The role of the scroll An illustrated introduction to scrolls in the Middle Ages

The fundamental question "Why make a scroll when you have the technology to make a book?", asked by Kelly (Capturing Music), a Harvard music professor, is only partially answered in his puzzling, unsatisfying, though visually rich, introduction to the subject of Western European scrolls in the Middle Ages. Rarer than their codex (book) counterparts, scrolls nevertheless formed an important part of medieval written culture, Kelly argues. Whether tracing genealogies or mapping pilgrimage routes, serving as the interior of amulets or providing cheat sheets for actors, scrolls, with their adaptability, portability, and unbroken line of text, proved useful for certain tasks. But that is about all that can be gleaned from the simplistic narrative that accompanies the illustrations of different scrolls. Kelly leaps from topic to topic with little sense of cohesion and even less in the way of probing, providing little context for the subject and leaving seemingly crucial issues unaddressed. (Were scrolls more or less expensive than books, for example?) Moreover, the writing is too basic for academics, yet the subject is too niche for a general audience. One arrives at the conclusion feeling unsure of exactly whom Kelly intended to reach with his haphazard study. (Apr.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

An overview of medieval scrolls highlights their intricate beauty and various uses.In a generously illustrated and informative survey, distilled from the Medieval Scrolls Digital Archive website, medievalscrolls.com, Kelly (Music/Harvard Univ.; Capturing Music: The Story of Notation, 2014, etc.) focuses on the creation and use of scrolls in the Middle Ages at a time when books had been in common use since the advent of the codex in the fourth century. Why did people make a scroll when they could make a book? Scrolls, notes the author, have the advantage of being able to grow as needed to take on more information. In fact, "we are now in the new age of the scroll. All you have to do is look at your computer screen, tablet, or e-reader, and just scroll down." In Egypt, scrollssuch as the Book of the Deadwere made, laboriously, from papyrus; Egyptian papyrus also was the basis for literary scrolls in Greece and Rome. A long work, such as Virgil's Aeneid, required several scrolls, depending on the length of papyrus. Because new entries could be added, scrolls were useful for financial, legal, and other record-keeping. Kelly identifies scrolls that contained lists of gifts; recipes for cooking, medicine, and alchemy; prayers; petitions; and the testimony of witnesses in trials. Because scrolls could be unfurled in a linear manner, they became useful as maps and guides for holy pilgrimages; similarly, because they could indicate change through time, they were used to record histories and genealogies. In medieval plays and other performances, each actor's part was written separately on a scroll that could be hidden in the performer's hand. A director's scroll served as a combination of promptbook and stage manual. Miniature scrolls, some to be worn hidden in amulets, often contained prayers, magic spells, cryptic inscriptions, or the "names of exotic deities or demons." Kelly closely examines the many scrolls illustrated and provides some context that illuminates medieval life.An illuminating volume designed to whet the reader's interest in perusing an extensive website. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.