The second volume of this edition of Ancrene Wisse includes a general introduction, on institutional and historical context, sources and influences, structure and style. The extensive explanatory notes include material on the text's historical, theological, and literary background. The introduction summarizes recent research on this important text and others associated with it in the Middle Ages; it offers a discussion of the text's origin which relates it to broader contemporary developments in preaching and pastoral care. The glossary, supplied by Richard Dance, is supplemented by...

This is the first of a projected set of three volumes of the Gilte Legende volumes I and II will contain the text, while volume III will contain the general introduction, explanatory notes, and glossary. Gilte Legende is, for the most part, a close translation (1438) of Jean de Vignay's Legende Doree (ca. 1333-40), itself a close translation of Jacobus de Voragine's Legenda Aurea (ca. 1267). The importance of Legenda Aurea as a source book for students of the late Middle Ages interested in literature, church history, and visual art, can hardly be overestimated.
"

The B-version of Piers Plowman, probably the only version authorised by Langland, is the one most frequently read today, and the most influential form of the poem. This catalogue of the 18 extant manuscripts, now located in Cambridge, London, Oxford, Tokyo, and San Marino, California, offers both individual manuscript descriptions and a record of the annotations. The new and detailed codicological descriptions include information on provenance and ownership; a full list of the contents; and a description of the physical make-up and the presentation of each manuscript. The substantial first...