The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium

by A.P. Kazhdan (Editor)

The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium is a three-volume, comprehensive dictionary of Byzantine civilization. The first resource of its kind in the field, it features over 5,000 entries written by an international group of eminent Byzantinists covering all aspects of life in the Byzantine world. According to Alexander Kazhdan, editor-in-chief of the Dictionary "Entries on patriarchy and emperors will coexist with entries on surgery and musical instruments. An entry on the cultivation of grain will not only be connected to entries on agriculture and its economics but on diet, the baking of bread, and the role of bread in this changing society."
Major entries treat such topics as agriculture, art, literature, and politics, while shorter entries examine topics that relate to Byzantium such as the history of Kiev and personalities of ancient and biblical history. Each article is followed by a bibliography, and numerous maps, tables, architectural designs, and genealogies reinforce and clarify the text.
The new Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium will be the standard research tool and reference work for Byzantinists from graduate students to advanced scholars, and an essential resource for college and school libraries. It will also be an invaluable guide for classicists, Western medievalists, Islamicists, Slavicists, art historians, religious historians, and scholars of archaeology.

Genres: History, Reference

2366 pages, Hardcover

First published May 2, 1991

Reviews

[Brayton Cole · Rating 5 out of 5]

Want to know the Byzantine perspective on ... basically any imaginable subject? Including their attitude toward mice and the evolution of laws on land use? Well, if you have $400 or can dig up a used copy from somewhere, it's right there. Exhaustive, authoritative, scrupulously sourced. The standard reference for Byzantine scholars.

No, there's no e-book with links. That would be appallingly common.

[Athens]

Not sure when bookmaking went downhill, but will guess it started in certain pockets ranging from the early 90's onward.

This set, made 1991 1st edition, are from when Oxford still employed excellent printers and binders, and made an outstanding product meant to last.

All sewn bindings, near-zero print-through, clean paper, even printing, everything you could want for generations of value.

Pantheon still makes a well-bound book, there are a few others out there. Cambridge has jumped onto the low-quality wagon, sadly, with glued bindings - essentially paperbacks in hard covers that still cost the customer a fortune.

Beautiful set, buy it used and get it right.