Sidrak and Bokkus, volume I: A Parallel-Text Edition from Bodleian Library, MS Laud Misc. 559, and British Library, MS Lansdowne 793: 311 (Early English Text Society Original Series) - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 019722315X ISBN 13: 9780197223154

Publisher: Early English Text Society, 2005

Synopsis

A previously unpublished fifteenth-century book of knowledge, written in verse in question-and-answer from and enclosed in a framing adventure story. The English version is taken from an Old French source. The work covers a very wide range of topics and is of interest as an index of popular beliefs in the Middle Ages.

This parallel-text edition, which includes an Introduction, is based on the only two complete manuscripts of the Middle English text, collated with all other known English manuscripts of the poem.

Volume II (EETS OS 312) will contain the remainder of the text, explanatory notes, and a glossary. It is due to appear in 1999.

About this title

Review

Until this edition appeared, I confess to complete ignorance of idrak and Bokkus. It seems to have escaped the watchful eye of other bibliographers and historians as well, but thanks to Burton's monumental efforts it can now be consulted in a reliable edition. (L. M. Eldredge, Medium AEvum)

Heat and moisture in the grass create snails. One thousand years elapsed between the fall of Lucifer and the creation of Adam. Mankind's fairest limb is the nose ... Not many people know these things, but such ignorance as may exist is easily mended by consulting Sidrak and Bokkus, a late fifteenth-century translation of a French original, available for the first time in T. L. Burton's admirable edition. (L. M. Eldredge, Medium AEvum)

The reader, working through this comprehensive and well researched introduction, comes increasingly to feel confidence in Burton's capacity for undertaking this particular editorial task. The logic of his presentation is precise and persuasive, and his case is made with clarity. (Alan J. Fletcher, Notes and Queries, Vol.47, No.3, Sept. 2000.)

Edition details

• Publisher: Early English Text Society
• Publication date: 2005
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 019722315X
• ISBN 13: 9780197223154
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 540
• Editor: Burton T. L.