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Sir James Ware, the Collecting of Middle English Manuscripts in Ireland in the Seventeenth Century, and Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales

Edwards, Anthony S. G. (2011) Sir James Ware, the Collecting of Middle English Manuscripts in Ireland in the Seventeenth Century, and Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. Chaucer Review, 46 (1-2). pp. 237-247. ISSN 0009-2002. E-ISSN 1528-4204. (doi:10.1353/cr.2011.0026) (The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided) (KAR id:40687)

The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided.
Official URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1353/cr.2011.0026

Abstract

The history of the post-medieval collecting and study of Middle English manuscripts has yet to be written. It is clear that by the later sixteenth century such manuscripts had become objects of antiquarian and scholarly curiosity, reflected in the activities of a number of early collectors. But assessing the nature and extent of their activities can involve complex problems of identification. Early records of the existence of manuscripts in books lists, inventories, wills and sale catalogues are usually descriptively perfunctory and hence often hard to link confidently to those copies that survive. Such questions of identification are exemplified by Chaucer's works, particularly manuscripts of his Canterbury Tales, where the extensive records of provenance that survive still leave many unresolved problems. These problems of identification, both in particular connection with Chaucer's works and more generally in relation to the early collecting of Middle English, are represented in the records of Middle English manuscripts collected by James Ware.

Item Type: Article
DOI/Identification number: 10.1353/cr.2011.0026
Subjects: P Language and Literature > PE English philology and language
Divisions: Divisions > Division of Arts and Humanities > School of English
Depositing User: Stewart Brownrigg
Date Deposited: 07 Mar 2014 00:05 UTC
Last Modified: 16 Nov 2021 10:15 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/40687 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

University of Kent Author Information

Edwards, Anthony S. G..

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