Sex and Sexuality in Anglo-Saxon England: Essays in Memory of Daniel Gillmore Calder. Edited by Carol Braun Pasternack and Lisa M. C. Weston. Medieval and Renaissance Texts and Studies, 277. Tempe: Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, 2004. Pp. lii + 284. $40.

There are two ways to compose a festschrift. One is to put out a general call and see what one gets. The other is to commission individuals to write on specified topics. There are advantages and disadvantages to both methods, and this collection might seem to betray some of the disadvantages of using the second: it comprises only eight articles, two of which are by the volume's editors—both former Ph.D. students of Daniel G. Calder, the book's honoree. The topics of the articles fit into the structure of the volume so inevitably that one might wonder if these topics were selected for their particular point-of-view concerning sexuality rather than their substance. Such reservations are unwarranted. This volume represents scholarship and editing practice at such consistently high levels that the completed project does the contributors, editors, and Calder immense credit.

Robin Waugh
Wilfrid Laurier University