Way of St James - Spain - A Walker's Guidebook

A walker's guide to the 778km Pilgrim Road from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port in the foothills of the Pyrenees on the French side to Santiago de Compostela in northwestern Spain and finally to the 'end of the earth' at Finisterre on the Galician coast. Maps and details of points of interest and pilgrim references en route.

General
Atwood, Donald and John, C.R. Penguin Dictionary of Saints 3rd ed (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1995)

Charpentier, Louis. Les Jacques et le mystère de Compostelle (Paris: Ed Laffont, 1971)
Discusses arguments for the existence of a pre-Christian, possibly pre-Celtic, path to ‘land’s end’ on the Atlantic coast (similar to those through southern Britain to Cornwall and across northern France to Brittany), an initiatory route following the ‘Way of the Stars’ on which the course of the Camino francés is largely based.

Chaucer, Geoffrey. Canterbury Tales, trans. Nevill Coghill (London: Penguin Classics, 1977)

Coleman, Simon and Elsner, John. Pilgrimage past and present in the world’s religions (London: British Museum Press, 1995)

Davies, J.G. Pilgrimage yesterday and today: why? where? how? (London: SCM Press, 1988)
Studies the nature of pilgrimages and motives behind them from patristic times to the Middle Ages, Protestant condemnation of pilgrimages and the 19th-century revival of pilgrimages amongst Protestants, ending with a review of the devotional aspects of modern pilgrmages.

Eade, John and Sallnow, Michael J., ed. Contesting the sacred: the anthropology of Christian pilgrimage (London: Routledge, 1991)
Contributors examine particular Christian shrines (in France, Italy, Israel, Sri Lanka and Peru), analysing the dynamics of religious expression and belief but also the political and economic processes at local and global levels, emphasising that pilgrimage is primarily an arena for competing religious and secular discourses.

French, R.M. (trans.) The Way of a Pilgrim (London: Triangle, 1995)
First published in English in 1930, this book was written by an unknown Russian pilgrim in the 19th century, and tells the story of his wanderings from one holy place to another in Russia and Siberia in search of the way of prayer.

Gitlitz, David M. and Davidson, Linda Kay. The Pilgrimage Road to Santiago: the complete cultural handbook (New York: St Martins Press, 2000)
As its title suggests this book provides historical, architectural and cultural information about the places along the route, interspersed with the personal experiences of the authors along the camino.

Robinson, Martin. Sacred places, pilgrim paths: an anthology of pilgrimage (London: Fount, 1997)
An anthology reflecting the experiences of pilgrims through the ages, dealing with places of pilgrimage, preparation for the journey, the journey itself, the inner journey, worship on the way and on arrival and the questions raised once the pilgrimage is over.

Way of St James
Barret, Pierre and Gurgand, Jean-Noël. Priez pour nous à Compostelle (Paris: Hachette, 1978)
An account of the authors’ journey from Vézelay to Santiago on foot, interspersed with parallel accounts of pilgrims from previous centuries. Contains a very extensive bibliography.

Bourdarias, Jean and Wasielewski, Michel. Guide Européen des Chemins de Compostelle (Paris: Fayard, 1997)
Guide to all the European routes to Santiago (from Holland, Denmark, Poland, Hungary, Brenner, Croatia, Italy and Portugal), not only the currently more well-known routes through France and Spain. Contains maps, distances, over 800 photographs, history and descriptions of places, lives of saints and relevant Biblical extracts.

Burgess, G. (trans.) Song of Roland (Penguin Classics, 1990)

Dennett, Laurie. A hug for the apostle. On foot from Chartres to Santiago de Compostela (Toronto: Macmillan of Canada, 1987)
An account of the author’s walk, undertaken to raise money for the Multiple Sclerosis Society. Some of the book covers the pilgrimage in France, though much of it is devoted to the route in Spain, including much interesting historical material.

Frey, Nancy Louise. Pilgrim stories (Berkley & Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1998)
This refers specifically to the experiences of modern pilgrims along the road to Santiago de Compostela, before, during and after making their pilgrimage, but the questions raised confront any modern pilgrim on a route where the journey itself, rather than the destination, is the real issue.

Hogarth, James (trans. from Latin). The Pilgrim’s Guide: a 12th century Guide for the Pilgrim to St. James of Compostela
(Confraternity of St James, 1992)

Jacobs, Michael. The Road to Santiago de Compostela (Architectural Guides for Travellers series) (London: Viking, 1990)
A guide to the churches, monasteries, hostels and hospitals along the pilgrim route, analysing their architectural styles. Contains photos, maps and detailed plans.

Laffi, Domenico (trans. James Hall). A Journey to the West (Leiden: Primavera Pers/ Santiago: Xunta de Galicia, 1997)
A translation of and commentary on the diary of a 17th-century pilgrim from Bologna to Santiago. Includes maps and 84 original black-and-white illustrations.

Mullins, Edward. The Pilgrimage to Santiago (London: Sigma Books, 2001)
An account of the art, architecture, history and geography of the pilgrim route from Paris to Santiago.

Shaver-Crandell, Annie and Gerson, Paula. The Pilgrim’s Guide to Santiago de Compostela: a Gazeteer (London/ Langhorne: Harvey Miller, 1995)
730 entries and 575 illustrations describing all the relics of saints, important monuments, towns and buildings encountered by the 12th-century pilgrim along the four routes through France and then in Spain. Includes a new translation of the Latin text of the Codex Calixtinus plus discussion of the pilgrimage phenomenon in the Middle Ages as well as the tradition of travel literature.

Slader, Bert. Pilgrim Footsteps (Newcastle, County Down: Quest Books [NI], 1994)

Starkie, Walter. The Road to Santiago. Pilgrim of St James (London: John Murray, 1957)
An account of a pilgrimage to Santiago, part travel, part history, part autobiography.

Tate, Brian and Marcus. The Pilgrim Route to Santiago (Oxford: Phaidon, 1987)
Explains the pilgrim phenomenon and the history of the shrine as well as discussing the different routes. Contains 137 photographic illustrations by Pablo Keller, 50 of them in colour.

Viellard, Jeanne. Guide du Pèlerin de Saint Jacques de Compostelle (Paris: Klincksieck, 4th ed 1989)
A French translation, on facing pages, of what is probably the first known guidebook: Aymery Picaud’s 12th-century description of the pilgrim routes to Santiago.

Peregrino magazine Six issues a year, articles (general, historical, practical, as well as accounts of journeys) on the pilgrimage.