Revising Prose (5th Edition)
Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • Good, but too pricey for a supplementary text
  • Very good but very thin
  • For more than nonfiction
  • a blessing
  • Buy it, read it, become a better writer
Revising Prose (5th Edition)
Richard A. Lanham
Manufacturer: Longman
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

RhetoricRhetoric | Words & Language | Reference | Subjects | Books
GeneralGeneral | Writing | Reference | Subjects | Books
Writing SkillsWriting Skills | Writing | Reference | Subjects | Books
GeneralGeneral | Reference | Subjects | Books
GeneralGeneral | Foreign Languages | Reference | Subjects | Books
GeneralGeneral | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
Look Inside Nonfiction BooksLook Inside Nonfiction Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Look Inside Reference BooksLook Inside Reference Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
All TitlesAll Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Arts & PhotographyArts & Photography | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
ReferenceReference | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:
  1. Analyzing Prose Analyzing Prose
  2. Basic Methods of Policy Analysis and Planning (2nd Edition) Basic Methods of Policy Analysis and Planning (2nd Edition)
  3. Theories of the Policy Process Theories of the Policy Process
  4. The Policy Making Process (3rd Edition) The Policy Making Process (3rd Edition)
  5. The Craft of Argument: Concise The Craft of Argument: Concise

ASIN: 0321441699

Book Description

Lanham’s eight simple steps to clearer, more understandable writing will win you praise from bosses, colleagues, and clients. Voice; Business Prose; Professional Prose; Electronic Prose; General Interest; improving your writing.

Customer Reviews:

3 out of 5 stars Good, but too pricey for a supplementary text.......2007-03-22

I teach college rhetoric and composition, and I ultimately decided not to order this book for my classes. The information and explanations are as good as any I've seen in a writing handbook, but I cannot justify asking students to pay this much for a book that is essentially a supplement to another textbook. The book is short and small, and I can only imagine the students' reactions when picking up the slim little volume in the student stores and seeing the price tag. They'd be too mad to read the darn thing. I give it five stars for content, but 1 star for price. Where is the price coming from? There are few copyrighted items reprinted and no color illustrations. It's just original prose in black and white in a tiny paperback. It's absurd to charge that much! I'll be placing it on reserve.

4 out of 5 stars Very good but very thin.......2006-08-26

I have the 4th edition of this book, which is about 50 pages less than the 5th edition. The first two chapters and the appendix are excellent. The rest of the book is very repetitive, although periodically interesting. The author offers unique advice. I now wish I had ordered the 5th edition to see if the other 50 pages contains new information.

I have received but not started his "Analyzing Prose" book, which is very substantial and appears to contain similar material.

John Dunbar
Sugar Land, TX

5 out of 5 stars For more than nonfiction.......2005-06-01

I'm working toward my MFA in creative writing, and ran across this book during editing classes for my BA years ago. It was a required text, and I wish I'd had it much earlier.

While ostensibly for business, academic or technical writing, I've found it very useful for fiction and creative non-fiction. If nothing else, it illustrates clearly how combinations of particular words create certain effects for the reader (examples of how to best confuse, bore, or torment a reader are always useful!) I've bought it as a gift for other writers, recommended it to collegues at work, and use the ideas in the Paramedic Method to "get the lard out" of all my writing. This book is useful to anyone who wants to write clearly. Like most of the better books on writing, it's also short, precise, and occasionally funny.

5 out of 5 stars a blessing.......2005-03-03

In brief: this book is amazing. Lanham will teach you to write with precision and clarity; and he will help you with revising and self-expression. Academics must read this book - and especially graduate students. Buy this book and internalize the 'paramedic method'. Take a deep breath, and read your thesis or dissertation with red pencil in hand. Get ready for a shock. But as you dissect your prose, you will improve as a writer. Immensely. I swear it.

