Preface

Joseph Hall

M.A., Hon. D.Litt., Durham University

Part I: Texts

Oxford

At the Clarendon Press

M Cm XX

Oxford University Press

London Edinburgh Glasgow New York Toronto Melbourne Cape Town Bombay Humphrey Milford Publisher to the University

Some of the texts in this book have already appeared in the Specimens of Early English edited by the Rev. Richard Morris. But Nos. i, ii, iv, vii, xiii and xv are new, the important shorter pieces, Nos. vi, viii, xvi, xviii, xxi and xxiii, are printed in full, and some, as Nos. viii and ix, are taken from additional or better manuscripts. The pieces are arranged tentatively in what appears to be the chronological order of their composition, but Nos. xix and xvii should have come before the Ancrene Wisse, and No. vii has been placed next to the Proverbs of Alfred, from which it appears to be derived. It is hoped that those who study the older book will find in the present one a useful supplement.

The texts follow the manuscripts in all details. The syntax being comparatively simple, there is not much to be gained by modern punctuation, and that of the manuscripts has gained a fresh importance from theories which have been founded upon it. Where obvious mistakes have been corrected in the text, notice is always given in the footnotes. Additions are made within square brackets, and interlineations are printed between accents.

My best thanks are due to the custodians of the libraries for the facilities which with uniform kindness they extended to me in the collation of the manuscripts.

J. H.

Woodstock,
January, 1920.