Hidden Harmonies

This volume of Opuscula presents a selection of essays on the subject of post-print manuscript cultures along what may be called the north Atlantic fringe -- Ireland, Gaelic-speaking Scotland, Iceland and the Faroe Islands. While printing had been adopted as the primary mode of literary dissemination in the majority of western European cultures by the mid-seventeenth century, in these countries chirographic transmission remained the norm until well into the nineteenth century for most genres of literature. Written by noted scholars from Denmark, Iceland, Scotland, Ireland and Wales, the essays gathered here seek to establish overarching reasons for the continuance of manuscript culture across this region, and analyse the common modalities of scribal practice from each area. Particular attention is paid to the interaction of manuscript and print. The study of post-print manuscript culture is still in its infancy, but has been receiving increasing attention in recent years. It is hoped that this book will facilitate its further development, cementing its position as an area of academic endeavour in its own right.