Hengwrt Chaucer manuscript: Difference between revisions
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Although the Hengwrt Chaucer is less attractive as the Ellesmere Chaucer, it has emerged as a superior manuscript of ''The Canterbury Tales''. <ref>Scala, p. 492.</ref> The Hengwrt Chaucer was first published in Furnivall’s parallel text in 1868, <ref>Frederick J. Furnivall, ed.,[http://www.archive.org/stream/hengwrtmschauce00chaugoog#page/n8/mode/2up The Hengwrt ms of Chaucer's Canterbury tales], London, published for the Chaucer Society by N. Trübner & CO., Ludgate Hill, 1868.</ref> but it only drew increasing attention since John M. Manly and Edith Rickert's collection and study of all the Canterbury Tale manuscripts, published in 1940. <ref>J.M. Manly and E. Rickert, "Text of the Canterbury Tales, Studied on the Basis of All Known Manuscripts, 8 vol., 1940.</ref><br /> | Although the Hengwrt Chaucer is less attractive as the Ellesmere Chaucer, it has emerged as a superior manuscript of ''The Canterbury Tales''. <ref>Scala, p. 492.</ref> The Hengwrt Chaucer was first published in Furnivall’s parallel text in 1868, <ref>Frederick J. Furnivall, ed.,[http://www.archive.org/stream/hengwrtmschauce00chaugoog#page/n8/mode/2up The Hengwrt ms of Chaucer's Canterbury tales], London, published for the Chaucer Society by N. Trübner & CO., Ludgate Hill, 1868.</ref> but it only drew increasing attention since John M. Manly and Edith Rickert's collection and study of all the Canterbury Tale manuscripts, published in 1940. <ref>J.M. Manly and E. Rickert, "Text of the Canterbury Tales, Studied on the Basis of All Known Manuscripts, 8 vol., 1940.</ref><br /> | ||
In 1924 Manly and Rickert, colleagues at the University of Chicago, started a project for a new edition of ''The Canterbury Tales''. Their goal was to produce a text, which would come close to what Chaucer's holograph might have looked like | In 1924 Manly and Rickert, colleagues at the University of Chicago, started a project for a new edition of ''The Canterbury Tales''. Their goal was to produce a text, which would come close to what Chaucer's holograph might have looked like. To achieve that they wanted to track down as many manuscripts as possible, and make copies of them with the then available technology of the photostat, in order to compare them all. Procuring the manuscripts was not an easy task. Many of them were still in private collections and their owners had to be approached to allow Manly and Rickert access to their libraries. Both American scholars were granted access to the British Museum and many owners send their manuscripts there for examination and photostatting. Manley and Rickert also searched for copies of ''The Canterbury Tales'' mentioned in wills, library book lists and sale catalogues. They uncovered a number of manuscripts and pages, including the Merthyr fragment, related to the Hengwrt. In analysing all the information available they sought to determine what Chaucer actually wrote.<br /> | ||
While Manly and Rickert's efforts have revealed much information about the nature of the production of the extant manuscripts, they did not reach their initial goal. The final result of the collation of all known manuscripts was that they descended from no common ancestor. Yet the research of Manly and Rickert revealed the superiority of the Hengwrt Chaucer manuscript as a witness. | |||
==History of the manuscript== | ==History of the manuscript== | ||
Revision as of 04:25, 5 May 2010
The Hengwrt Chaucer manuscript, also Hengwrt Chaucer, is an early 15th century illuminated manuscript. It is believed to be the earliest extant copy of Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales. It is held in the National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth, referred to as MS. Perniarth 392 D and usually abbreviated as Hg. Together with the Ellesmere Chaucer manuscript it is considered to be the closest to the original text of The Canterbury Tales. The manuscript is named after the residence of Colonel Robert Baughan, one of its owners, who lived at Hengwrt in Wales. [1]
Sources and references
- Elizabeth Scala, "Editing Chaucer", in: Steve Ellis Chaucer An Oxford Guide (2005). New York United States: Oxford University Press. Inc. ISBN 0-19-925912-7
- ↑ Scala, p. 484.