The Manuscripts of the Canterbury Tales

Author / Editor
Owen, Charles, A., Jr.

Title
The Manuscripts of the Canterbury Tales

Published
Cambridge: D.S. Brewer, 1991.

Physical Description
xii, 132 pp.

Series
Chaucer Studies, no. 17.

Description
Chronologically surveys CT manuscripts, highlighting the importance of Hengwrt and the "wide difference in the number of independent textual traditions for different parts" of the work. Rejects the notion of a single Chaucerian copy text, crediting the "Hengwrt editor" with the first impulse to collect the Tales from fragments.
Despite continued circulation of "booklets" of tales, the early fifteenth century witnessed the standardization of two orders for the Tales. Manuscripts of single tales or small groups increased steadily throughout the century, suggesting that modern notions of "complete" texts of CT are misguided.

Chaucer Subjects
Manuscripts and Textual Studies.