The Medieval Academy is pleased to announce the revival of the Speculum Books series. As many will recall, this series is devoted to reprinting distinguished and influential articles from past issues of Speculum in paperback collections. The series aims to present the best of past scholarship, to bring new insight to the state of a scholarly field, and to trace most recent developments and desiderata for future research agendas. Its audience includes both students and non-specialists.
Past volumes have included the highly successful and well received collections Studying Medieval Women, ed. Nancy F. Partner (1993); and Approaches to Medieval Art, ed. Lawrence Nees (1998).
Each new volume in the series will contain about six essays, an introduction and index, and will be supplemented with additional illustrations and select ancillary materials where appropriate. We plan initially to publish two volumes a year. The first volume announced is Liturgy and Art. It will be published later this year and will present an introduction by Susan Boynton and the following essays: Beth Williamson, “Altarpieces, Liturgy, and Devotion,” Speculum 79.2 (April 2004): 341-406; Carolyn Marino Malone, “The Rotunda of Sancta Maria in Dijon as ‘Ostwerk’,” Speculum 75.2 (April 2000): 285-317; Marchita B. Mauck,”The Mosaic of the Triumphal Arch of S. Prassede: A Liturgical Interpretation,” Speculum 62.4 (October 1987): 813-28; Meredith Parsons Lillich,”King Solomon in Bed, Archbishop Hincmar, the ‘Ordo’ of 1250 and the Stained-Glass Program of the Nave of Reims Cathedral,” Speculum 80.3 (July 2005): 764-801; Cynthia Hahn, “Seeing and Believing: The Construction of Sanctity in Early Medieval Saints’ Shrines,” Speculum 72.4 (October 1997): 1079-1106; and Margot Fassler,”Mary’s Nativity, Fulbert of Chartres, and the Stirps Jesse: Liturgical Innovation circa 1000 and Its Afterlife,” Speculum 75.2 (April 2000): 389-434.
The Speculum Books Board has been appointed for its prominence and cross-disciplinary expertise. It includes Susan Boynton (Columbia University); John Contreni (Purdue University); Colum Hourihane, chair (Princeton University); Wendy Scase (Birmingham University); and William Tronzo (University of California, San Diego).