5 out of 5 stars Buy it, read it, become a better writer.......2003-03-04

This book teaches you to reanimate dead writing, restoring action and personality to it, one sentence at a time. Starting from analysis and reconstruction using small number of rules, progressing to the philosophical question of why you should revise prose, this book remains interesting after multiple readings. I can't speak hightly enough of it. A true eye opener.
Revising Business Prose (4th Edition)
Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • Stilted
  • Business writing revision made simple.
  • Easy to understand
  • One the best guides for business writers
  • Good Focus, Good Examples, Will Improve Your Writing
Revising Business Prose (4th Edition)
Richard Lanham
Manufacturer: Longman
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

GeneralGeneral | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
WritingWriting | Reference | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
GeneralGeneral | Words & Language | Reference | Subjects | Books
LinguisticsLinguistics | Words & Language | Reference | Subjects | Books
EditingEditing | Writing | Reference | Subjects | Books
TechnicalTechnical | Writing | Reference | Subjects | Books
GeneralGeneral | Foreign Languages | Reference | Subjects | Books
All TitlesAll Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Business & InvestingBusiness & Investing | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
ReferenceReference | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:
  1. Spring Into Technical Writing for Engineers and Scientists (Spring Into... Series) Spring Into Technical Writing for Engineers and Scientists (Spring Into... Series)
  2. Writing that Works: Communicating Effectively on the Job Writing that Works: Communicating Effectively on the Job
  3. The Business Writer's Handbook, Eighth Edition (Business Writer's Handbook) The Business Writer's Handbook, Eighth Edition (Business Writer's Handbook)
  4. Management Communication: Principles and Practice Management Communication: Principles and Practice
  5. Revising Prose (5th Edition) Revising Prose (5th Edition)

ASIN: 0205309445

Book Description

As its title implies, this book deals with revising, not with original composition. In business writing, where a first draft often emerges quickly under the pressures of facts, figures, and deadlines, revision is typically the major part of a writing task, and collaborative revision often produces the final document. Revising Business Prose provides detailed revision guidance and a collaborative approach to writing easily applied to writing in business, industry, government, and academics. Based on the premise that bad writing in organizations imitates the bureaucratic style The Official Style, as it's called here this book shows readers how to transform stilted, dense prose into plain English. For anyone interested in the revision process in every business writing context.

Customer Reviews:

2 out of 5 stars Stilted .......2007-05-25

Revising Business Prose was recommended to me by a co-worker. When not presenting examples of concise writing, Richard Lanham writes with a slow, stilted style, antithetic to his own recommendations. While instructing readers not to overwrite, he overwrites.

I won't even talk about the chapter, "Who's Kicking Who?" O! Wait a moment. I just did. He defends his misuse of the subject, "who," in place of the object, "whom," by claiming "whom" sounds stilted. So, it is OK for him to employ idiomatic language and yet write a book criticizing the same. At almost $0.35 per page ($40 MSRP/117 pages), I don't see the value.

5 out of 5 stars Business writing revision made simple........2006-07-21

This great little book is an island of hope in a world flooded with pompous, pretentious messages. If you practice what Dr. Lanham preaches you will write leaner and tighter texts. You will use his smart paramedic method to get rid of unwanted lard. Just one wish for future editions: Please include some practical exercises. This will help less experienced readers not only gain but retain better writing skills.

4 out of 5 stars Easy to understand .......2006-03-10

If you are looking to revise business prose this book is really good with explaining the process step by step. It is in plain english, no big words you will need to look up.It is also fun to read.

5 out of 5 stars One the best guides for business writers.......2005-03-16

Taking the same basic approach to revision as I do, this book has gained wide recognition for its "paramedic method" of revising. It's on the short list of recommended resources in my book The McGraw-Hill 36-Hour Course in Business Writing and Communication.

5 out of 5 stars Good Focus, Good Examples, Will Improve Your Writing.......2004-05-30


There are two kinds of bad English: one is the bureaucratic bad English, using 100 words where 10 will do, and the other kind is the one I have suffered from for decades, complex layering of convoluted ideas with too many commas and semi-colons, and too few periods. In a word, undisciplined.

This book will help both kinds of English. It is short, to the point, and after reading and practicing what this book preaches, you should be able to cut your confusion of words in half, and increase your clarity and communications value by 100%
The Random House Handbook
Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
  • For any writer, the best of the lot
  • My teaching "bible"
The Random House Handbook
Frederick Crews
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

