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The Library

Forty Centuries of Christian Writing

1780 works catalogued century by century, from the literature the Bible was written among to the present — each with a note on what it is, why it lasted, and where to read it.

1101–1200

The Twelfth Century

1 work

c. 1132–1152

Latin

The Aviary

De Avibus

Hugh of Fouilloy · c. 1100–c. 1172

Birds read as figures of the spiritual life — the dove, the hawk, the pelican wounding itself to feed its young — written for lay brothers who could not read easily.

Western · BestiaryRead elsewhere

1201–1300

The Thirteenth Century

1 work

c. 1240–1259

Latin

The Greater Chronicle

Chronica Majora

Matthew Paris · c. 1200–1259

A vividly opinionated chronicle of Europe from a St Albans scriptorium, illustrated by its author's own hand, hostile to papal taxation and to almost everyone in authority.

Western · ChronicleRead elsewhere

1301–1400

The Fourteenth Century

1 work

c. 1310–1324

Latin

The Mirror of Human Salvation

Speculum Humanae Salvationis

Anonymous

Each scene of Christ's life paired with three Old Testament or legendary prefigurations, in verse designed to be read alongside pictures.

Western · TypologyRead elsewhere

1601–1700

The Seventeenth Century

1 work

1658

Latin

The World in Pictures

Orbis Sensualium Pictus

Jan Amos Comenius · 1592–1670

A picture book teaching Latin and the world together, with numbered images of trades, animals, and the soul, each keyed to a numbered phrase.

Hussite · EducationRead elsewhere