Traces the history of English literature from Anglo-Saxon poetry to the present day.

A thorough and well-illustrated history with eight long essays by leading scholars which cover the history and culture of England, rather than the British Isles, from the 5th to the 15th century. Contents: Medieval England - Identity, Politics and Society ( Nigel Saul ); Anglo-Saxon England ( Janet L Nelson ); Conquered England ( George Garnett ); Late Medieval England 1215-1485 ( Chris Given-Wilson ); Economy and Society ( Christopher Dyer ); Piety, Religion and the Church ( Henrietta Leyser ); The Visual Arts ( Nicola Coldstream ); Language and Literature ( Derek Pearsall ).

In 14 original essays, The Oxford Illustrated History of the Book reveals the history of books in all their various forms, from the ancient world to the digital present. Leading international scholars offer an original and richly illustrated narrative that is global in scope. The history of the book is the history of millions of written, printed, and illustrated texts, their manufacture, distribution, and reception. Here are different types of production, from clay tablets to scrolls, from inscribed codices to printed books, pamphlets, magazines, and newspapers, from written parchment to digital texts. The history of the book is a history of different methods of circulation and dissemination, all dependent on innovations in transport, from coastal and transoceanic shipping to roads, trains, planes and the internet. It is a history of different modes of reading and reception, from learned debate and individual study to public instruction and entertainment. It is a history of manufacture, craftsmanship, dissemination, reading and debate. Yet the history of books is not simply a question of material form, nor indeed of the history of reading and reception. The larger question is of the effect of textual production, distribution and reception - of how books themselves made history. To this end, each chapter of this volume, succinctly bounded by period and geography, offers incisive and stimulating insights into the relationship between books and the story of their times.

Examines political, economic, social, and culture changes in Great Britain from Roman times to the present.

Two centuries of dramatic change are covered by this exciting and richly illustrated new work. Eighteen leading scholars explore the political, social, religious, and cultural history of the period when monarchs based in south east England strove to extend their authority over the whole of the British Isles. The 280 illustrations including 45 colour pictures and 6 maps form an essential part of the book, complementing all aspects of the text.

Features: --Written by thirteen contributors, experts in their fields of history, publishing, and printing --Includes almost 200 illustrations --Contains maps showing the growth and extent of Press activity in Oxford at different points in the period covered by the volume --Draws extensively on material from the Oxford University Archives. The story of Oxford University Press spans five centuries of printing and publishing. Beginning with the first presses set up in Oxford in the fifteenth century and the later establishment of a university printing house, it leads through the publication of bibles, scholarly works, and the Oxford English Dictionary, to a twentieth-century expansion that created the largest university press in the world, playing a part in research, education, and language learning in more than 50 countries. With access to extensive archives, The History of OUP traces the impact of long-term changes in printing technology and the business of publishing. It also considers the effects of wider trends in education, reading, and scholarship, in international trade and the spreading influence of the English language, and in cultural and social history - both in Oxford and through its presence around the world. This FIRST volume begins with the successive attempts to establish printing at Oxford from 1478 onwards. Ian Gadd and sixteen expert contributors chart the activities of individual university printers, the eventual establishment of a university printing house, its relationship with the University, and influential developments in printing under Archbishop Laud, John Fell, and William Blackstone. They explore the range of scholarly and religious works produced, together with the growing influence of the University Press on the city of Oxford, and its place in the book trade in general. By the late eighteenth century, the University Press was both printer and publisher. This SECOND volume charts its rich and complicated history between 1780 and 1896, when transformations in the way books were printed led, in turn, to greater expertise in distributing and selling Oxford books. Simon Eliot and twelve expert contributors look at the relationship of the Press with the wider book trade, and with the University and city of Oxford. They also explore the growing range of books produced - including, above all, the creation and initial publication of the Oxford English Dictionary. Readership: In the THIRD volume, the twentieth century brought new horizons to Oxford University Press as offices were opened in the USA (in 1896), Canada, Australia, India, Pakistan, East Asia, and Africa. Wm Roger Louis and 22 expert contributors explore the growth of OUP's publishing, not only in works of scholarship and religion, but also in dictionaries, reference works, and literature for general readers, and in publishing for education and English language teaching. They trace OUP's relationship with the University and city of Oxford, and its place in London and the international book trade. The volume also considers the technological revolution that led to the decline of the printing business in Oxford, and the new challenges of managing a much larger organization that were identified by the influential Waldock Report of 1970. -- Those interested in publishing history, company histories, book history, cultural and industrial history, and the history of Oxford particularly. It will appeal to academics working and teaching in these subjects, and also to authors, academics, and readers connected with Oxford or OUP. Publishers note.

