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

Two further editions bring the number of published volumes of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicleseries to Edition with scholarly introduction, evaluating the relationship of the Abingdon Chronicle to other Chronicle manuscripts. This edition of BL MS Cotton Tiberius B i presents for the first time the textual source of several of the most important extant manuscripts in the Chronicle tradition (including MSS B, C, D and E), and showsthe contribution ofAbingdon Abbey to its development. In his full and detailed introduction, Professor Conner explains his choice of manuscript; he also offers a theory, arguing against current thinking, for the relationship between MSS B and C; and suggests that the phenomenon of poetry in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle originated with Abingdon. Professor PATRICK W. CONNERteaches in the Department of English, West Virginia University.

A study of the manuscripts, relics and historical traditions of Anglo-Saxon Exeter before Leofric moved the see of Devon and Cornwall there in 1050. In his search for an historical context for the famous Exeter Book of Old English poetry, Dr Conner's examination of the archaeological and textual records of Exeter have led him to significant new conclusions about the city's tenth century monastic culture. He posits the existence of a large library dating from the time of King AEthelstan, an active scriptorium from at least the mid-century period, and suggests that five other important manuscripts may have originated at Exeter c.950-c.990.A codicological examination of the Exeter Book draws fresh conclusions about its composition and its literary context. Anglo-Saxon Exeterconcludes with six appendices in which many documents important to the early history of the city are edited, including its relic-lists, the records for moving the see from Crediton to Exeter, Leofric's Inventory, a series of legal records which survive on a single leaf of an8th-century lectionary, and a study of the history of the Exeter Book from 1050 to the present. PATRICK CONNER is Professor in the department of English at West Virginia University.