Writers, Editors and Exemplars in Medieval English Texts

This collection of essays explores the literary legacy of medieval England by examining the writers, editors and exemplars of medieval English texts. In order to better understand the human agency, creativity and forms of sanctity of medieval England, these essays investigate both the production of medieval texts and the people whose hands and minds created, altered and/or published them.  The chapters consider the writings of major authors such as Chaucer, Gower and Wyclif in relation to texts, authors and ideals less well-known today, and in light of the translation and interpretive reproduction of the Bible in Middle English. The essays make some texts available for the first time in print, and examine the roles of historical scholars in the construction of medieval English literature and textual cultures. By doing so, this collection investigates what it means to recover, study and represent some of the key medieval English texts that continue to influence us today.

“Writers, Editors and Exemplars in Medieval English Texts is an enjoyable edited collection that makes valuable contributions to early and late medieval literary studies.” (Patrick Outhwaite, Speculum, Vol. 99 (4), October, 2024)

“This book is a collection of thirteen papers, mostly by established and distinguished Scholars … . Von Nolcken’s interest in textual scholarship and close attention to detail are well served by her colleagues in this collection. It continues many conversations: on lollards, on Chaucer’s marriage debates, on saints and martyrdom, on the complications of editing and the textual history of manuscripts and books. … a satisfying and productive read.” (M. J. Toswell, Journal of English and Germanic Philology, Vol. 123 (1), January2024)

“This collection ‘reunites the interpretation and reception’ of major texts beloved by its honouree, Christina von Nolcken, including superb essays like Susanna Fein’s on which writings the Harley 2253 scribe composed himself; Ann Astell’s on Marian exempla behind Chaucer’s Griselda; Jenny Adams on Oxford’s loan chests and the Clerk’s bookshelf; Anne Hudson’s on Forshall and Madden’s unparalleled 1850 edition of The Wycliffite Bible; Fiona Somerset’s on Wycliffites and ‘Sancta’ Hildegard; or Andrew Rabin’s on two pioneering eighteenth-century scholars of Old English. Productively ‘blurring the distinction between authors and scribes,’ these essays are a fitting tribute to von Nolcken’s formative career, and enrichment for upcoming generations.” (Kathryn Kerby-Fulton, Professor Emerita of English, University of Notre Dame, USA)

“A fitting tribute to a scholar who has shared her vast expertise with generations of medievalists. Writers, Editors and Exemplars in Medieval English Texts brims with original research on the ways in which any number of hands shaped medieval texts and manuscripts, and on how scholars in recent centuries have further molded medieval legacies. This collection reveals, among other things, the continued importance of stripping back the layers of varnish—and of scrutinizing the important work of those who applied it.” (Michael Van Dussen, Associate Professor of English, McGill University, Canada)

Sharon M. Rowley is Professor of English at Christopher Newport University, USA. Her publications include The Old English Version of Bede’s Historia Ecclesiastica (2011), “Bede and the Northern Kingdoms” (2013) and “Textual Studies, Gender and Performance in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” (2003). She is currently editing the Old English Bede with Greg Waite.