The story of Oxford University Press spans five centuries of printing and publishing. Beginning with the first presses set up in Oxford in the fifteenth century and the later establishment of a university printing house, it leads through the publication of bibles, scholarly works, and the Oxford English Dictionary, to a twentieth-century expansion that created the largest university press in the world, playing a part in research, education, and language learning in more than 50 countries. With access to extensive archives, the four-volume History of OUP traces the impact of long-term changes in printing technology and the business of publishing. It also considers the effects of wider trends in education, reading, and scholarship, in international trade and the spreading influence of the English language, and in cultural and social history - both in Oxford and through its presence around the world. In the decades after 1970 Oxford University Press met new challenges but also a period of unprecedented growth. In this concluding volume, Keith Robbins and 21 expert contributors assess OUP's changing structure, its academic mission, and its business operations through years of economic turbulence and continuous technological change. The Press repositioned itself after 1970: it brought its London Business to Oxford, closed its Printing House, and rapidly developed new publishing for English language teaching in regions far beyond its traditional markets. Yet in an increasingly competitive worldwide industry, OUP remained the department of a major British university, sharing its commitment to excellence in scholarship and education. The resulting opportunities and sometimes tensions are traced here through detailed consideration of OUP's business decisions, the vast range of its publications, and the dynamic role of its overseas offices. Concluding in 2004 with new forms of digital publishing, The History of OUP sheds new light on the cultural, educational, and business life of the English-speaking world in the late twentieth century.

The Renaissance is one of the most celebrated periods in European history. But when did it begin? When did it end? And what did it include? Traditionally regarded as a revival of classical art and learning, centred upon fifteenth-century Italy, views of the Renaissance have changed considerably in recent decades. The glories of Florence and the art of Raphael and Michelangelo remain an important element of the Renaissance story, but they are now only a part of a much wider story which looks beyond an exclusive focus on high culture, beyond the Italian peninsula, and beyond the fifteenth century. The Oxford Illustrated History of the Renaissance tells the cultural history of this broader and longer Renaissance: from seminal figures such as Dante and Giotto in thirteenth-century Italy, to the waning of Spain's 'golden age' in the 1630s, and the closure of the English theatres in 1642, the date generally taken to mark the end of the English literary Renaissance. Geographically, the story ranges from Spanish America to Renaissance Europe's encounter with the Ottomans—and far beyond, to the more distant cultures of China and Japan. And thematically, under Gordon Campbell's expert editorial guidance, the volume covers the whole gamut of Renaissance civilization, with chapters on humanism and the classical tradition; war and the state; religion; art and architecture; the performing arts; literature; craft and technology; science and medicine; and travel and cultural exchange.

The Romans succeeded in less than fifty-three years in subjecting almost the whole inhabited world of their rule. This book tells the story of the rise of Rome from its origins as a cluster of villages to the foundation of the Roman Empire by Augustus and its consolidation in the first two centuries AD. It also discusses some aspects of the later Empire and its influence on western civilizations, not least through the adoption of Christianity. Chapters dealing with social and political history are interspersed with chapters on literature, philosophy, and the arts: the conquests of Rome; Roman Emperors; Plautus, Terence, Virgil and Roman literature; Roman historians such as Tacitus and Livy; Stoicism and Scepticism; and Roman art and architecture are among the topics dealt with. The historical framework of the book is reinforced by maps and chronological charts; there are bibliographies and a full index; and the book is profusely and aptly illustrated with colour and black-and-white illustrations.

Originally published: 1998. New edition published in hardcover in 2014.