Pursuing History: Middle English Manuscripts and Their Texts

This volume argues, through a series of selected local studies, for the importance of textual criticism as a fundamental act of historical interpretation and recovery, pointing out the need for attention to the physical bearers of our knowledge of the English Middle Ages, the books themselves, and the ignored and alienating features of manuscript culture. It examines medieval book production, the textual uses of manuscripts, the nature of medieval meditations and looks in detail at work by Chaucer and Langland. In conclusion, the volume considers the problem of textual annotation in the light of both history and literary theory.

Author: Ralph Hanna
Publisher: Stanford University Press
Published: 08/01/1996
Pages: 376
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.57lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 1.00d
ISBN: 9780804726139

About the Author
Ralph Hanna, III, is Professor of English at the University of California, Riverside. As the reports make clear, he is a leading authority on Middle English manuscripts.