The Spectrum – the week in books

Up: BAD HABITS
500K to spare? Four pages of calfskin, 1,300 year old manuscript could be yours in the Sotheby’s summer sale next month. In De Laude Virginitatis [In Praise of Virginity], Anglo-Saxon cleric Aldhelm advises the nuns of Barking Abbey to avoid garments which might ‘set off’ the body and ‘nourish the fires of sexual anticipation.’ But call off the Slutwalk: given this is the first known text aimed exclusively at a female readership, the proto-feminist bishop is doing it for the sisters.

Up: PUPPY LOVE
Hands up who wants to see a video of Somerset Maugham cuddling puppies? The footage is especially poignant in light of the notorious dog-frisbeeing incident revealed in Selina Hastings’ 2009 biography.

Up: IMMODESTY
Salman Rushdie celebrated his 65th birthday this week with a ‘wild’ party at the Four Seasons in New York. In place of the traditional balloon and slice of cake, guests were presented with a leather-bound book containing a scroll of Rushdie’s writings.