The Infamous b-Text of 'The Canterbury Tales'

Author / Editor
Boyd, Beverly.

Title
The Infamous b-Text of 'The Canterbury Tales'

Published
Manuscripta 34 (1990): 233-38.

Description
In this study of Princeton MS 100.1, Boyd posits that the b-text, admittedly faulty, represents the parchment core of MS Helmingham, itself an effort to save CT through cutting and summarizing the text. Its errors might also lie in the fact that whoever wrote it tried to change Chaucer's prosody to reflect internal changes in the English language, both in pronunciation and in leveling of inflections.

Chaucer Subjects
Manuscripts and Textual Studies.