Editing and Interpretation of Middle English Texts: Essays in Honour of William Marx (Texts and Transitions)

These fifteen essays, all published here for the first time, explore issues related to the editing and interpretation of Middle English literature. These include the treatment of various types of evidence (variant readings; punctuation; capitalization; rubrication; physical layout), in relation to both manuscript transmission and the transition from manuscript to print. The editorial representation of these and other aspects constitutes an act of textual interpretation at the most fundamental level, which subsequently influences scholarly understanding. Two major fields of writing - religious texts and chronicles - provide the focus of this volume. Major works that receive attention include Trevisa’s translation of the Polychronicon, the Middle English Brut, Piers Plowman, Nicholas Love’s Mirror of the Blessed Life of Jesus Christ, and John Mirk’s Festial; a wide range of shorter devotional and historical texts, in both verse and prose, is also considered, as are aspects related to the translation of texts from Latin and French into Middle English. Almost all of the contributors are experienced editors of medieval texts. Several contribute further insights into texts they have edited, whilst others discuss or offer new editions of previously unpublished works. Collectively, these essays foreground the many and varied matters of interpretation that confront the editor of Middle English texts. Front Matter ("Contents", "List of Illustrations", "Acknowledgements", "Abbreviations", "Preface: Carl William Marx"), p. i Free Access Introduction, p. 1 Margaret Connolly, Raluca Radulescu https://doi.org/10.1484/M.TT-EB.5.114031 I: Interpreting the Textual Evidence Aspects of Method in the Athlone Edition of Piers Plowman, p. 21 A. S. G. Edwards https://doi.org/10.1484/M.TT-EB.5.114032 Whose Punctuation Is It, Anyway? A Sampling of Some Manuscripts of the Polychronicon, p. 35 Ronald Waldron https://doi.org/10.1484/M.TT-EB.5.114033 London, British Library, MS Additional 10304: Caesural Pause Marks - A Help to the Reader?, p. 69 Janet Cowen https://doi.org/10.1484/M.TT-EB.5.114034 Binomials in the Middle English and Early Modern English Versions of Boccaccio’s De mulieribus claris, p. 83 Hans Sauer https://doi.org/10.1484/M.TT-EB.5.114035 II: Editing and Interpreting Chronicles The Case of the Cutting Copyist: Or, How London, British Library, MS Sloane 2027 of Robert of Gloucester’s Chronicle Lost 4000 Lines, p. 109 Erik Kooper https://doi.org/10.1484/M.TT-EB.5.114036 English Chronicle Narratives of the Rising of 1381, p. 133 Andrew Prescott https://doi.org/10.1484/M.TT-EB.5.114037 The Middle English Brut Chronicles and the Modern Editor, p. 155 Raluca Radulescu https://doi.org/10.1484/M.TT-EB.5.114038 Robert Fabyan’s Two Hats: Compiling The Great Chronicle of London and The New Chronicles of England and France, p. 173 Julia Boffey https://doi.org/10.1484/M.TT-EB.5.114039 III: Editing and Interpreting Religious Texts Verse to Prose or Prose to Verse? A Problematic Text of The Nine Points Best Pleasing to God, p. 191 Oliver Pickering https://doi.org/10.1484/M.TT-EB.5.114040 Further Thoughts on Editing the Festial, p. 211 Susan Powell https://doi.org/10.1484/M.TT-EB.5.114041 The Edited Text and the Selected Text and the Problem of Critical Editions, p. 229 Margaret Connolly https://doi.org/10.1484/M.TT-EB.5.114042 Problems in Indexing and Editing Middle English Prayer as Illustrated by the Chester Processional Texts, p. 249 Veronica O’Mara https://doi.org/10.1484/M.TT-EB.5.114043 The Use of Sources in The Historye of the Patriarks and Caxton’s Golden Legend, p. 267 Mayumi Taguchi https://doi.org/10.1484/M.TT-EB.5.114044 Revisiting Nychodemus Gospell, p. 285 Martha Driver https://doi.org/10.1484/M.TT-EB.5.114045 Reformations, Reading Practices, and Textual Afterlives: The Pseudo-Bonaventuran Tradition, c. 1400-1600, p. 317 John J. Thompson https://doi.org/10.1484/M.TT-EB.5.114046 William Marx: List of Publications, p. 331 Oliver Pickering https://doi.org/10.1484/M.TT-EB.5.114047 Back Matter ("Index of Manuscripts and Early Printed Editions", "General Index", "Tabula Gratulatoria"), p. 337 Fifteen new essays that explore issues