book series
A book series is a sequence of books having certain characteristics in common that are formally identified together as a group. Book series can be organized in different ways, such as written by the same author, or marketed as a group by their pub ...
in the
humanities
Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture. In the Renaissance, the term contrasted with divinity and referred to what is now called classics, the main area of secular study in universities at the t ...
published by
Ashgate
Ashgate Publishing was an academic book and journal publisher based in Farnham (Surrey, United Kingdom). It was established in 1967 and specialised in the social sciences, arts, humanities and professional practice. It had an American office in ...
. The aim of each volume is to bring together, for the first time, a selection of articles by a leading scholar on their particular area of expertise. This allows easy access to material that may be hard to find separately because it is out of print or available only in specialist libraries. It also allows the reader to see the development of a scholar's thinking on a topic over time. There are over 1000 volumes in the series.
History
The series is published by Ashgate and since it was established in 1970, over 1000 volumes have been produced.
Purpose and structure
The purpose of each volume is to bring together, for the first time, a selection of articles by a leading scholar on their particular area of expertise together with an index and, sometimes, new material. Each article retains its original page numbers with a separate pagination added for the book as a whole.
The contents of each collection are drawn from
academic journal
An academic journal or scholarly journal is a periodical publication in which scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published. Academic journals serve as permanent and transparent forums for the presentation, scrutiny, and d ...
articles,
conference proceedings
In academia and librarianship, conference proceedings is a collection of academic papers published in the context of an academic conference or workshop. Conference proceedings typically contain the contributions made by researchers at the conferen ...
, ''
Festschrifts
In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the h ...
'', and similar sources that may otherwise be difficult to access because they were printed in obscure journals, are out of print, or available only in specialist libraries. Each volume also allows the development of a scholar's ideas on a particular topic to be seen over time.
In his review of Roger Scott's ''Byzantine Chronicles and the Sixth Century'' (2012, CS 1004), for instance, Conor Whately in the ''
Bryn Mawr Classical Review
''Bryn Mawr Classical Review'' (''BMCR'') is an open access journal founded in 1990. It publishes reviews of current scholarly work in the field of classical studies including classical archaeology.Bysantinska Sälskapet Bulletin'', a boon for scholars who might otherwise lack access to them".
John Dillon, reviewing a different volume in the series, also for the ''Bryn Mawr Classical Review'', noted that the 13 articles in the volume by
Richard Sorabji
Sir Richard Rustom Kharsedji Sorabji, (born 8 November 1934) is a British historian of ancient Western philosophy, and Professor of Philosophy Emeritus at King's College London. He has written his 'Intellectual Autobiography' in his ''Festschrift' ...
ranged from the 1970s up to the 2010s. They thus had the merit of allowing "a most intriguing conspectus of the development of Sorabji’s thought on a number of topics that have long been of interest to him."
Associated series
There are a number of associated and complementary series such as, ''The Formation of the Classical Islamic World'', ''The Worlds of Eastern Christianity, 300-1500'', ''The Expansion of Latin Europe, 1000-1500'', and publications for the
Society for the Promotion of Byzantine Studies
The Society for the Promotion of Byzantine Studies (SPBS) is a scholarly society established in 1983 "with the object of furthering study and knowledge of the history and culture, language and literature of the Byzantine Empire and its neighbours" ...