The Paston Letters: A Selection in Modern Spelling (Oxford World's Classics) [Paperback]

Norman Davis (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0192836404 | ISBN-13: 978-0192836403 | Publication Date: August 19, 1999

The Pastons of Norfolk left behind them an incomparable picture of life in fifteenth-century England in the earliest great collection of family letters in English. The letters span three generations and most were written during the reigns of HenryVI, Edward IV, and Richard III, in a period of political turmoil, local anarchy, and war abroad and at home. They reveal personal hopes and anxieties, and contain as well as business matters a wealth of information on leisure pursuits, education, and domestic life. The writers express themselves with a clarity and vigour that is remarkable at this early date, and the letter illustrate, as no other documents can, the state of the language in daily use immediately before and after the introduction of printing. This modernized selection prepared from the original manuscripts is designed to present the full range of the Pastons' principle concerns.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (August 19, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0192836404
• ISBN-13: 978-0192836403
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #623,295 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Family life, November 27, 2003

By 

"brianmclean" (Budapest, Hungary) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Paston Letters: A Selection in Modern Spelling (Oxford World's Classics) (Paperback)

England on the eve of the modern period was a troubled place, but the Pastons made the most of it, rising from Norfolk farming to national celebrity. Their letters (covering a period from about 1420 to 1503) give a remarkably modern idea of their characters and much fascinating information about daily life, society, commerce and the law. The women as well as the men in the family come over as extremely well informed. This seems to be the only edition in print at the moment. The entire collection was last published in two parts in 1971 and 1976, edited by Norman Davis, but the letters included here have been well selected. The Paston Letters make an eventful and informative read.