The Sherborne Missal [early 15th century, British Library Additional MS 74326], one of the most important surviving medieval English manuscripts, contains a wealth of marginal illustrations of wild birds, painted with skill and vivacity. Some of the birds are imaginary creations of the artist but the majority are evidently real birds, although not all of these can be identified with certainty. All forty-eight are reproduced here and most are well observed and readily recognizable. The majority are accompanied by their names, written out in middle English, offering and almost unparalleled source of vernacular bird names in common use during the generation after Chaucer wrote his Canterbury Tales. This is the first time that all birds from the Sherborne Missal have been reproduced together in sequence and this beautifully illustrated book provides an insight into a fascinating aspect of England's natural history in the middle ages." - [Publisher]

Language: English

ISBN: 0-8020-8434-6; LC: ND3375.S44B2952001; DDC: 745.6'7'0942