Pre-Modern Encyclopaedic Texts

Pre-Modern Encyclopaedic Texts presents the proceedings of the second COMERS congress, the successor to Centres of Learning (Brill, 1995). Like its predecessor it contains in ancient, medieval and renaissance Europe and the Near East. Although the genre of encyclopaedia was defined and named only in modern times, texts that aspire to the encyclopaedic ideals of utility and comprehensiveness are found throughout recorded history. They respond to and shape ideas about the natural world, human history, and the nature and limits of human knowledge. The present volume comprises five extended essays on the problems and opportunities facing researchers into encyclopaedic texts, and 21 research papers on specific topics. It will be of interest to a general university audience as an interdisciplinary project, as well as to specialists in the various disciplines covered. Contributors include: Wout Jac. van Bekkem, Maaike van Berkel, Peter Binkley, Robert L. Fowler, John B. Friedman, Geert Jan van Gelder, Guy Guldentops, Hilary Kilpatrick, Juris Lidaka, Ulrich Marzolph, John North, Brian W. Ogilvie, G.J. Reinink, Vincent C. Renstrom, Bernard Ribémont, Kimberly Rivers, Bert Roest, E.C. Ronquist, Catherine Rubincam, E.L. Saak, William Schipper, Frank Trombley, Michael W. Twomey, Jan R. Veenstra, and William N. West.