The Manuscripts Of Piers Plowman

The B-version of Piers Plowman, probably the only version authorised by Langland, is the one most frequently read today, and the most influential form of the poem. This catalogue of the 18 extant manuscripts, now located in Cambridge, London, Oxford, Tokyo, and San Marino, California, offers both individual manuscript descriptions and a record of the annotations. The new and detailed codicological descriptions include information on provenance and ownership; a full list of the contents; and a description of the physical make-up and the presentation of each manuscript. The substantial first full account of the various textual annotations in each manuscript (whether produced by the original scribes or later readers) provides the best record available of how Piers Plowman was understood by its earliest audience.

"A gifted poet has given us an astute, adroit, vigorous, inviting, eminently readable translation. . . . The challenging gamut of Langland's language . . . has here been rendered with blessed energy and precision. Economou has indeed Done-Best."—Allen Mandelbaum

The first full survey of crucial witnesses to the reception of Piers Plowman.