The N-Town Play: Cotton MS Vespasian D.8: Volume I: Introduction and Text
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Oxford University Press
Published:1st Jan '70
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
The N-Town Cycle is one of the four extant Middle English cycles of mystery plays. A collection of unknown origin, N-Town is composite and in many ways unique. Its forty-one plays, dramatizing divine history from Creation to Doomsday, illustrate ways of reading, supplementing, and altering biblical accounts. The collection is extraordinarily rich in textual information testifying to the alteration and expansion of the text. And the language of the plays in many small ways advances our knowledge of the history of English. The plays exemplify the efficacy and beauty of simple faith. They provide instructions in the fundamental elements of medieval Christianity, and tell us much about the forms of consolation and self-fortification that were available in the late Middle Ages.
`When the annals of modern academic publication are compiled, the Early English Text Society (EETS) will command a very special place. Because of the high standards of editing as well as the advancements in editing theory and newly available information, some recent EETS editions have distinguished themselves. Stephen Spector's edition of The N-Town Play is a case in point. ... His authoritative texts are totally reliable and his careful commentary helps to establish the historical context of the plays. ... this is a masterful volume, recommended for all academic libraries.' M.C. Riggio, Choice
'Previous discussions of the manuscript's compilation and provenance leave Spector little scope for new initiatives in those areas, though he re-presents this essential material with commendable clarity and thoroughness ... Spector has made the complete N-town text at last accessible to scholar and student in an attractive modern edition which reflects the high standards of textual scholarship that we have come to expect from EETS publications.' David Mills, Medium Aevium, LXII.1
'Professor Spector's timely edition will surely stimulate a lively reappraisal of this fascinating collection of plays, and it is reassuring that such appraisals can build with confidence on such firm and secure textual foundations.' Vincent Gillespie, St Anne's College, Oxford, Notes and Queries, June 1993
'The major edition this year is by Stephen Spector of The N-Town Play. ... we are well served here, and Spector has proved a worthy successor to Katharine Block, the first EETS editor of the plays by whose efforts so much was achieved.' Years Work in English Studies
ISBN: 9780197224113
Dimensions: 223mm x 148mm x 40mm
Weight: 772g
474 pages