Bouhaïk-Gironès, Marie. Les clercs de la Basoche et le thèâtre comique: Paris, 1420–1550. Paris: Honorè Champion, 2007. Pp. 309.

In this revised version of her doctoral dissertation, Bouhaïk-Gironès (henceforth BG) lets the reader discover a wealth of thoroughly researched archival material, in light of which she offers a new social, professional, and cultural history of the Basoche, a late-medieval community of law clerks affiliated with the Parliament of Paris. Archival research is also applied to the influence of the Basoche on comic theater during the years 1420–1550, aiming to dispel the “mythe littèraire” (24) which has dominated this field of investigation, as BG argues. Her book is comprised of three parts.

BG's introduction offers a helpful overview of the scholarship devoted to late-medieval comic theater, followed by a detailed analysis of historical studies treating specifically the Basoche. The strengths and weaknesses of the seminal works of Adolphe Fabre (1856–75), Howard Graham Harvey (1941), and Jody Enders (1992), including their use of archival sources, are then assessed. BG also insists on the limitations of archival research, blemishes which she attributes to gaps in the documentation of the law clerks' activities; the theatrical events during the period of investigation are curtailed as well for the same reason.

In 1978, Fifteenth-Century Studies appeared for the first time, with over a dozen articles on topics ranging across European culture. By pursuing an international and scholarly course over the past three decades, the editors have developed FCS into a leader in late medieval research, especially in the humanities and social sciences. Under the steady guidance of Professor Edelgard E. DuBruck, the journal has supported scholarly communication by consistently presenting its readership with excellent articles, stretching over a broad panorama of interdisciplinary approaches and subjects. Professor DuBruck's generous leadership and wide-ranging interests have made FCS an indispensible resource for all who pursue research in the late Middle Ages.

Fifteenth-Century Studies has always provided a forum for established and newer scholars to posit innovative ideas and explore fresh territories of fifteenth- century culture, and volume 35 is no exception. True to its international heritage, this volume continues the journal's traditional representation of cultures from across Europe. At the same time, the fifteenth century remains a time of cultural, technological, and social transformation that still provides uncharted horizons for scholars to sail towards – whether actual horizons such as eastern, southern, or northern Europe, or figurative horizons like the re-formation of book culture or the changes reflected in society, science, law, theology, art, and elsewhere. Indeed, there may not be a fifteenth century, but rather numerous fifteenth centuries for us to explore.

Blanchard, Joël, éd. Philippe de Commynes: Mémoires. 2 vols. Geneva: Droz, 2007. Pp. clxxii; 1754. 16 illustrations.

Blanchard's latest work seems to be the best and most complete edition of Commynes's new genre, to date. Volume one offers a thorough introduction and the edition's eight books. In fact, to guide the reader, the editor should have given a table of contents of this introduction which starts with a description of nine manuscripts, from which B. selected P (Paris, BNF, ms., nouv. acq. fr. 20960 – early sixteenth century – xi); a list of previous editions follows.

Manuscript P is written on vellum (320mm × 250mm), in 211 folios; the pagination is double and modern (B. used the one on the bottom of folios). The covers of the manuscript have been added later (embossed), i.e., after the sixteenth century, according to Omont's catalogue. The text was proofread and corrected on the margins and/or on interlines, sometimes by another hand than that of the author (or copyist). Two miniatures are visible: on one, Commynes offers his book to Angelo Cato, archbishop of Vienne, who had encouraged the author to write his memoirs (fol. 2r, one full page); the other shows the battle of Fornoue (fol. 149v) depicted at several levels: Charles VIII against the Italians. Both miniatures are placed into vol. two of B.'s edition, just before the glossary; and both show the architectural gilding favored in the Renaissance, along with a heraldic identification of the main figures. According to B. Mandrot (editor of the Memoirs, 1901–03), the date of the illuminations is 1530.