GeneralGeneral | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books | Classics | Comic | Contemporary | Literary
GeneralGeneral | Words & Language | Reference | Subjects | Books
GrammarGrammar | Words & Language | Reference | Subjects | Books
RhetoricRhetoric | Words & Language | Reference | Subjects | Books
GeneralGeneral | Writing | Reference | Subjects | Books
Writing SkillsWriting Skills | Writing | Reference | Subjects | Books
GeneralGeneral | Reference | Subjects | Books
Look Inside Fiction BooksLook Inside Fiction Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Look Inside Reference BooksLook Inside Reference Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
All TitlesAll Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Literature & FictionLiterature & Fiction | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
ReferenceReference | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:
  1. Pocket Book of Technical Writing for Engineers & Scientists Pocket Book of Technical Writing for Engineers & Scientists
  2. Bridges: Literature Across Cultures Bridges: Literature Across Cultures
  3. Greek Lyrics (Phoenix Books) Greek Lyrics (Phoenix Books)
  4. Helen in Egypt (New Directions Paperbook) Helen in Egypt (New Directions Paperbook)
  5. Rhinoceros and Other Plays Rhinoceros and Other Plays

ASIN: 007013636X

Book Description

The elegantly written RANDOM HOUSE HANDBOOK, 6/e, offers a comprehensive guide to writing and style, as well as special applications.

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars For any writer, the best of the lot.......2005-12-04

Most major publishers produce a writing handbook, typically oriented toward college compostion classes. Most of them are very good or better. But among this tough competition, this is the best of the bunch. I teach advanced writing skills to professionals, mostly lawyers, and tell them to buy this book right after Strunk & White and Garner's Modern American Usage. After using Crews's book they all agree. (If you're wondering about "But" in the third sentence, "Crews's" in the fifth, and the placement of the period in the last sentence, below, look them up; Crews is glad to help.)
I agree completely with the anonymous reviewer in "My teaching "bible."

5 out of 5 stars My teaching "bible".......2000-05-20

I teach English to sixth, seventh, and eighth graders in a private school. This book is always close at hand to verify answers and to clarify nagging questions (do you capitalize northern when used with California? ) My edition is getting tattered through constant use. The book is well-organized and easy to understand. It covers everything from the correct use of commas to how to cite the internet in research papers. There are examples of use and examples of papers. The examples are interesting to read, and they teach something. What could be better? I have gotten the reputation of expert in my school because of this handbook! Other teachers send me notes asking for help with questions that come up in their classes. Should I tell them my secret?
Longman Guide to Revising Prose: A Quick and Easy Method for Turning Good Writing into Great Writing
Average customer rating: Not rated
    Longman Guide to Revising Prose: A Quick and Easy Method for Turning Good Writing into Great Writing
    Richard Lanham
    Manufacturer: Longman
    ProductGroup: Book
    Binding: Paperback

    GrammarGrammar | Words & Language | Reference | Subjects | Books
    GeneralGeneral | Writing | Reference | Subjects | Books
    PoetryPoetry | Writing | Reference | Subjects | Books
    Writing SkillsWriting Skills | Writing | Reference | Subjects | Books
    GeneralGeneral | Reference | Subjects | Books
    GeneralGeneral | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
    Look Inside Reference BooksLook Inside Reference Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
    Similar Items:
    1. Revising Prose (5th Edition) Revising Prose (5th Edition)
    2. The Economics of Attention: Style and Substance in the Age of Information The Economics of Attention: Style and Substance in the Age of Information
    3. Style: An Anti-textbook Style: An Anti-textbook
    4. Analyzing Prose Analyzing Prose
    5. Revising Business Prose (4th Edition) Revising Business Prose (4th Edition)

    ASIN: 0321417666

    Book Description

    "True to its title, Revising Prose is about revising, not about original composition. It will not teach you how to pray for inspiration, marshall your thoughts, or find the willpower to glue backside to chair. All writers face these dragons in their own idiosyncratic ways. But revision belongs to the public domain. Anyone can learn it. Revising Prose teaches you how, using a simple, rule-based, eight-step process called "The Paramedic Method" that concentrates on turning the bureaucratic official style so common today in business and government writing into plain English. Its focus on the individual sentence enables you to identify the surplus verbiage (what Lanham calls the Lard Factor) in an effort like this:

    The history of new regulatory provisions is that there is generally an immediate resistance to them.

    And turn it into this:

    People usually resist new regulations.

    A Lard Factor of 69%. Lanham's method aims to eliminate 50% from most writing, to create a sentence half as long and twice as strong. A saving of 50% in writing time, in reading time, in paper and screen space, in human patience and understanding-it all adds up to real money. It also adds up to a more persuasive and amiable presentation of self, as Revising Prose argues in its final chapter.

