Anglo-Saxon styles /

Many of the essays in this collection react to art historian Meyer Schapiro's 1953 essay that defines style as "constant form," but Karkov (art, Miami Univ.) and Brown (English, Stanford Univ.) note in the introduction that Anglo-Saxon style might better be defined as "the ordering of forms." The essays themselves are craftily ordered: the first group, by art historians, describes Anglo-Saxon perceptions of style in artifacts and architecture; next come essays that discuss style in manuscripts and style in various kinds of writing. The result is a gracefully synthesized portrayal of the arrays and meanings of style in Anglo-Saxon culture. Among the noteworthy essays are Fred Orton's comparison of the Ruthwell and Bewcastle monuments; Carin Ruff's account of color tones in Aldhelm; Jonathan Wilcox's discussion of humor in Andreas; and Nicholas Howe's brief but insightful exploration of the slipperiness of style, which he ultimately defines as "'human noise' ... in the textual and visual materials of Anglo-Saxon England." Several essays include photographs. Comprehensive index. ^BSumming Up: Recommended. Anglo-Saxonists and scholars interested in discussions of style; upper-division undergraduates through faculty. C. P. Jamison Armstrong Atlantic State University