Chaucer's Works, Volume 5 — Notes to the Canterbury TalesChaucer, Geoffrey
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Chaucer's Works, Volume 5 — Notes to the Canterbury Tales
Chaucer, Geoffrey
Chaucer, Geoffrey, -1400. Canterbury tales -- Criticism, interpretation, etc.
It must therefore be carefully borne in mind, that this edition of 1845, on
the title-page of which the name of Tyrwhitt is so conspicuous, was really
edited anonymously, or may even be said not to have been edited at all. The
Canterbury Tales are reprinted from Tyrwhitt; and so also are the Essay,
the Discourse, the Notes, and the Glossary; and it is most important to
observe that 'the Glossary' is preceded by Tyrwhitt's 'Advertisement,' and
by his 'Account of the Works of Chaucer to which this Glossary is adapted;
and of those other pieces[7] which have been improperly intermixed with his
in the Editions.' The volume is, in fact, made up in this way. Pages i-lxx
and 1-209 are all due to Tyrwhitt; and contain a Preface, an Appendix to
the Preface, an Abstract of Passages of the Life of Chaucer, an Essay, an
Introductory Discourse to the Tales, and the Tales themselves. [xiv] Again,
pp. 441-502 are all due to Tyrwhitt, and contain an Advertisement to the
Glossary, an Account of Chaucer's Works (as above), and a Glossary.
Moreover, this Glossary contains a large number of words from most of
Chaucer's Works, including even his _prose_ treatises; besides a handful of
words from spurious works such as 'Chaucer's Dream.'
In this way, all the former part and all the latter part of the volume are
due to Tyrwhitt; it is the _middle part_ that is wholly independent of him.
It is here that we find no less than twenty-five poems, _which he never
edited_, reprinted (inexactly) from the old black-letter editions or from
Chalmers. It thus becomes plain that the words 'By Thomas Tyrwhitt' on the
title-page refer only to the second clause of it, but have no reference to
the former clause, consisting of the words, 'The Poetical Works of Geoffrey
Chaucer.' It remains to be said that the twenty-five poems which are here
appended to the Canterbury Tales are well selected; and that the anonymous
editor or superintendent was guided in his choice by Tyrwhitt's 'Account of
the Works.'
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