Reading Old English Texts, first published in 1997, focuses on the critical methods being used and developed for reading and analysing writings in Old English. The collection is timely, given the explosion of interest in the theory, method, and practice of critical reading. Each chapter engages with work on Old English texts from a particular methodological stance. The authors are all experts in the field, but are also concerned to explain their method and its application to a broad undergraduate and graduate readership. The chapters include a brief historical background to the approach; a definition of the field or method under consideration; a discussion of some exemplary criticism (with a balance of prose and verse passages); an illustration of the ways in which texts are read through this approach, and some suggestions for future work.

For many years there has been lively debate about the 'orality' or 'literacy' of Old English verse: about whether the Old English verse which has come down to us is primarily the product of oral composition or primarily written, insofar as it is transmitted only in manuscript. The present book throws light on this question by drawing our attention to a largely unexplored body of evidence, namely the graphic realization of Old English verse in the surviving manuscripts - how it is set out spatially, how it is marked up for reading with punctuation of various kinds. Professor O'Keeffe shows that by the late tenth century scribes had apparently ceased to alter the poems which they were transcribing by recourse to residual orality, and had begun to copy verbatim the poetic text before them. The entire orality-literacy debate has been lifted on to a new plane; the book makes a major contribution to our understanding of the way Old English verse has come down to us.

Reading Old English Texts focuses on the critical methods currently being used and developed for reading and analyzing writings in Old English. It is the first collection of its kind in the field and is a timely book, given the explosion of interest in the theory, method and practice of critical reading in recent years. Each chapter engages with current work on Old English texts from a particular methodological stance. The authors are all expert, but are also concerned with explaining their method and its application to a broad undergraduate and graduate readership.

For many years there has been lively debate about the 'orality' or 'literacy' of Old English verse: about whether the Old English verse which has come down to us is primarily the product of oral composition or primarily written, insofar as it is transmitted only in manuscript. The present book throws light on this question by drawing our attention to a largely unexplored body of evidence, namely the graphic realization of Old English verse in the surviving manuscripts - how it is set out spatially, how it is marked up for reading with punctuation of various kinds. Professor O'Keeffe shows that by the late tenth century scribes had apparently ceased to alter the poems which they were transcribing by recourse to residual orality, and had begun to copy verbatim the poetic text before them. The entire orality-literacy debate has been lifted on to a new plane; the book makes a major contribution to our understanding of the way Old English verse has come down to us.

An important source of information for the reign of Edward the Confessor, with a unique political perspective on the ascendency of Godwine and his sons. This volume presents a semi-diplomatic edition of the text of MS C (London, British Library Cotton, Tiberius B.i). Usually referred to as "the Abingdon Chronicle", it was substantially copied in the mid-eleventh century and continued to be so sporadically thereafter; the supplement to its abrupt ending by a twelfth-century reader suggests that it was still of interest in the period after the Conquest. The C-text is an important source of information for the reign of Edward the Confessor, and it brings a unique political perspective to the ascendency of Godwine and his sons. The traditional association of the text, manuscript or both with the reformed monastery of Abingdon hasbeen an important feature of the current understanding of the interrelationships among the several texts of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. The present edition examines the various arguments for associating the C-text with Abingdon andthe difficulties inherent in these arguments. It brings to bear evidence from the palaeography and codicology of the manuscript as well as text historical and linguistic evidence. The introduction to the text considers the different strands composing the C-text, and the close relationships of this text to MSS B, D, and E, and the volume is completed with indices of persons, peoples and places. Professor KATHERINE O'BRIEN O'KEEFFE teaches in the Department of English at the University of Notre Dame.

Seven original essays on the theory, practice and future of editing Old English verse. Questions of the theory, practice and future of editing Old English verse have become increasingly pressing in the light of new research and technology, and this volume of seven original substantial essays explores a number of important editorial issues. The collection investigates the implications of current concerns in textual editing relating to the presentation of Old English verse, among them materialist criticism and approaches to the culture of thebook in the early middle ages; revisionist readings of the canons and heritage of nineteenth-century philology; and the electronic future of editing Old English. Particular topics addressed include the ethics of editing and its responsibility to both poet and reader; the neglected verses of the Paris Psalter; the editorial problems presented by the mixed form of AElfric's rhythmical prose; and the difficulties of the printed page. The final essay in the volume explores the capabilities of the electronic hypertext to reinvent the whole process of editing and editions. KATHERINE O'BRIEN O'KEEFFE is Professor of English and Fellow of the Medieval Institute, University of Notre Dame; Dr SARAH LARRATT KEEFER teaches in the Department of English at Trent University. Contributors: EDWARD B. IRVING, JR, SARAH LARRATT KEEFER, A.N. DOANE, D.G. SCRAGG, M.J. TOSWELL, PAUL E. SZARMACH, PATRICK W. CONNER

One of the most exciting developments in recent literary studies bases interpretation on a new understanding of bodily aspects of text. Contributors Mary Carruthers, Michael Camille, Seth Lerer, and Carolyn Dinshaw bring various disciplinary perspectives to this intriguing subject. The method employed here views the body as a text to be read. Though the approaches of these essays are widely varied, three concerns figure and refigure themselves throughout the book: the gendered body and the copied book as locus of pain, pleasure, and desire. They will be of immense interest to medievalists and other scholars of language, philosophy, history, art history, and gender studies. Frese and O'Keeffe explore the liminal areas between the book and the body from contemporary perspectives. Though the approaches of these essays are widely varied, three concerns figure throughout the book: the gendered body and the copied book as locus of pain, pleasure, and desire.

The long history of textual editing and scholarship has been intimately involved with the physique of the book, which set limits on the presentation and study of text. Increasingly, since the 1980s, the written word has taken on a digital form, and the shift from codex to computer, from print to electronic media, creates new opportunities-and new difficulties. This volume offers an emerging consensus about the fundamental issues of electronic textual editing. It provides practical advice and faces theoretical questions. Its twenty-four essays deal with markup coding and procedures, electronic archive administration, use of standards (such as Unicode), rights and permissions, and the changing and challenging environment of the Internet. Some of the specific texts discussed are Greek and Latin inscriptions, the Gospel of John, the Canterbury Tales, William Blake's poems and art, Percy Bysshe Shelley's The Devil's Walk, Stijn Streuvels's De teleurgang van den Waterhoek, Ludwig Wittgenstein's Nachlass, and the papers of Thomas Edison. The guidelines of the MLA's Committee on Scholarly Editions, recently revised to address electronic editions, are included in full.

The long history of textual editing and scholarship has been intimately involved with the physique of the book, which set limits on the presentation and study of text. Increasingly, since the 1980s, the written word has taken on a digital form, and the shift from codex to computer, from print to electronic media, creates new opportunities-and new difficulties. This volume offers an emerging consensus about the fundamental issues of electronic textual editing. It provides practical advice and faces theoretical questions. Its twenty-four essays deal with markup coding and procedures, electronic archive administration, use of standards (such as Unicode), rights and permissions, and the changing and challenging environment of the Internet. Some of the specific texts discussed are Greek and Latin inscriptions, the Gospel of John, the Canterbury Tales, William Blake's poems and art, Percy Bysshe Shelley's The Devil's Walk, Stijn Streuvels's De teleurgang van den Waterhoek, Ludwig Wittgenstein's Nachlass, and the papers of Thomas Edison. The guidelines of the MLA's Committee on Scholarly Editions, recently revised to address electronic editions, are included in full.