Examining those medieval texts which were extant for sixteenth-century use and reading, Professor Tuve attempts to discover how certain writers at a given time and for reasons we can trace read the allegorical books of the Middle Ages. Originally published in 1966. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.