Download or read book The Book of Memory written by Mary J. Carruthers and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 1992-05-14 with total page 440 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Book of Memory is a magisterial and beautifully illustrated account of the workings and function of memory in medieval society. Memory was the psychological faculty valued above all others in the period stretching from late antiquity through the Renaissance. The prominence given to memory has profound implications for the contemporary understanding of all creative activity, and the social role of literature and art. Drawing on a range of fascinating examples from Dante, Chaucer, and Aquinas to the symbolism of illuminated manuscripts, this unusually wide-ranging book offers new insights into the medieval world.