    "
    The Revising Prose Self-Teaching Exercise Book
    Average customer rating: Not rated
      The Revising Prose Self-Teaching Exercise Book
      Richard A. Lanham
      Manufacturer: Prentice Hall College Div
      ProductGroup: Book
      Binding: Paperback

      GeneralGeneral | Education | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
      Physical EducationPhysical Education | Education Theory | Education | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
      GeneralGeneral | Instruction Method | Education | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
      GeneralGeneral | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
      GeneralGeneral | Sports | Subjects | Books
      Look Inside Sports BooksLook Inside Sports Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
      Similar Items:
      1. Revising Prose (5th Edition) Revising Prose (5th Edition)

      ASIN: 0023674903
      Revising Women: Eighteenth-Century "Women's Fiction" and Social Engagement
      Average customer rating: Not rated
        Revising Women: Eighteenth-Century "Women's Fiction" and Social Engagement

        Manufacturer: The Johns Hopkins University Press
        ProductGroup: Book
        Binding: Paperback

        Women Writers & Feminist TheoryWomen Writers & Feminist Theory | Books & Reading | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
        ClassicsClassics | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
        ContemporaryContemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
        GeneralGeneral | Criticism & Theory | History & Criticism | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
        Movements & PeriodsMovements & Periods | History & Criticism | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books | Arthurian Romance | Beat Generation | General | Gothic Revival | Medieval | Modernism | Postmodernism | Renaissance | Romanticism | Surrealism | Victorian
        GeneralGeneral | British | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
        GeneralGeneral | Women's Studies | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
        Women WritersWomen Writers | Women's Studies | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
        All TitlesAll Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
        Literature & FictionLiterature & Fiction | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
        NonfictionNonfiction | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
        ASIN: 080187095X

        Book Description

        Revising Women is a collection of essays by a distinguished group of feminist critics. Each essay is a contribution to the history of the English novel, to our understanding of literature's place in cultural debate, and to women's studies. The essays give steady attention to the ways novels participate in social processes and the ways women perceived the public sphere and stubbornly attempted to participate in it. Rich contextualization and adept use of theory reveal both the individual writer's story and the story beneath the text that is a cultural production with the potential to reveal why we and our society are as we are. Each essay develops ways of using history in relation to literature, takes up large historical events and issues, and interprets in fine detail what individuals do with them. Beginning with the fictions of the late seventeenth century, and ending with Maria Edgeworth and Jane Austen, the essays in Revising Women are characterized by informed historicizing, detailed textual explication, sophisticated feminist theory, and dedicated attention to the interrelationships between life and literary works and between everyday existence and political processes.

        Revising Flannery O'Connor: Southern Literary Culture and the Problem of Female
        Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
        • A masterwork in O'Connor Literary Criticism!
        Revising Flannery O'Connor: Southern Literary Culture and the Problem of Female
        Katherine Hemple Prown
        Manufacturer: University of Virginia Press
        ProductGroup: Book
        Binding: Hardcover

        GeneralGeneral | 20th Century | United States | Americas | History | Subjects | Books
        GeneralGeneral | Classics | United States | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
        GeneralGeneral | History & Criticism | United States | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
        20th Century20th Century | British | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
        Women Writers & Feminist TheoryWomen Writers & Feminist Theory | Books & Reading | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
        GeneralGeneral | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books | Classics | Comic | Contemporary | Literary
        GeneralGeneral | Criticism & Theory | History & Criticism | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
        GeneralGeneral | Women's Studies | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
        Women WritersWomen Writers | Women's Studies | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
        ASIN: 0813920124

        Book Description

        In her short life, the prolific Flannery O'Connor (1925-1964) authored two novels, thirty-two stories, and numerous essays and articles. Although her importance as a twentieth-century southern writer is unquestionable, mainstream feminist criticism has generally neglected O'Connor's work.

        In Revising Flannery O'Connor, Katherine Hemple Prown addresses the conflicts O'Connor experienced as a "southern lady" and professional author. Placing gender at the center of her analytical framework, Prown considers the reasons for feminist critical neglect of the writer and traces the cultural origins of the complicated aesthetic that informs O'Connor's fiction, both published and unpublished.

