Books by Martin Blake

A new and comprehensive edition and translation of a key Anglo-Saxon textDe temporibus anni, a concise handbook of calendar and computus, astronomy and natural science, dates from the late tenth century. It seems to have circulated anonymously, but analysis of its language and content shows it to be by lfric, one of the most prolific and widely-studied authors of Anglo-Saxon England. Unlike the earlier works of Bede and Isidore, it is written in the vernacular (despite its Latin title), possibly the earliest such work in a vernacular language in western Europe. This new edition incorporates the fruits of modern research into the scientific and religious background to the work, as well as the findings of recent studies on palaeography and textual criticism. It is also the most comprehensive edition yet produced, including notes, glossary and bibliography, and the first modern English translation (presented en face) for some 140 years. By means of these, and the inclusion of a detailed introduction and commentary, it renders the work more accessible both to those interested in the history of science and to students of Anglo-Saxon language and literature. Dr MARTIN BLAKE works with medieval manuscripts in the Department of Manuscripts and University Archives at Cambridge University Library.

In reading Marthe Robin and the Foyers of Charity you will learn about the early life and mission of Marthe Robin, and how she gradually became paralysed and was confined to bed. The book also has details of how she received the stigmata in 1930, and began to live Christ's passion every week, as well as how she met Fr Georges Finet and they founded the First Foyer in l936.Marthe Robin and the Foyers of Charity also has fascinating details of the witness of some of the 100,000 visitors she received over 50 years, including what prominent figures thought of her. These include Jean Guitton, Marcel Clément, Fr Marie-Dominque Philippe OP, the founder of the Community of St John, and Fr Jacques Ravanel, the immediate successor of Fr Finet as the head of the Foyer movement, and Marthe's first postulator.There are now 75 Foyer communities throughout the world, and their work involves a priest, the Father of the Foyer, giving 5 day retreats in silence, during which the members of the community look after the needs of the retreatants and pray for them.If you want to learn about the life of this amazing French mystic, then Marthe Robin and the Foyers of Charity is the perfect introduction.