The Romance Of Sir Bevis Of Hamtoun

First comprehensive collection to be devoted to Sir Bevis, the most popular Middle English romance.

Sir Bevis of Hampton' is arguably one of the most important non-Arthurian romances in Middle English, but it is only comparatively recently that it has received much scholarly or critical attention. Originating in England, the story of Bevis was immensely popular and influential during the late medieval and early modern periods, both in the British Isles and in continental Europe. The Middle English Bevis was translated around 1300 from an Anglo-Norman original, which spawned versions, both written and oral, in a dozen or so languages; these range in date from the beginning of the fourteenth century to within living memory, when a version of the story was still being performed by Sicilian puppeteers. The printing-history of Bevis, as well as references to the romance in the works of such writers as Shakespeare, Spenser, Bunyan, Drayton and Steele, indicates that it was still being widely read in English until well into the early modern period. This parallel-text edition is designed to complement rather than to supplant earlier editions of Bevis, such as that produced by Eugen Kolbing and published for the Early English Text Society in 1885-1894. A substantial introduction and extensive annotation place the Middle English romance in its literary and cultural contexts, from the fourteenth century down to the present day. The principal aims of the edition are to indicate the variety and complexity of the textual tradition of Bevis and to provide material for further, more nuanced approaches to a significant cultural phenomenon.

Excerpt from Sir Beves of Hamtoun: A Metrical Romance For the extremely elegant and appropriate frontispiece I am indebted to the pencil of my friend charles kirkpatrick sharpe, Esq., Whose graphic abilities are only equalled by his uniform courtesy and kindness. A faithful fac-simile of the original manuscript is also prefixed. The romance of Bevis' father, Sir Guy of Warwick, has been transcribed from the same ms. And is about to be printed for that very ourishing and remarkably select association - the AR botsford club. To conclude, in the words Of the Editor of the prose romancexviii preliminary remarks. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works."

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