Poetry : Ancient, Classical & Medieval

A fresh, modern prose retelling captures the vigorous and bawdy spirit of Chaucer’s classic. Renowned critic, historian, and biographer Peter Ackroyd takes on what is arguably the greatest poem in the English language and presents the work in a prose vernacular that makes it accessible to modern readers while preserving the spirit of the original. A mirror for medieval society, Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales concerns a motley group of pilgrims who meet in a London inn on their way to Canterbury and agree to take part in a storytelling competition. Ranging from comedy to tragedy, pious sermon to ribald farce, heroic adventure to passionate romance, the tales serve not only as a summation of the sensibility of the Middle Ages but as a representation of the drama of the human condition. Ackroyd’s contemporary prose emphasizes the humanity of these characters—as well as explicitly rendering the naughty good humor of the writer whose comedy influenced Fielding and Dickens—yet still masterfully evokes the euphonies and harmonies of Chaucer’s verse. This retelling is sure to delight modern readers and bring a new appreciation to those already familiar with the classic tales. more...

Price: $35.00

This concise and lively survey introduces students with no prior knowledge to Chaucer, and particularly to The Canterbury Tales. Provides essential facts about Chaucer, as well as a framework for thinking about his poetry. Encourages an engaged reading of The Canterbury Tales. Introduces students to the historical and religious background needed to understand the contexts in which Chaucer wrote.:.; Provides essential facts about Chaucer, as well as a framework for thinking about his poetry.; Encourages an engaged reading of The Canterbury Tales.; Introduces students to the historical and religious background needed to understand the contexts in which Chaucer wrote. more...

Price: $82.50

Norman Blake, Professor of English Language and Linguistics at Sheffield University, is known throughout the world to scholars of mediaeval English Literature. He has published thirty books and 140 articles on subjects as diverse as Old Norse, Old English, Middle English, early printed books, Shakespeare, Historical Linguistics, Stylistics, Grammar, and the cultural context of mediaeval England. He is best known as an authority on Chaucer, Caxton and Shakespeare's language, and is director of The Canterbury Tales Project, based in the University of Sheffield, which is a scheme to put all the manuscript and early printed versions of the poem onto computer and to issue the transcribed texts on CD-ROM. Norman has lectured and taught in many countries, and is a frequent contributor to international conferences. He has been a Teaching Quality Assessor in universities in Britain and elsewhere. He is also well known (among many other things) for his work as member of the Council of the Early English Text Society, Editor for the Index of Middle English Prose, General Editor of Macmillan's Language of Literature series, and as Secretary of the European Society of the Study of English. Friends and colleagues of this approachable and widely respected scholar have come together to mark his 65th birthday in spring 1999 by contributing to this volume. The essays-on Chaucer, Caxton and related aspects of Middle English-are not only a tribute to Norman's work but also a valuable contribution to Middle English studies in their own right. more...

Price: $170.00

The Supplement builds on the original Chrétien de Troyes Bibliography; together the two volumes constitute the fullest and most complete bibliographical source now available on this major medieval author. The bibliography lists recent Chrétien scholarship under twenty-two topics, with numerous sub-sections under each topic, and cross-references for items that treat more than one of the topics. The scope of modern Chrétien studies is evident in items from the five continents. more...

Price: $95.00

This collection of essays, on the author of the "Argonautica", covers a wide range of issues from the history of the text and the problems of the poet's biography through questions of style, literary technique and intertextual relations to the epic's library and cultural reception. more...

Price: $256.00