Thomas Tyrwhitt (1730-1786)

Author / Editor
Windeatt, B. A.

Title
Thomas Tyrwhitt (1730-1786)

Published
Paul Ruggiers, ed. Editing Chaucer: The Great Tradition (Norman, Okla.: Pilgrim Books, 1984), pp. 117-43.

Description
Describes Thomas Tyrwhitt as "the founder of modern Chaucer editing" and assesses the legacy of his 1775 edition of CT (with glossary, 1778), summarizing editorial principles and practices, the multiple witnesses to the text, and Tyrwhitt's several "Achievements," particularly his sensible handling of Chaucer's meter, the "centrality and rightness" of his explanatory notes, the linguistic sophistication of his glossary, and his attention the order of the Canterbury tales. Above all, Tyrwhitt is praiseworthy for his "exceptional respect for evidence within medieval tradition."

Alternative Title
Editing Chaucer: The Great Tradition.

Chaucer Subjects
Facsimiles, Editions, and Translations
Manuscripts and Textual Studies
Style and Versification
Canterbury Tales--General