Nlw Ms Brogyntyn Ii.1 : Understanding a Multi-scribe Manuscript Miscellany

The first full examination of a fascinating manuscript, Brogyntyn ii.1, a Middle English miscellany with a little Latin, compiled in the 1460s for an audience of low-ranking gentry.


Its 57 texts include the romance Sir Gawain and the Carl of Carlisle, practical information, almost every genre of verse, and many items in prose, two of which were adapted from poetic versions by their scribes. More than half of these items are either unique to this manuscript or have been uniquely altered from their sources and analogues.

The essays here offer both a comprehensive and foundational understanding of the manuscript. They consider the intended readers' social class, analyse the scribal handwriting, and for the first time identify the dialectal provenance of all the scribes who wrote in English. Further chapters consider specific texts (The Siege of Jerusalem in Prose and a life of St. Katherine of Alexandria), while four others look closely at the variety of lyrics, different kinds of practical texts and their parodies, and sequences of poems with thematic connections. It also includes editions of four previously unpublished items.

NANCY P. POPE retired from Washington University in St. Louis, where she earned her PhD in Comparative Literature, taught English, and served as an associate dean of the Graduate School. In retirement, she is researching and writing about Middle English manuscript miscellanies.

Margaret Connolly is Professor of Palaeography and Codicology at the University of St. Andrews.

JULIA BOFFEY is Professor of Medieval Studies in the Department of English at Queen Mary University of London.