"The three volumes of MS Harley 2253 present a complete edition and translation of a fourteenth-century English manuscript that contains secular love lyrics, contemporary political songs, religious lyrics, fabliaux, saints' lives, and other literary treasures in Middle English, Anglo-Norman, and Latin. The volumes also offer explanatory and textual notes, indexes of first lines, manuscripts cited, and proper names, and bibliographies." --
Citing The Complete Harley 2253 Manuscript as one of the most important literary books to survive from the British medieval era, Fein, Raybin, and Ziolkowski present it in a unique manner: each item is edited beside a modern English translation. Unrivaled in rarity, quality, and abundance, this collection of secular love lyrics is intermingled with political songs and inspirational religious lyrics in French, Latin, and English. There are three lives of Anglo-Saxon saints, satires, comedies, debates, interludes, collected sayings, conduct literature, Bible stories, dream interpretations, and pilgrim guides. Their aim is to give students the capacity to read and experience the whole book alongside viewing it in the facsimile, and also to enable scholars to better study and appraise the Ludlow scribe and the compilation he made. There are two booklets: 1 is the lives of the Fathers, and the Story of Thais; and 2 is Herman de Valenciennes, The Passion of Our Lord; Of Jesus Passion [ The Gospel of Nicodemus, Tradition A]; The Letter of Pilate to Tiberius; The Letter of Pilate to Emperor Claudius; The Life of Saint John the Evangelist; The Life of Saint John the Baptist; The Life of Saint Bartholomew; The Passion of Saint Peter. Medieval Institute Publications is at Western Michigan University. Annotation ©2015 Ringgold, Inc., Portland, OR (protoview.com)