        O'Connor's relationship with her mentor Caroline Gordon, and its eventual disintegration, played a significant role in her development. As Prown shows, it underlines the shift from the relatively "feminine" authorial voice of O'Connor's earliest drafts toward the decidedly masculinized tone of her final, published works. Incorporating an insightful examination of the author in relation to the Fugitive/Agrarian and New Critical movements, Prown provides an original exploration of O'Connor's changing gender perspectives.

        Customer Reviews:

        5 out of 5 stars A masterwork in O'Connor Literary Criticism!.......2001-07-12

        Dr. Prown explores a whole new approach to O'Connor. She displays a rare understanding of the place of O'Connor in modern Southern and feminist literature. Dr. Prown goes far beyond the usual realm of literary criticism to place O'Connor into the thread of our everyday lives. I highly recommend this book to scholars, laypersons, and all readers interested in O'Connor, Southern literature, and feminist writers.
        Revising Mythologies: The Composition of Thoreau's Major Works
        Average customer rating: Not rated
          Revising Mythologies: The Composition of Thoreau's Major Works
          Stephen Adams , and Donald Ross
          Manufacturer: University of Virginia Press
          ProductGroup: Book
          Binding: Hardcover

          GeneralGeneral | Classics | United States | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
          GeneralGeneral | History & Criticism | United States | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
          Literary TheoryLiterary Theory | History & Criticism | United States | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
          GeneralGeneral | Mythology | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
          GeneralGeneral | Essays | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
          ClassicsClassics | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
          ASIN: 0813911850
          Revising Prose 2nd edition
          Average customer rating: Not rated
            Revising Prose 2nd edition
            Richard A. Lanham
            Manufacturer: MacMillan Publishing Company
            ProductGroup: Book
            Binding: Paperback
            ASIN: B000WD42T0
            Revising the Word and the World: Essays in Feminist Literary Criticism
            Average customer rating: Not rated
              Revising the Word and the World: Essays in Feminist Literary Criticism

              Manufacturer: University of Chicago Press Journals
              ProductGroup: Book
              Binding: Paperback

              Women Writers & Feminist TheoryWomen Writers & Feminist Theory | Books & Reading | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
              20th Century20th Century | British | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
              GeneralGeneral | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books | Classics | Comic | Contemporary | Literary
              FeministFeminist | Criticism & Theory | History & Criticism | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
              GeneralGeneral | Criticism & Theory | History & Criticism | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
              Feminist TheoryFeminist Theory | Women's Studies | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
              ASIN: 0226400646

              Book Description

              That literature is a form of social action has been an implicit assumption of feminist literary criticism since its emergence in academia some twenty-five years ago. This assumption has served not only to heighten the awareness of gender construction and response in literature, but also to redefine the process and goals of literary criticism itself.

              Three powerful interviews with writers of different nationalities (Audre Lorde, Simone de Beauvoir, and Carmen Naranjo) introduce topics echoed in the essays that follow: the interplay between women's writing and feminist theory, the politics of writing, and the roles of race, class, and sexual orientation in artistic production. These issues are engaged on a theoretical level by three essays that represent today's most prominent areas of concern for feminist literary criticism. The theoretical perspectives advanced in this anthology provide models for reading the traditional expressions of women worldwide including oratory and performance as well as literature in the more conventional sense.

              Contributors include Jane Flax on "Postmodernism and Gender Relations in Feminist Theory," Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham on "African-American Women's History and the Metalanguage of Race," Paula Bennett on "Female Sexual Imagery and Feminist Psychoanalytic Theory," Leslie Rabine on "Social Gender and Symbolic Gender in the Writings of Maxine Hong Kingston," Joyce Zonana on "Feminist Orientalism and the Structure of Jane Eyre," Jane Desmond on "Cultural Imperialism and Ruth St. Denis's 'Radha' of 1906," Terri Brint Joseph on "Poetry as a Strategy of Power: The Case of Riffian Berber Women," Chikwenye Ogunyemi on "The Contemporary Black Female Novel in English," and Sandra Zagarell on "Narrative of Community."

              This collection is especially appropriate for scholars and students of feminist literary criticism, women's studies, English, and ethnic studies.

              Essays were originally published in Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society.

