New Books Network Arthur Bahr, "Chasing the Pearl-Manuscript: Speculation, Shapes, Delight" (U Chicago Press, 2025)
Dec 20, 2025
Arthur Bahr, a Professor of Literature at MIT and expert on medieval manuscript culture, explores the complexities of the Pearl-Manuscript. He highlights how the physical manuscript enhances the understanding of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and Pearl. Bahr delves into the role of speculation in medieval thought, the manuscript's multimedia qualities, and the loss inherent in modern editions. His insights on the interplay of illustrations and text reveal new dimensions of poetry, transforming how we perceive these classic works.
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The Pearl Manuscript's Unique Status
- The Pearl Manuscript (British Library Cotton Nero A.x) uniquely preserves four Middle English poems together in one small volume.
- Pearl, Cleanness, Patience, and Sir Gawain survive only in this idiosyncratic late-14th-century manuscript which shapes their reception.
Delight, Shapes, And Speculation Framing
- Bahr frames his study around three concepts: delight, shapes, and speculation to read the manuscript as both literary and material art.
- This trio links the poems' formal play, geometric imagery, and medieval contemplative practices into a unified interpretation.
Devotional Design Shapes Reading
- The manuscript's full-page illustrations and Textualis-like script give it a devotional feel closer to a book of hours than to typical vernacular poetry volumes.
- Medieval speculation treated sensory beauty as a pathway to divine understanding, so the manuscript's materiality supports contemplative reading.