Research Highlights

The widespread use of smartphones and tablets in modern society means that the ways we engage with reading have become increasingly diverse. Yet regardless of its form, reading is always mediated through a specific medium. By the time an author’s writing reaches readers or listeners, it is shaped into a material form that defines it as a “book.” Even the same work by the same author can take on varying features—such as title page, table of contents, illustrations, typeface, font size, format, or physical structure. The text itself may also evolve (or can become corrupted) as it transitions across different media and adapts to changing times. Reading a book is, therefore, not merely an act of following the text to extract meaning. As Roger Chartier aptly says, “their [the texts’] meanings are dependent upon the forms through which they are received and appropriated by their readers (or hearers)” (The Order of Books, trans. by Lydia G. Cochrane, 1994).

Guided by this awareness, I have been studying medieval English literature through the lens of book culture history. I explore how texts were produced, disseminated and received by producers and readers through manuscripts and printed books in England between the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. In medieval Europe, book production relied on handwriting, but the mid-fifteenth century marked a pivotal shift with the invention of movable-type printing. Historically celebrated as the “printing revolution,” this development was long viewed as a decisive break from manuscript culture. Early printed editions were, however, profoundly influenced by the traditions of medieval manuscripts. By examining both handwritten and printed books with an emphasis on materiality and text, I aim to delve into actual processes of book production, explore the reception of texts, and analyze the social and religious transformations mediated by books.

My current research focuses on Caxton’s Golden Legend (1483/4), an English translation of the Legenda aurea, originally compiled by the thirteenth-century Dominican Jacobus de Voragine. My work involves visiting libraries across Europe, North America, and New Zealand, occasionally incorporating digital tools into my methodology. I am preparing a critical edition of The Golden Legend, to be published by Oxford University Press. During my research trips, I have had the privilege of cultivating friendships and networks with various scholars and research institutions worldwide—an invaluable and enriching aspect of my life’s work. By compiling case studies and piecing them together into a cohesive framework, I am building a foundation for my research. In doing so, I hope to illuminate the networks that surrounded books produced in the period when manuscript and printed cultures started to coexist.