              The Sherborne Missal
              Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
              • Beautifully done!
              The Sherborne Missal
              Janet Backhouse
              Manufacturer: University of Toronto Press
              ProductGroup: Book
              Binding: Hardcover

              MedievalMedieval | Schools, Periods & Styles | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
              EuropeanEuropean | Regional | History & Criticism | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
              CalligraphyCalligraphy | Graphic Design | Design & Decorative Arts | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
              Decorative ArtsDecorative Arts | Design & Decorative Arts | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
              ReligiousReligious | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
              GeneralGeneral | Painting | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
              CalligraphyCalligraphy | Instructional & How-To | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
              GeneralGeneral | World | History | Subjects | Books
              MedievalMedieval | World | History | Subjects | Books
              GeneralGeneral | England | Europe | History | Subjects | Books
              Book Making & BindingBook Making & Binding | Crafts & Hobbies | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
              ASIN: 0802047432

              Book Description

              The Sherborne Missal is one of the finest examples of early book painting. It was commissioned for the Benedictine Abbey of Sherborne in Dorset by Richard Mitford, Bishop of Salisbury 1396-1407, and Robert Bruyning, Abbot of Sherborne 1385-1415. The scribe was a Benedictine monk named John Whas, and the chief illuminator was John Siferwas, a Dominican friar and a leading artist of the 'International Gothic' period. Siferwas' work is very much in the tradition of English medieval painting, excelling in portraiture and naturalistic representation.

              In this superbly illustrated study introduction to The Sherborne Missal, Janet Backhouse explores its creation and history and assesses its importance as a masterpiece in the history of English art.

              Customer Reviews:

              5 out of 5 stars Beautifully done!.......2000-06-01

              This book is a great value for the money, for those who enjoy beautiful illuminations and medieval art. The Sherborne Missal, though not well-known is a wonderful example of late medieval British art. There are many color illustrations included, as well as a description of the missal and its history, and this book is a great value for the price that I am glad I bought.
              Medieval Birds in the Sherborne Missal
              Average customer rating: Not rated
                Medieval Birds in the Sherborne Missal

                Manufacturer: PUBLISHING OFFICE
                ProductGroup: Book
                Binding: Paperback

                GeneralGeneral | Instructional & How-To | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
                DrawingDrawing | Instructional & How-To | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
                GeneralGeneral | Painting | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
                BirdwatchingBirdwatching | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books | Excursion Guides | Field Guides | General
                MedievalMedieval | England | Europe | History | Subjects | Books
                ASIN: 0712347054
                Medieval Birds in the Sherborne Missal (Medieval Life in Manuscripts)
                Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
                • Beautiful Book
                • Birds on the Inside
                Medieval Birds in the Sherborne Missal (Medieval Life in Manuscripts)
                Janet Backhouse
                Manufacturer: University of Toronto Press
                ProductGroup: Book
                Binding: Paperback

                MedievalMedieval | Schools, Periods & Styles | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
                CalligraphyCalligraphy | Graphic Design | Design & Decorative Arts | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
                IllustrationIllustration | Commercial | Graphic Design | Design & Decorative Arts | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
                Science IllustrationScience Illustration | Commercial | Graphic Design | Design & Decorative Arts | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
                Decorative ArtsDecorative Arts | Design & Decorative Arts | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
                GeneralGeneral | Painting | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
                CalligraphyCalligraphy | Instructional & How-To | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
                GeneralGeneral | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
                MedievalMedieval | World | History | Subjects | Books
                BooksBooks | Antiques & Collectibles | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
                GeneralGeneral | Biology | Biological Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books
                GeneralGeneral | Biology | Biological Sciences | Professional Science | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
                GeneralGeneral | Birdwatching | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
                ReferenceReference | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
                ASIN: 0802084346

                Book Description

                The Sherborne Missal, one of the greatest of English medieval manuscripts, contains a wealth of marginal illustrations of wild birds, painted with great skill and accuracy. From over 170 images, over half can be clearly identified to 40 species, and although many are imaginary birds and fantasies, the manuscript offers an unparalleled insight into a fascinating aspect of England's natural history in the middle ages.

                Customer Reviews:

                5 out of 5 stars Beautiful Book.......2007-02-13

                If you are curious about bird illustrations before Audubon....this is a great example of what was done in the Medieval Manuscripts. Although small, it is packed with full page illustrations. It appears that the color representation are very close to the original works. I highly recommend this book to anyone intrested in medieval manuscripts as well as bird illustrations.

