Folio Society Published Works Number 2843
Mortimer, Ian - The Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England
We buy and sell items like these, so please contact us if you have similar items for sale, and we will make you an offer if we are interested.
To check if we have this item, or similar items, in stock, please click the Check Stock link below. Alternatively, use the links on the left to search our large online database of items for sale, or to visit the rest of the site.
Check Stock
Mortimer, Ian - The Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England (Published in by The Folio Society in 2013. Introduced by Christopher Dyer. Illustrated by Robert Venables. Funny, learned and frank, this book explores what life was really like in the Middle Ages. With specially commissioned illustrations by Robert Venables. New preface by the author. Bound in buckram. Blocked with a design by Robert Venables. Set in Adobe Caslon with Blackmoor display. 384 pages. Frontispiece and 9 colour illustrations. Book size: 9.5" x 6.25". Funny, learned and frank, this is the book to read if you want to know what it was really like to live in the Middle Ages. For here you can explore the medieval era as you would a foreign country – its customs and dress codes, sights to see and who to consult if you are ill. Ian Mortimer blends in-depth scholarship with literary flair as he leads the reader on a fascinating journey through the streets and lanes of 14th-century England, detailing the landscapes and towns, the people and their homes, their pastimes and their laws. In 'What to Eat and Drink', he describes dinner in a noble household: 'on a fish day you might be served a first course of lampreys baked in vinegar, pepper, ginger and cinnamon;' and he reveals the ingredients of 'pottage', the staple food of peasants. In 'What to Do' he notes the people's love of music and the 'disguising games' beloved by Edward III, who once took part himself by dressing as a giant bird. Jousting is essential viewing, though not for the faint-hearted: 'In case you have any doubt about the level of danger, let it be stated unequivocally. Jousting is dangerous.' 'Health and Hygiene' describes treatments that anticipate modern methods, such as trusses to repair hernias, and others which, mercifully, have been abandoned, such as the cure for quinsy (an abscess in the throat) that involves flaying and roasting a cat with the grease of a hedgehog and the fat of a bear, before anointing the sufferer. Robert Venables's absorbing illustrations depict these diverse aspects of day-to-day life, from cooks at work to a scene at the gallows. This edition also includes a newly commissioned map of Medieval England. )
