Review by Choice Review
Intended as a companion to a two-volume edition of the Latin text of The Pilgrim's Guide (to be released by the same publisher, spring 1996), this translation is accompanied by a gazetteer. The Guide itself, intended for pilgrims traveling to the shrine of St. James at Santiago de Compostela in northwest Spain, offers insight not only into the cult of the saints and pilgrimage practices in the Middle Ages but also into the perils of long-distance travel in that period. As with many medieval texts, there is no clear indication of authorship, but evidence points to a 12th-century origin. This translation is preceded by an extensive introduction and list of known manuscripts, and the volume concludes with a bibliography, a glossary, a map of Santiago de Compostela, and a schematic outline of the major pilgrimage routes. Illustrations include pictures of monuments and floor plans of buildings. Maps in the endpapers show major pilgrimage routes and mark with asterisks place-names mentioned in the Guide. The volume is notable not so much for the text as the gazetteer, which provides 730 entries for cities, towns, and shrines and lists lost monuments as well as those that survive. As the editors note, the pilgrimage routes have a key place in the history of medieval art. This version, unique for its gazetteer, will be extremely useful to historians of religion, architecture, sculpture, and travel. Recommended for research collections. T. M. Izbicki; Johns Hopkins University
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
