Pursuing History: Middle English Manuscripts and Their Texts - Hardcover

by Ralph Hanna (Author)

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.

Back Jacket

Ralph Hanna has no peer in Middle English textual studies. . . . This is a wholly original and exciting work, unlike any other available from any book or scholar I know of.--Anne Middleton, University of California, Berkeley
"This book is important and valuable for many kinds of readers. . . . Hanna challenges us to participate in the textual mapping of manuscript culture in England before Chaucer was canonized as the center. . . . The volume also has tremendous potential for introducing our students to manuscript culture."--Envoi

Author Biography

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.