Avant la lettre: Philip Perry, Reconversionist Aesthetics, and the Medieval Literary

Abstract

“Medievalism,” in the words of Tom Shippey, is “the study of responses to the Middle Ages at all periods since a sense of the mediaeval began to develop.”1 Although a relatively recent area of study, it nevertheless has long roots, and over time many practitioners, some better known than others. Philip Mark Perry (d. 1774), the subject of this essay, came early to the field, only to leave it before his efforts could see print. Nevertheless, his exploration of medieval writings and writers deserves greater recognition. Here we hope to establish that Perry's largely unedited manuscripts, now in Spain and Scotland, offer evidence of an exceptional contribution to the early narrative of medievalism.