New Directions in Medieval Manuscript Studies and Reading Practices : Essays in Honor of Derek Pearsall

This volume gathers the contributions of senior and junior scholars―all indebted to the pathbreaking work of Derek Pearsall―to showcase new research prompted by his rich and ongoing legacy as a literary critic, editor, and seminal founder of Middle English manuscript studies. The contributors aim both to honor Pearsall’s work in the field he established and to introduce the complexities of interdisciplinary manuscript studies to students already familiar with medieval literature. The contributors explore a range of issues, from the study of medieval literary manuscripts to the history of medieval books, libraries, literacy, censorship, and the social classes who used the books and manuscripts―nobles, children, schoolmasters, priests, merchants, and more. In addressing reading practices, essays provide a wealth of information on marginal commentaries, images and interpretive methods, international transmission, and early print and editorial methods. Contributors: Sarah Baechle, Julia Boffey, Peter Brown, Katie Ann-Marie Bugyis, Christopher Cannon, A. I. Doyle, Martha W. Driver, Siân Echard, Nicole Eddy, A. S. G. Edwards, Hilary E. Fox, Karrie Fuller, Maura Giles-Watson, Phillipa Hardman, Kathryn Kerby-Fulton, Jill Mann, William Marx, Sarah McNamer, Carol M. Meale, Linne Mooney, Melinda Nielsen, Theresa O’Byrne, Stephen Partridge, Oliver Pickering, Susan Powell, Elizabeth Scala, A. C. Spearing, John J. Thompson, Edward Wheatley, Jocelyn Wogan-Browne, Hannah Zdansky, Nicolette Zeeman. Cover Half title Frontispiece Title page Copyright Series page Contents List of Illustrations Preface A Brief Biographical Sketch of Derek Pearsall Part I: Celebrating Pearsallian Reading Practices Foreword to Part I Chapter 1: Narrative and Freedom in Troilus and Criseyde Chapter 2: How Good Is the Outspoken South English Legendary Poet? Chapter 3: Derek Pearsall, Secret Shakespearean Part II: England and International Foreword to Part II Chapter 4: The Tongues of the Nightingale Chapter 5: Wings, Wingfields, and Wynnere and Wastoure Chapter 6: The Author of the Italian Meditations on the Life of Christ Chapter 7: Handling The Book of Margery Kempe Part III: The Making of a Field Foreword to Part III Chapter 8: Assessing Manuscript Context Chapter 9: Books with Marginalia from St. Mark’s Hospital, Bristol Chapter 10: John Colyns, Mercer and Bookseller of London, and Cuthbert Tunstall’s Second Monition of 1526 Chapter 11: Selling Lydgate Manuscripts in the Twentieth Century Part IV: Newer Directions in Manuscript Studies I Foreword to Part IV Chapter 12: “And fer ouer þe French flod” Chapter 13: Langlandian Economics in James Yonge’s Gouernaunce Chapter 14: Manuscript Creation in Dublin Part V: Newer Directions in Manuscript Studies II Foreword to Part V Chapter 15: The Romance of History Chapter 16: Langland in the Early Modern Household Chapter 17: Playing as Literate Practice Part VI: Chaucerian and Post-Chaucerian Reading Practices Foreword to Part VI Chapter 18: Quoting Chaucer Chapter 19: Chaucer, the Continent, and the Characteristics of Commentary Chapter 20: Hoccleve in Canterbury Chapter 21: The Legacy of John Shirley Part VII: What a Poet Is “Entitled to Be Remembered By” Foreword to Part VII Chapter 22: Was the C-Reviser’s Manuscript Really So Corrupt? Chapter 23: Emending Oneself Chapter 24: Confronting the Scribe-Poet Binary Contributors Index of Manuscripts and Incunabula General Index "This volume gathers the contributions of senior and junior scholars-all indebted to the pathbreaking work of Derek Pearsall-to showcase new research prompted by his rich and ongoing legacy as a literary critic, editor, and seminal founder of Middle English manuscript studies. The contributors aim both to honor Pearsall's work in the field he established and to introduce the complexities of interdisciplinary manuscript studies to students already familiar with medieval literature. The contributors explore a range of issues, from the study of medieval literary manuscripts to the history of medieval books, libraries, literacy, censorship, and the social classes who used the books and manuscripts-nobles, children, schoolmasters, priests, merchants, and more. In addressing reading practices, essays provide a wealth of information on marginal commentaries, images and interpretive methods, international transmission, and early print and editorial methods. "New Directions in Medieval Manuscript Studies and Reading Practices marks the heritage of the distinguished scholar Derek Pearsall while highlighting his continuing influence on medieval manuscript studies. Buoyed by fine work of senior scholars, the collection also introduces readers to stimulating work by an upcoming generation of more recent practitioners, all of whom address crucial issues in the field: the particulars of individual manuscripts, including scribal practice, marginal commentary, and audience reception. The result is a fine collection at once canonical in some respects and innovative in others."--Paul H. Strohm, Anna S. Garbedian Professor Emeritus of the Humanities, Columbia University."--Résumé de l'éditeur "This volume gathers the contributions of senior and junior scholars-all indebted to the pathbreaking work of Derek Pearsall-to showcase new research prompted by his rich and ongoing legacy as a literary critic, editor, and seminal founder of Middle English manuscript studies. The contributors aim both to honor Pearsall's work in the field he established and to introduce the complexities of interdisciplinary manuscript studies to students already familiar with medieval literature. The contributors explore a range of issues, from the study of medieval literary manuscripts to the history of medieval books, libraries, literacy, censorship, and the social classes who used the books and manuscripts-nobles, children, schoolmasters, priests, merchants, and more. In addressing reading practices, essays provide a wealth of information on marginal commentaries, images and interpretive methods, international transmission, and early print and editorial methods. "New Directions in Medieval Manuscript Studies and Reading Practices marks the heritage of the distinguished scholar Derek Pearsall while highlighting his continuing influence on medieval manuscript studies. Buoyed by fine work of senior scholars, the collection also introduces readers to stimulating work by an upcoming generation of more recent practitioners, all of whom address crucial issues in the field: the particulars of individual manuscripts, including scribal practice, marginal commentary, and audience reception. The result is a fine collection at once canonical in some respects and innovative in others."--Paul H. Strohm, Anna S. Garbedian Professor Emeritus of the Humanities, Columbia University"-- Provided by publisher