Book Description

Excerpt from The Exeter Book, Vol. 1: An Anthology of Anglo-Saxon Poetry; Presented to Exeter Cathedral by Leofric, First Bishop of Exeter (1050 1071), And Still in the Possession of the Dean and Chapter, Edited From the Manuscript, With a Translation, Notes, Introduction, Etc It is proposed to issue the present edition of the 'Exeter Book' in three parts. Part II, completing the text will, in all probability, be ready for publication by January, 1894. Part III, containing notes, introductions, indexes, will follow in due course. The Manumissions, Charters, and other Documents prefixed to the Ms. will form a supplementary brochure. The entire work will, it is hoped, be completed by the end of 1895. In accordance with the Society's present practice the accompanying instalment is published in advance. All the longer poems of the Codex will be found therein; in bulk it represents about three-fifths of the whole. The Editor begs leave to point out that the notes at the bottom of the page are strictly limited to variations from the Ms., which has been scrupulously followed. Italic letters, when not otherwise commented on, represent the customary Anglo-Saxon contractions; the small clarendon type, used occasionally after stops, indicates that in the original the size of the respective letters is intermediate between ordinary small and capital letters. No attempt has been made to normalize the spelling of the text, and in matters of interpretation the reading of the Ms. has been preferred to plausible emendations. It is surprising to find how often the Ms. is correct. Difficult and doubtful passages will be duly discussed in the fuller 'Notes and Illustrations, ' (Part III); meanwhile, the translation may perhaps serve as a fairly adequate commentary to the text. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.