Leonard E. Boyle (1923–1999)

Mostly I'm replying to the previous review that complained about being mislead by the title. The author of that review simply misunderstands the subtitle: A BIBLIOGRAPHICAL Introduction. That subtitle tells the reader EXACTLY what this volume is, no misleading by author, publisher, book seller involved. Of course, if a potential reader doesn't know that a "bibliographical introduction" is a type of introduction and what that type is, I can understand feeling mislead. But make no mistake, the book does and is precisely what it says it is: a bibliographical introduction, so mostly contains bibliography on the subfields of medieval Latin paleography.… (mehr)

Don't trust anything you read.

To be more gentle about it, don't trust this book's title unless you've seen the book. I wanted to buy an Introduction to Medieval Latin Paleography. And this is not an introduction. This is, purely and simply, a bibliography. There is a one page editor's preface. There is a six page editor's preface. The rest is nothing but a list of more than two thousands books and articles -- classified, to be sure, and with occasional useful remarks. If what you wanted was a bibliography, it's decent although now badly out of date. But it calls itself an "Introduction." A "Bibliographical Introduction," to be sure, but still, anyone who saw this book in a used bookseller's catalog would surely assume it had at least some information of its own about paleography, and it has none.

Frankly, given how hard to obtain most references on paleography are, a list of a few hundred, with ways to get them, would probably be more helpful than a list of 2200 that you can't find.

I'll be honest. This book makes me cranky, mostly because copies are so over-priced. If it had been properly titled, I would have known that it wasn't what I wanted and wouldn't have paid so much. As it is, I feel bait-and-switched. Not by the bookseller. By the author and publisher. Caveat emptor.

Write that last phrase in whatever sort of handwriting you want.… (mehr)