Volume 3 of the Boekhistorische Reeks contains the proceedings of the ‘Groninger Codicologendagen in Friesland’, the quadrennial conference on Netherlandish manuscript studies, which in 2002 was held at the Fryske Akademy in Leewarden.

The rich contents of this book reflect the two major conference themes, Books and Teaching, and the Art of Manuscript Illumination. International scholars in these fields investigate both subjects from various angles.

Papers included in the first section offer glimpses of medieval school life, the role of schoolboys in the production of manuscripts and printed books, the use of books by medieval surgeons, the pecia-system to produce manuscripts, and the importance of manuscripts for early modern scholarship.

In the second section the focus is on the state of research and new inquiries in Netherlandish manuscript illumination. Miniatures, border decoration, scribes and workshop practices are the subjects of studies ranging from the Moerdrecht Masters, active in the second quarter of the fifteenth century, to Ghent-Bruges illuminators in the beginning of the sixteenth century, and from mass-produced books of hours to luxurious, secular manuscripts made for members of the Bourgundian court.

In the third part some current book-historical projects are presented, which cover a broad range of important research tools that are now available through the Internet, both for specialists as well as book lovers.

Edited and translated by: André Mommen