If a reader of Chaucer suspects that an echo of a biblical verse may somehow depend for its meaning on traditional commentary on that verse, how does he or she go about finding the relevant commentaries? If one finds the word 'fire' in a context that suggests resonances beyond the literal, how does that reader go about learning what the traditional figurative meanings of fire were? It was to the solution of such difficulties that R.E. Kaske addressed himself in this volume setting out and analyzing the major repositories of traditional material: biblical exegesis, the liturgy, hymns and sequences, sermons and homilies, the pictorial arts, mythography, commentaries on individual authors, and a number of miscellaneous themes. An appendix deals with medieval encyclopedias. Kaske created a tool that will revolutionize research in its designated field: the discovery and interpretation of the traditional meanings reflected in medieval Christian imagery.

More than 900 entries, carefully selected, organized, and annotated, and accompanied by informative background material, make this volume a unique and indispensable guide to Chaucer and related studies. The entries are divided into three categories. The first includes materials necessary for the study of Chaucer's works: complete editions, facsimiles, studies of manuscripts, canon, and dating, works on the poet's life, language, and learning, and his sources and influences. The second section covers Chaucer's works. The third contains a selection of secondary works which provide information on the age and the culture in which Chaucer lived; music, the visual arts, economics and politics, rhetoric and poetics, and sciences among the subjects included. Most entries listed are in English, but a few essential studies in French and German are included. Items have been selected not only on the basis of quality but also for importance in the history of scholarship, variety of approach, and specific usefulness to students and beginners.

The focus of this bibliography is the native literary tradition expressed in Irish and Welsh verse and prose from the earliest time to circa 1450. Priority is given to the most recent critical works and editions, provided that they supersede previous ones; however, earlier scholarly work and critical editions of texts that are now regarded as classics are also included. Because of the highly selective nature of this bibliography, Rachel Bromwich includes only a few studies on early legal texts, historical background, ecclesiastical learning, hagiography, archaeology and art, and folklore. The bibliography is divided into five chapters, of which two are intended for newcomers to the field and list the more available works of reference and aids to language study. The remaining three are devoted to literary history and criticism, texts and translations, and background material. The more than 500 entries have been arranged to show the ways in which the medieval literature of Ireland and Wales pursue parallel courses. In each chapter a general and comparative section is followed by sub-sections dealing with Irish material (including Cornish and Breton). Within each of these sub-sections individual items dealing with similar or closely related topics have been grouped together. Since this work is intended primarily for students working in English, the majority of the listings are in English, but important works in Irish, Welsh, French, and German are also cited.