"In the thousands of inventories on decease compiled for the purpose of probate during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries in England, books are often among the items listed. They are also recorded in a variety of other documents associated with men and women of this period, including wills, account ledgers, receipts, and inventories of goods distrained. Private Libraries in Renaissance England (PLRE) transcribes and annotates such book-lists produced between the beginning of the sixteenth century and the mid-seventeenth century; it also reconstructs private library holdings of that period based on extant books. The information thus derived is then entered into a uniform database which can be searched and from which material about those books and their owners is retrieved and published"--Publisher's website.

This is the latest in an important series of reviews going back to 1928. The book contains 28 chapters, written by experts in their field, and reviews developments in the principal aspects of British librarianship and information work in the years 2011-2015.

Translating Catechisms, Translating Cultures explores the dimensions of early modern transcultural Christianities; the leeway of religious negotiation in and outside of Europe by comparing catechisms and their translation in the context of several Jesuit missionary strategies. The volume challenges the often assumed paramount Europeanness of Western Christianity. In the early modern period the idea of Tridentine Catholicism was translated into many different regions where it was appropriated and adopted to local conditions. Missionary work always entails translation, linguistic as well as cultural, which results in a modification of the content. Catechisms were central instruments to communicate Christian belief and, therefore, they are central media for all kinds of translation processes. The comparative approach (including China, India, Japan, Ethiopia, Northern America and England) enables the evaluation of different factors like power relations, social differentiation, cultural patterns, gender roles etc. Contributors are: Takao Abé, Anand Amaladass, Leonhard Cohen, Renate Dürr, Antje Flüchter, Ana Hosne, Giulia Nardini, John Ødemark, John Steckley, Alexandra Walsham, Rouven Wirbser.

Publishing Subversive Texts in Elizabeth England and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth offers recent research in book history by analysing the impact of early modern censorship on book circulation and information exchange in Elizabethan England and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. In fourteen articles, the various aspects of early modern subversive publishing and impact of censorship on the intellectual and cultural exchange in both England and Poland-Lithuania are thoroughly discussed. The book is divided into three main parts. In the first part, the presence and impact of British recusants in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth are discussed. Part two deals with subversive publishing and its role on the intellectual culture of the Elizabethan Settlement. Part three deals with the impact of national censorship laws on book circulation to the Continent.

This book investigates the nature of 'public space' in Mediterranean cities, A.D. 284-650, meaning places where it was impossible to avoid meeting people from all parts of society, whether different religious confessions or social groups. 0The first volume considers the architectural form and everyday functions of streets, fora / agorai, market buildings, and shops, including a study of processions and everyday street life. 0The second volume analyses archaeological evidence for the construction, repair, use, and abandonment of these urban spaces, based on standardised principles of phasing and dating. The conclusions provide insights into the urban environment of Constantinople, an assessment of urban institutions and citizenship, and a consideration of the impact of Christianity on civic life at this time.

Winner of the 2011 Isaac and Tamara Deutscher Memorial Prize. The essays collected here straddle four decades of work in both historiography and Marxist theory, combining source-based historical work in a wide range of languages with sophisticated discussion of Marx's categories. Key themes include the distinctions that are crucial to restoring complexity to the Marxist notion of a 'mode of production'; the emergence of medieval relations of production; the origins of capitalism; the dichotomy between free and unfree labour; and essays in agrarian history that range widely from Byzantine Egypt to 19th-century colonialism. The essays demonstrate the importance of reintegrating theory with history and of bringing history back into historical materialism. An introductory chapter ties the collection together and shows how historical materialists can develop an alternative to Marx's 'Asiatic mode of production'.