Recycling of medieval manuscript materials

What is it about?

Medieval book production often reused bits of other books. In particular, parchment was inventively recycled. Book producers made manuscripts that were designed to last, by making them from durable materials. This article explores how and why book makers in the fifteenth century recycled book materials.

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Why is it important?

This article offers an overview of some kinds of recycling (of 'bookish' materials) in late medieval manuscripts. The work participates in the material turn, and brings together elements of book history and ecocriticism. This drawing together of approaches from these fields of study, in application to the medieval period, is entirely new.