Sara J. Charles's The Medieval Scriptorium explores the Middle Ages through the lens of manuscript production. She expertly places minute details, such as format, script, and image, at the forefront of the analysis and weaves their development into a well-researched wider historical fabric. The book is an introduction to the topic and perhaps best suited to an audience that is yet unfamiliar with the complexities of manuscript production in the Middle Ages. The intended audience is noticeable in Charles's writing style, at times imaginative and sometimes informal, which is undoubtedly directed at the non-specialist. It is imperative, therefore, that the book is considered in the context for which it was designed, and thus Charles must be commended on being able to create such a vivid and colorful picture of a period that is still sometimes imagined as having been bleak and melancholic in popular imagination. Especially appealing to a broader audience are chapters 4 and 5, which discuss in great detail the savoir-faire of manuscript production, and which highlight how manuscript culture engaged with complex trade networks between Europe, Asia, and Africa in the Middle Ages.

Although the book does not propose any novel perspective of the Middle Ages or manuscript production, scholars can still profit from a breadth of information that is in line with recent historiographical developments. The first chapter explores the initial stages of writing culture with an emphasis on the intrinsic relationship between early Christianity and manuscript culture. One of the merits of this chapter is the exploration of the role of women in networks of patronage of early Christian communities and the establishment of early mixed communities consisting of both men and women (48–50), which is sometimes overlooked when discussing early Christian monasticism. It must be noted, however, that Charles missed an opportunity to connect this section to women's production of manuscripts in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries in chapter 6, “The Twelfth-century Renaissance.”

The second chapter, “Monasticism and Manuscript Production in the West,” is an excellent overview of the growth of monasticism from 500 to 1050 and highlights the various intellectual networks connecting different constituencies. Charles expertly weaves this narrative around manuscript production, intellectual culture, and the development of scripts. It is evident that Charles had to cut short some of her arguments, given the nature and audience of the book, which led to the notable absence of a section on Iberian monasticism. On the other hand, Charles delegates ample attention to Irish intellectual culture and the strong influence it had on the Continent through the peregrini, a topic which is often neglected.

In the next chapter, Charles explores the medieval concepts of the scriptorium and scribes. Charles argues that a scriptorium has a “loose definition” (134) and that writing often took place in the cloister, in isolation from interference that might distract the scribe from the physical and spiritual act of writing. One of the important elements of this chapter is the clear demarcation of monasteries as the main centers of learning and interconnected loci of medieval intellectual culture. In chapter 6, Charles explores the growth of private manuscript ownership and the emergence of urban workshops in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. According to Charles, this led to a shift in manuscript production from monasteries to urban spaces and the production was changed from a spiritual to a commercial operation, even though it was still, arguably, a spiritual transaction for the patrons. At times, the status of urban and monastic manuscript production described by Charles was ambiguous; thus, it is important to note that monasteries were still important centers of manuscript production and co-existed with, rather than being replaced by, urban workshops, as noted by Charles herself (245).

In the final chapter, “The End of the Scriptorium,” Charles explores the effects of an urban and specialized manuscript production. In this chapter, she gives special attention to the development of truly urban texts, such as the Book of Hours and the pocket Bible, and the emergence of the humanist script. Charles sees the rise of an urban elite and workshops, and the adoption or development of new technologies of production, such as for paper and the press, as the end of the scriptorium, a context which aptly names her final chapter.

Charles's The Medieval Scriptorium does a brilliant job as an introductory book that communicates the complexities of manuscript production and the connectedness of intellectual culture in the Middle Ages to a non-scholarly audience with an engaging writing style. The amplitude of the book and Charles's employment of an updated historiography also offer an opportunity to scholars who wish for an introduction to the topic.