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Le Palmer's encyclopedia

c.1370

Medieval encyclopedia

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  • Intro

    This encyclopedia was written by a London clerk named James le Palmer. The book must have been exhausting to complete - it has more than 2,000 pages and 800 illustrations, and it is not even finished. It covers subjects as broad as natural sciences, the history of man, theology, the liberal arts and religion. This illustration shows a variety of birds. As he tells us in the introduction, le Palmer consulted over 100 different texts in compiling his great work. This was the first time a book of this kind had been arranged in alphabetical order, a technique that would influence the way that future encyclopedias were created.

     

    Shelfmark: Royal MS 6 E.vi.

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