Studies in the Harley Manuscript: The Scribes, Contents, and Social Contexts of British Library MS Harley 2253

by Susanna Fein (Editor)

Overview

Studies in the Harley Manuscript is the first comprehensive examination of a manuscript that is of supreme value to literary scholars of medieval English literature. In an Introduction and fifteen essays a team of scholars considers many aspects of the 140 folios of this trilingual miscellany that preserves 121 items (or 122 depending on how one counts) from which we get a strange and privileged glimpse into the rich literary heritage that existed in England prior to the flourishing of vernacular poetry in the Richardian era. As the Contents indicates, the history and composition of the manuscript are considered, as are the Anglo-Norman, English, and Latin compositions that it preserves. This is a companion volume to the three volume complete edition of Harley 2253.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781580440608
Publisher:	Medieval Institute Publications
Publication date:	09/01/2000
Series:	TEAMS Varia
Pages:	532
Product dimensions:	7.01(w) x (h) x (d)

About the Author

Susanna Fein is a Professor of English at Kent State University, specializing in medieval English literature, particularly Chaucer and Manuscript Studies.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments Abbreviations Notes on Contributors Note on the Presentation of Text from MS Harley 2253 List of Plates, Tables, Figures, and Appendices Introduction: British Library MS Harley 2253: The Lyrics, the Facsimile, and the Book Scribe and Provenance Miscellany or Anthology? The Structure of Medieval Manuscripts: MS Harley 2253, for Example An Electric Stream: The Religious Contents Authority and Resistance: The Political Verse Historicity and Complaint in Song of the Husbandman Debate Verse Dreams and Dream Love Authors, Anthologies, and Franciscan Spirituality Frankis rimes here i redd, / Communlik in ilk[a] sted...: The French Bible Stories in Harley 2253 Anthologizing Ribaldry: Five Anglo-Norman Fabliaux Evading Textual Intimacy: The French Secular Verse A Saint Geynest under Gore: Marina and the Love Lyrics of the Seventh Quire Layout, Punctuation, and Stanza Patterns in English Verse The Language of the English Poems: The Harley Scribe and His Exemplars Harley 2253, Digby 86, and the Circulation of Literature in Pre-Chaucerian England Bibliography of Works Cited Index of Items in MS Harley 2253 Index of Manuscripts General Index