Tenth Century)6.3. ‘From Uniformity to Differentiation’ (Twelfth to Thirteenth Century)6.4. ‘Fragmentation of Uses’ (Fourteenth to Fifteenth Century)6.5. Further Discussions and Conclusions7. Medieval Manuscripts as a Yardstick7.1. Other Medieval Output Indicators7.2. Variables related to Manuscript Production7.3. Monastic Output of Manuscripts7.4. Lay Output of Manuscripts7.5. Overall Discussion and ConclusionsAnnexesGlossaryBibliographyIndex

"Astonishing results...[Buringh's] excellent glossary and use of verbal and pictorial illustrations instead of formulae are a model of clarity and transparency for the humanists whose jargon and theory may be impenetrable to counters and comparers like Buringh...This book deserves a wide audience." - Steven Epstein, in: Speculum, vol. 87, no. 1 (2012), pp. 188-190"...ungeahnten perspektiven...es werden Entwicklungslinien sichtbar, die zwar notwendigerweise mit grobem Strich gezeichnet sind, aber dennoch Erkenntnisse zur Produktion mittelaltlicher Bücher vermitteln, die auf einem soliden statistischen Fundament zu ruhen scheinen." - Jurgen Geiss, in: IFB"A monumental achievement...the creation and manipulation of the manuscript database allows Buringh to illustrate and explain a long-term change in one of the factors of the medieval economy that can be measured with some degree of certainty. The inventive and methodologically sound use of sampling and statistical analysis allows for clear patterns of change and development to emerge. It is to be hoped that this database will be built upon and that an expansion and refinement of the information it can produce will provide historians with further insights into this important reflector of cultural and economic development." - Steven Biddlecombe, in: Economic History Review, vol. 65, no. 1 (2012), pp. 377-378