                5 out of 5 stars Birds on the Inside.......2003-03-13

                The Sherborne Missal gives a bird's-eye view of worship in 15th-century England. The beautifully illustrated and written manuscript was done for the Benedictine Abbey of Sherborne on the east coast of England, in Dorset. It gives the saints days, special intentions such as for the sick, and the words of the mass for each day.

                Birds decorate the pages. But there are only three places where it hits you in the face why a particular bird is shown on a particular page. The goldfinch, as a medieval Italian symbol for the crucified Christ, is shown with Epiphany, the robin with Sherborne Abbot Robert Brunyng, and the skylark soaring upwards into the skies with the Ascension.

                According to MEDIEVAL BIRDS IN THE SHERBORNE MISSAL, the artist must have owned or gotten easy hold of models or sketches. One known pattern book, from possibly around 1400, mainly showed initial letters, with only four leaves of bird studies. But Giovannino De' Grassi's late 14th-century sketchbook, now in the Biblioteca Civica in Bergamo, helped to spread the northern Italian style of drawing nature as it really was, without fantastic add-ons.

                Private collectors in France kept the Missal safe from 16th-century Reformation England, until calmer days at the end of the 18th century. Then the Missal ended up in the library of the dukes of Northumberland, at Alnwick Castle. In 1983 the 10th duke loaned the manuscript to the British Museum. With the death of the 11th duke the Sherborne Missal became, in 1998, additional ms 74326, as a permanent part of the British Library collection.

                It now is among the exhibits in the library galleries. But only two pages can be seen at any one time, and usually not of the birds. So Janet Backhouse's book is particularly valuable, as the first complete full-color publication under one roof of all the birds.

                The author has written many books on medieval manuscripts. But readers might particularly like THE LINDISFARNE GOSPELS and MEDIEVAL RURAL LIFE IN THE LUTTRELL PSALTER, for their similar themes on nature in the English Middle Ages.
                The Sherborne Missal Turning the Pages CD-ROM
                Average customer rating: Not rated
                  The Sherborne Missal Turning the Pages CD-ROM
                  Michelle P. Brown
                  Manufacturer: The British Library
                  ProductGroup: Book
                  Binding: CD-ROM

                  ByzantineByzantine | Schools, Periods & Styles | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
                  BooksBooks | Graphic Design | Design & Decorative Arts | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
                  CalligraphyCalligraphy | Instructional & How-To | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
                  GeneralGeneral | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
                  GeneralGeneral | World | History | Subjects | Books
                  GeneralGeneral | England | Europe | History | Subjects | Books
                  BooksBooks | Antiques & Collectibles | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
                  GeneralGeneral | Crafts & Hobbies | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
                  PrayerbooksPrayerbooks | Worship & Devotion | Christianity | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
                  ASIN: 0712343210

                  Books:

                  1. Romanian English, English Romanian: Dictionary & Phrasebook (Hippocrene Dictionary and Phrasebooks)
                  2. Scene and Structure (Elements of Fiction Writing)
                  3. Sign Babies ASL Flash Cards, Set One: First Words
                  4. Smithsonian Atlas of the Amazon
                  5. Starting And Running A Successful Newletter Or Magazine (Starting & Running a Successful Newsletter or Magazine)
                  6. Strategies for Successful Writing: A Rhetoric, Research Guide, Reader and Handbook (7th Edition)
                  7. Symbols and Allegories in Art (Guide to Imagery Series)
                  8. Teach Yourself Bulgarian Complete Course Package (Book + 2CDs) (Teach Yourself . . . Complete Courses)
                  9. Teach Yourself Polish Complete Course Package (Book + 2CDs) (Teach Yourself . . . Complete Courses)
                  10. The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo-European Roots

                  Books Index

                  Books Home

                  Recommended Books

                  1. Encyclopedia of American Women in Business
                  2. The Paint Effects Bible: 100 Recipes for Faux Finishes
                  3. Quinlan's Character Stars
                  4. Report From #24
                  5. The Complete Idiot's Guide to Glycemic Index Weight Loss
                  6. The Sacred Romance: Drawing Closer to the Heart of God
                  7. The trees of Long Island;: A short account of their history, distribution, utilization, and signific
                  8. The CRB Commodity Yearbook 1999
                  9. Supply Chain Strategies: Customer Driven and Customer Focused
                  10. Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe Welcome to the World, Baby Girl!