This selection of nineteen essays by Nigel Wilkins, in English and in French, is characterised by an inter-disciplinary approach crossing the borders between music, language, literature, history, palaeography and iconography. The principal topic is lyric poetry in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, mostly French and English, both with and without music, and in various contexts. Guillaume de Machaut, the dominant poet-musician of the age, is the central figure: his influence is traced in poets such as Froissart, Deschamps, Christine de Pisan, Charles d'Orleans, Villon, Gower and Chaucer, and in the poet-musicians who came after him. The question of patronage is investigated. The development of the principal lyric forms, rondeau, ballade and virelai, is explored on both sides of the Channel, as is the way they were used, for example in miracle plays and in court entertainment. A Flemish painting of 1493 helps us discover the rAle of music in the ceremonies of trade and religious guilds; a memorial brass from King's Lynn reveals the importance of music in the ceremonial of feasts. Wider themes are also explored, such as the association of music with the Devil, the use of several languages combined in certain musical contexts, and the controversial role of inspiration in musical composition.

The scholarly quality of all of these contributions does justice to the richness of the entire collection. MODERN LANGUAGE REVIEW Articles examining aspects of the French manuscripts in the Parker Library. `This wide-ranging volume contains Philippe Menard's study of the Proverbs in MS 450 - Elspeth Kennedy's contribution on the prose Lancelot in MS 45 -concentrating on how the manuscript gives evidence of a medieval tendencyto improve a romance text in terms of narrative consistency; Danielle Queruel's essay on the Chronique d'un Menestrel de Reims in MS 435 - Francoise Ferrand's discussion of the magnificent Apocalypse in MS 20, which she suggests maywell have been produced to commemorate the coronation of Edward III; Rene Stuip's brief survey of the mid-fifteenth-century Histoire des Seigneurs de Gavre (MS 91) - Diana Tyson's examination of the five prose Brutmanuscripts,followed by a lengthy analysis by J.C. Thiolier of one of them, Thomas de Gray's Scalacronica(MS 133) with its interesting royalist slant on the murder of Thomas Becket; Jacques Beauroy's study of MSS 37and 301, examples of treatises on agricultural management - Fittingly, the editor's tail-piece is on fragments of French texts in the Parker Library - the volume is an interesting contribution.' FRENCH STUDIES NIGEL WILKINSis Librarian at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. The contributors are: PHILIPPE MENARD, ELSPETH KENNEDY, DANIELLE QUERUEL, FRANCOISE FERRAND, RENESTUIP, JEAN-CLAUDE THIOLIER, DIANA TYSON, JACQUES BEAUROY, NIGEL WILKINS

Catalogue of the famous collection of French manuscripts at the Parker Library, Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. The celebrated Parker Library at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, contains over sixty manuscripts of importance for medieval French studies, including chronicles and genealogies, royal statutes, religious works, sermons, prayers, meditations, commentaries and glosses, romances, songs and lyrics, letters, treatises on medicine, law, morality, language, spelling, alchemy, astrology and geography. Some of these are well known, but others are obscure, unedited, or new discoveries. This important new reference work, a Catalogueof the French manuscripts in the library, makes available detailed information about these sources, with full bibliographical references.

French lyric poets of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries continued many of the traditions of the earlier Provencal troubadours and northern trouveres and they inherited and developed the fixed forms - the ballade, the rondeau and the virelai. Dr Wilkins's anthology includes many of the finest poems of this period, showing the diversity of themes and structure and their richness and vitality. In his introduction, Dr Wilkins explains the structure and derivation of the fixed forms and gives an exposition of the characteristic themes. A biographical note introduces each poet or school of poets and there is a commentary for each of the poems, bibliographies, a glossary and indexes.

Survey of the relationship between music and literature in 14c France, Italy and Britain, with appendix of all songs attributed to Chaucer. An absorbing survey... He is an expert on the French song of the period, consequently his wider view of Chaucer's musical background is well worth reading ... and he has much to say about Italy and England. The music is first-rate, and early music performers will find these songs a welcome addition to their repertory. EARLY MUSIC Although Chaucer himself was never described as a musician, a number of his poems are based on French models which belongto a well-established musical tradition, and there are also many references to musical activities in his larger works. This is the starting point for Dr Wilkins's book, which explores both the wider question of the relationship between music and literature in the fourteenth century and the specific area of Chaucer `songs'. He surveys the musical and literary scene in France, Italy and Britain during Chaucer's lifetime, with special emphasis on composers such as Machaut and Landini, and on the differences in national styles. The performance of music and the instruments used are also fully explored. The discussion of Chaucer's musical background is illustrated in the accompanyingsettings presented with words by Chaucer - ten ballades, three complaintes (or chants royaux), and one rondeau. Fully illustrated with black and white photographs and musical examples. New edition; first published 1979, 1980.

Musical Encounters by Nigel Wilkins relates a journey from a childhood in Essex to a career as a Professor of Musicology in Paris. Interspersed with `Musical Encounters' with various musicians, many of them famous, this is an insight into the life of an active musician and researcher.

This selection of nineteen essays by Nigel Wilkins, in English and in French, is characterised by an inter-disciplinary approach crossing the borders between music, language, literature, history, palaeography and iconography. The principal topic is lyric poetry in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, mostly French and English, both with and without music, and in various contexts. Guillaume de Machaut, the dominant poet-musician of the age, is the central figure: his influence is traced in poets such as Froissart, Deschamps, Christine de Pisan, Charles d'Orleans, Villon, Gower and Chaucer, and in the poet-musicians who came after him. The question of patronage is investigated. The development of the principal lyric forms, rondeau, ballade and virelai, is explored on both sides of the Channel, as is the way they were used, for example in miracle plays and in court entertainment. A Flemish painting of 1493 helps us discover the rAle of music in the ceremonies of trade and religious guilds; a memorial brass from King's Lynn reveals the importance of music in the ceremonial of feasts. Wider themes are also explored, such as the association of music with the Devil, the use of several languages combined in certain musical contexts, and the controversial role of inspiration in musical composition.