This edition, the first of its kind in Piers Plowman studies, aims to establish the archetypal text of the B-version of the poem, the ancestor of all extant manuscripts. The editors claim that this can be determined with certainty in the majority of lines by examining the relationship between the best copies of the alpha and beta families of the B-version stemma. Past editors have attempted to reconstruct the authorial text by extensive emendation, but Burrow and Turville-Petre claim that the archetype was not nearly as corrupt as previously maintained. In Piers Plowman: The B-Version Archetype the editors have opened a new chapter in the study of the B-text tradition.

About the Author
John A. Burrow was emeritus professor at the University of Bristol, and the author of many studies of medieval literature, including Langland's Fictions.


Book Information
ISBN 9781941331149
Author William Langland
Format Paperback
Page Count 384
Imprint Society for Early English & Norse Electronic Texts (SEENET)
Publisher Society for Early English & Norse Electronic Texts (SEENET)