related to the editing and interpretation of Middle English literature.00These fifteen essays, all published here for the first time, explore issues related to the editing and interpretation of Middle English literature. These include the treatment of all types of evidence (variant readings; punctuation; capitalization; rubrication; physical layout), in relation to both manuscript transmission and the transition from manuscript to print. The editorial representation of these and other aspects constitutes an act of textual interpretation at the most fundamental level, which subsequently influences scholarly understanding. Two major fields of writing, religious texts and chronicles, provide the focus of this enquiry. Major works that receive attention include Trevisa?s translation of the 'Polychronicon', the Middle English 'Brut', 'Piers Plowman', 'Love?s Mirror of the Blessed Life of Jesus Christ', and 'Mirk?s Festial'; a wide range of shorter devotional and historical texts, in both verse and prose, is also considered, as are aspects related to the translation of texts into Middle English. Almost all of the contributors are experienced editors of medieval texts. Some contribute further insights about texts they have edited, whilst others offer new editions of previously unpublished works. Collectively these essays foreground the many and varied matters of interpretation that confront the editor of Middle English texts Fifteen new essays that explore issues related to the editing and interpretation of Middle English literature. These fifteen essays, all published here for the first time, explore issues related to the editing and interpretation of Middle English literature. These include the treatment of all types of evidence (variant readings; punctuation; capitalization; rubrication; physical layout), in relation to both manuscript transmission and the transition from manuscript to print. The editorial representation of these and other aspects constitutes an act of textual interpretation at the most fundamental level, which subsequently influences scholarly understanding. Two major fields of writing, religious texts and chronicles, provide the focus of this enquiry. Major works that receive attention include Trevisa's translation of the 'Polychronicon', the Middle English 'Brut', 'Piers Plowman', 'Love's Mirror of the Blessed Life of Jesus Christ', and 'Mirk's Festial'; a wide range of shorter devotional and historical texts, in both verse and prose, is also considered, as are aspects related to the translation of texts into Middle English. Almost all of the contributors are experienced editors of medieval texts. Some contribute further insights about texts they have edited, whilst others offer new editions of previously unpublished works. Collectively these essays foreground the many and varied matters of interpretation that confront the editor of Middle English texts "These fifteen essays, all published here for the first time, explore issues related to the editing and interpretation of Middle English literature. These include the treatment of all types of evidence (variant readings; punctuation; capitalization; rubrication; physical layout), in relation to both manuscript transmission and the transition from manuscript to print. The editorial representation of these and other aspects constitutes an act of textual interpretation at the most fundamental level, which subsequently influences scholarly understanding. Two major fields of writing, religious texts and chronicles, provide the focus of this enquiry. Major works that receive attention include Trevisa's translation of the 'Polychronicon', the Middle English 'Brut', 'Piers Plowman', 'Love's Mirror of the Blessed Life of Jesus Christ', and 'Mirk's Festial'; a wide range of shorter devotional and historical texts, in both verse and prose, is also considered, as are aspects related to the translation of texts into Middle English. Almost all of the contributors are experienced editors of medieval texts. Some contribute further insights about texts they have edited, whilst others offer new editions of previously unpublished works. Collectively these essays foreground the many and varied matters of interpretation that confront the editor of Middle English texts."-- Back cover