Among the finest manuscripts are a 'Roman de la Rose' with 125 miniatures, a 'Piers Plowman', the 'Ormsby Psalter' and the famous 'Douce Apocalypse'.

The Library of Trinity College, Cambridge, contains the largest collection of medieval manuscripts of any college in Great Britain, and one of the most important collections in the world. The subjects contained therein cover the whole range of topics usual to medieval manuscripts, with the single bias being that the majority were produced in Britain. Particularly noteworthy are Wycliffite translations of the Bible, sermons, and Wycliffite tracts; three manuscripts containing Nicholas Love's 'Mirror of the Blessed Lif of Ihesu Crist'; and major collections of devotional texts. Trinity is also rich in medieval scientific manuscripts, many of which came through Roger Gale's interest in this field; they include a number of large medical manuscripts whose compilers were apparently trying to bring together much of the current knowledge of the day, from tracts by such men as John of Arderne and Gilbertus Angelicus, with recipes for treatments, under a single cover. The collection also contains major compilations of alchemical tracts; historical and legal material; and unique Middle English translations of classical and early medieval texts. Finally, a number of known Middle English texts not previously thought to be in the Trinity Collection are identified, opening new areas for study of Trinity's manuscripts, especially the medical and scientific texts which have much to tell of scientific learning in England in the later middle ages. LINNE R. MOONEY is Associate Professor of English at the University of Maine (and a former graduate of the Center for Medieval Studies at Toronto).

Published by Boydell & Brewer Inc.

Originally published in 1981, Middle English Prose is an edited collection providing an index of research and scholarship on Middle English prose. The book is split into specific thematic areas of scholarship covering such areas as editorial technique and middle English mystical prose, as well as focusing more in detail on specific prose such as Nicholas Love’s Myrrour of the Blessed Lyf of Jesu Christ. Each chapter contains a collection of useful sources and an editorial analysis and description on each source. Even today, this will provide a useful and valuable resource for researchers of the medieval period.

For the first time available in paperback, this classic anthology provides readers with important literary works composed during the Middle English period (1100-1500) in England, Scotland, and Ireland. The editors provide glosses for all unfamiliar words and obscure phrases and every selection refers to at least one definitive edition where details of recent scholarship can be found. Modern punctuation and capitalization are used throughout and variant spellings are kept to a minimum to avoid unnecessary confusion. The introduction discusses important literary and linguistic questions; the headnotes and bibliography offer extensive guidance to secondary sources; and the appendixes clarify pronunciation, verb use, and dialect variations.