Professor Richard Sharpe, Lyell Reader in Bibliography 2018-2019, gives the third lecture in the 2019 Lyell series. Part of the lecture series; Libraries and books in medieval England: the role of libraries in a changing book economy.
The histories of libraries in medieval England offer an insight into the intellectual and cultural life of the period. This should not obscure the fact that books made for individual use were more common than books for communal use. In these lectures, Professor Sharpe explains what evidence we have from medieval libraries; how our views of these may alter in the light of recent research; and the changing nature of libraries in medieval England.