The Early Book Society was founded in 1987 to bring together all those who are interested in any aspect of the study of medieval and Renaissance manuscripts and early printed books. Since 1987, EBS has sponsored special sessions at the International Congress of Medieval Studies, Western Michigan University, and smaller conferences of related interest. EBS also runs an international conference.
Journal of the Early Book Society (JEBS) Volume 26
The Journal of the Early Book Society for the Study of Manuscripts and Printing History (Journal of the Early Book Society (JEBS)) publishes several substantial articles in each volume with emphasis on the period of transition from manuscript to print. This annual’s main focus is on English and Continental works produced from 1350 to 1550. Additionally, the Journal of the Early Book Society (JEBS) includes brief notes on manuscripts and early printed books, descriptive reviews of recent works in the field, and notes on libraries and collections. Edited by Martha W. Driver.
Editor: Martha Driver
ISBN: 978-1-935625-82-7
ISSN: 1525-6790
Price: $40
Paperback, 2023
Journal of the Early Book Society (JEBS) Volume 25
The Journal of the Early Book Society for the Study of Manuscripts and Printing History (Journal of the Early Book Society (JEBS)) publishes several substantial articles in each volume with emphasis on the period of transition from manuscript to print. This annual’s main focus is on English and Continental works produced from 1350 to 1550. Additionally, Journal of the Early Book Society (JEBS) includes brief notes on manuscripts and early printed books, descriptive reviews of recent works in the field, and notes on libraries and collections. Edited by Martha W. Driver.
Editor: Martha Driver
ISBN: 978-1-935625-74-2
ISBN-10: 1-935625-74-8
ISSN: 1525-6790
Price: $40
Paperback, 2022
Journal of the Early Book Society (JEBS) Volume 24
Volume 24 features entries from Oxford and Trinity College, exploring lost libraries flipping through uncovered manuscripts, and discovering Eton’s earliest schoolbook.
ISBN: 978-1-935625-64-3
ISBN-10: 1-935625-64-0
ISSN: 1525-6790
Price: $40
Paperback, 2021
Journal of the Early Book Society (JEBS) Volume 23
Volume 23 includes articles on the Christian motifs in the first Darmstadt Haggadah, women book owners in late medieval Francophone Europe, and the materiality of manuscript charms in late medieval England.
ISBN: 978-1-935625-57-5
ISBN-10: 1-935625-57-8
ISSN: 1525-6790
Price: $40
Paperback, 2020
Journal of the Early Book Society (JEBS) Volume 22
The Journal of the Early Book Society publishes articles with an emphasis on the period of transition from manuscript to print. Its main focus is on English and Continental works produced from 1350 to 1550. This season’s volume covers topics such as Berthelette’s Confessio Amantis and the Fragasso Hours, a Hitherto Unknown Book of Hours.
ISBN: 978-1-935625-42-1
ISBN-10: 1-935625-42-X
ISSN: 1525-6790
Price: $40
Paperback, 2019
Journal of the Early Book Society (JEBS) Volume 21
Illuminating the history of the formation of the book, this journal highlights the transition from manuscript to print. Volume 21 features articles on topics ranging from 16th-century compiling practices to representations of Anne of Cleves. Also included are descriptive reviews, plus notes on libraries and collections.
ISBN: 978-1-935625-29-2
ISBN-10: 1-935625-29-2
ISSN: 1525-6790
Price: $40
Paperback, 2018
Previous JEBS Volumes
JEBS Related Links
Early Book Society
Early Book Society Website and Membership Information
Works Reviewed in JEBS 19:
Nun’s Literacies in Medieval Europe: The Kansas City Dialogue
Insular Books: Vernacular Manuscript Miscellanies in Late Medieval Britain
Writing Europe, 500-1450: Texts and Contexts
On Famous Women: The Middle English Translation of Boccaccio’s ‘De Mulieribus Claris’
The Auchinleck Manuscript: New Perspectives
Ingenious Impressions: Fifteenth-century Printed Books from the University of Glasgow Library
Manuscript Inscriptions in Early England Printed Music
The Pepys Library and the Historic Collections of Magdalene College Cambridge
The Medieval Manuscript Book: Cultural Approaches
Treasures of Ushaw College: Durham’s Hidden Gem
Magical Tales, Myth, Legend and Enchantment in Children’s Books
A Descriptive Catalogue of the Hebrew Manuscripts of Corpus Christi College, Oxford
The Index of Middle English Prose: Index to Volumes I to XX
Scraped, Stroked, and Bound: Materially Engaged Readings of Medieval Manuscripts
Featured Article
Though we love all of our articles, we believe that the images from Maidie Hilmo’s article, “Did the Scribe Draw the Miniatures in British Library, MS Cotton Nero A.x (The Pearl-Gawain Manuscript)?” deserve to be appreciated in full color.
“…my study considers how some of the missed or misconstrued details subsequently obscured by paint are important in extending the iconographic and interpretive range of the miniatures and, reflexively, of the poems – all supporting the likelihood that the scribe was also the thoughtful draftsperson of the underdrawings.”
The Dreamer walks through a forest. Pearl (2nd miniature), London, British Library, MS Cotton Nero A.x (art. 3), folio 37/41v. © The British Library Board.
The Handwriting on the Wall at Belshazzar’s Feast. Cleanness, London, British Library, MS Cotton Nero A.x (art. 3), folio 56/60v. © The British Library Board.
The Dreamer falls asleep. Pearl (1st miniature), London, British Library, MS Cotton Nero A.x (art. 3), folio 37/41r. © The British Library Board
Under the dark spot (detail, enhanced). Pearl (1st miniature), London, British Library, MS Cotton Nero A.x (art. 3), folio 37/41r. © The British Library Board.
The Dreamer points to the Pearl Maiden, who preaches to him and warns him not to cross the stream. Pearl (3rd miniature), London, British Library, MS Cotton Nero A.x (art. 3), folio 38/42r. © The British Library Board.
The Dreamer sees the Pearl Maiden within the New Jerusalem. Pearl (4th miniature), London, British Library, MS Cotton Nero A.x (art. 3), folio 38/42v. © The British Library Board.
The Dreamer sees the Pearl Maiden within the New Jerusalem (en-hanced). Pearl (4th miniature), London, British Library, MS Cotton Nero A.x (art. 3), folio 38/42v. © The British Library Board.
Noah in the ark. Cleanness, London, British Library, MS Cotton Nero A.x (art. 3), folio 56/60r. © The British Library Board.
Jonah and the Whale. Patience, London, British Library, MS Cotton Nero A.x (art. 3), folio 82/86r. © The British Library Board.
Jonah and the Whale. Patience (enhanced), London, British Library, MS Cotton Nero A.x (art. 3), folio 82/86r. © The British Library Board.
Figure initial beginning Philli-pus Presbyter’s Commentary on Job. Médi-athèque d’Agglomération de Cambrai, Ms. B 470, folio 2r (cliché CNRS/IRHT).
The Green Knight decapitat-ed (detail). Gawain and the Green Knight, London, British Library, MS Cotton Nero A.x (art. 3), folio 90/94v. © The British Library Board.
The Green Knight decapitated (detail). Lithograph by Madeley, reproduced in Frederic Madden, Syr Gawayne (London: Richard and John Taylor (1839).
Gawain seeks the Green Chapel, detail. Gawain and the Green Knight, London, British Library, MS Cotton Nero A.x (art. 3), folio 125/129v. © The British Library Board.
Gawain welcomed back to Camelot, detail. Gawain and the Green Knight (enhanced), London, British Library, MS Cotton Nero A.x (art. 3), folio 126/130r. © The British Library Board.