I posted yesterday about a number of breviaries containing the “Life” of St Botolph in abbreviated form. A kind commenter drew my attention to a publication unknown to me – English saints in the medieval liturgies of Scandinavian churches. Edited by John Toy. (Subsidia, 6.) Pp. xviii+232 incl. 2 plates. Woodbridge: Boydell (for the Henry Bradshaw Society), 2009. £50. ISBN 978-1-870252-46-1; 1352-047, which apparently contains a section on the St Botolph material. The reviews suggest that it is a very dry volume, but that is nothing to me.
It was indeed an article by John Toy, included in a 2003 book, that drew my attention to all these Scandinavian brevaries in the first place.
But could I get hold of a PDF of the the “English Saints” volume? No.
Could I perhaps borrow a copy through my local library? I had a quick look at JISC Hub, and I found that only 9 libraries had copies. Not even all of the copyright libraries – to which every publisher is obliged by law to send a copy – held it. That suggests great carelessness by the publisher. It might be possible to use the interlibrary loan process to access one of these, but the price to do so these days is great, and the service horribly slow. I want to get rid of Botolph now, so a long delay is not welcome.
However a look at Amazon and AbeBooks tells me that four copies are for sale secondhand. Doubtless these are the review copies (which suggests that very few copies ever sold – pity.) Better still these copies are available at prices not greater than I have just spent this lunchtime on a disappointing, indeed inedible, jacket potato meal for two in a cafe. So I have done what I never do, and ordered one of them. It should arrive in a day or two.
The only problem is what to do with the physical book once I have finished with it. I have no storage space, and when I die all my books will no doubt go to Oxfam anyway. So I might just post it back to the vendor with a note that he is free to sell it again. It would put it back in circulation, anyway.
I was interested to see that the book was published on behalf of the Henry Bradshaw Society. I have seen this name attached to 19th century liturgical publications, but I had no idea that it was still in business. Indeed there is a website!
But I am starting to feel that the breviaries are becoming a classic case of “scope creep”, dragging my project into a world of material with which I am not qualified to engage. I know nothing about liturgy, and I am not sure that I wish to learn. The original purpose here was to produce an English translation of the “Life of St Botolph” by Folcard. We’re starting to vanish down the rabbit hole. But I will see what the book says, and make a decision where to draw the line.
Roger, if you’re just looking to give it away and would be willing to ship it to the US, I’d be happy to take it off your hands. I’d pay for the shipping of course—though I’m not sure what the right/best/easiest way to do that would be. It looks it wouldn’t be terribly expensive, if I’m reading the Royal Mail’s website correctly: £18.35 for international economy. (I think maybe I could just purchase a shipping label and email it to you?)
That’s very kind, but you don’t want the book. It’s going to be very dry and technical. I suspect that’s why the review copies are hanging around, 15 years later.