The 'long twelfth century' （1075-1225） was an era of seminal importance in the development of the book in medieval Europe and marked a high point in its construction and decoration。 This comprehensive study takes the cultural changes that occurred during the 'twelfth-century Renaissance' as its point of departure to provide an overview of manuscript culture encompassing the whole of Western Europe。 Written by senior scholars， chapters are divided into three sections: the technical aspects of making books; the processes and practices of reading and keeping books; and the transmission of texts in the disciplines that saw significant change in the period， including medicine， law， philosophy， liturgy， and theology。 Richly illustrated， the volume provides the first in-depth account of book production as a European phenomenon。