Hengwrt Chaucer manuscript
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]
Significance of the Hengwrt Chaucer
Although the Hengwrt Chaucer is less attractive than the Ellesmere Chaucer, it has emerged as a superior manuscript of The Canterbury Tales. [2] The Hengwrt Chaucer was first published in Furnivall’s parallel text in 1868, [3] 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.
Sources and references
- Manly, John M., and Edith Rickert, eds. The Text of the Canterbury Tales: Studied on the Basis of All Known Manuscripts. 8 vols. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press, 1940.
- 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.
- ↑ Scala, p. 492.
- ↑ Frederick J. Furnivall, ed.,The Hengwrt ms of Chaucer's Canterbury tales, London, published for the Chaucer Society by N. Trübner & CO., Ludgate Hill, 1868.