Poems of the Pearl Manuscript (Exeter Medieval Texts and Studies) [Paperback]

M. Andrew (Editor), R. Waldron (Editor)

Book Description

Series: Exeter Medieval Texts and Studies | Publication Date: December 13, 1996

Revised edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 382 pages
• Publisher: University of Exeter Press; 3rd edition (December 13, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0859895149
• ISBN-13: 978-0859895149
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,798,936 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My favourite edition, May 19, 2000

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"thisnicknameisnottaken" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Poems of the Pearl Manuscript (Exeter Medieval Texts and Studies) (Paperback)

The Pearl manuscript contains four poems (Pearl, Patience, Cleanliness, and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight), all generally assumed to be by the same author and all touching on the same themes - specifically, the beliefs of 'orthodox medieval Christianity and... chivalric social morality' as the (excellent) introduction puts it.

Probably written by a Northern contemporary of Chaucer, the Pearl manuscript's poems are nevertheless worlds apart from his work: they combine Old English alliterative verse with the kind of rhyming structures that were in fashion on the Continent and down south to create something unique and beautiful.

This edition is a very well-presented one, with a comprehensive introduction to the poems, a glossary at the back containing just about all the words in the poems (with line references), and other glosses intelligently placed at the foot of each page of text for the more obscure phrases. It's a system which gives maximum readability and minimum flicking back and forth to check the meaning of words and phrases - ideal for the student.