Overview
This is volume I of the first scholarly edition of the Golden Legend, the largest and most elaborate production of the first printer in English, William Caxton. It is an English translation of Jacobus de Voragine's Legenda aurea (ca. 1267), a collection of legends for the feasts of saints (the Sanctorale) and other major days of the liturgical year (the Temporale). The Legenda aurea was one of the most popular and influential books in the later medieval Western world; it circulated widely, and was repeatedly translated into many vernacular languages. This volume reproduces Caxton's original text of the Temporale with modern punctuation and capitalization, notes on content, syntax and lexis, a detailed glossary, and an index of proper names. Caxton's complex combination of sources is given particular attention: the principal one was a little-known reworking of the French translation made by Jean de Vignay, but he also used the Latin original and a previous English translation, the Gilte Legende, and made some personal additions. The Introduction considers the structure of the entire book that Caxton created, but focuses on the Temporale and the set of Old Testament legends that will follow in volume 2. It discusses their sources and language, highlighting the differences between the first two volumes and the notable number of new words and senses. It also gives a detailed bibliographic account of this printing in its historical context and descriptions of all surviving copies.
Full Product Details
Author: Mayumi Taguchi (Professor, Faculty of International Studies, Osaka Sangyo University, Japan) ,
John Scahill (English Language Teacher, Insearch, Univeristy of Technology Sydney) ,
Satoko Tokunaga (Associate Professor, Keio University)
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Imprint: Oxford University Press
Volume: 355
Dimensions:
Width: 14.80cm
, Height: 3.10cm
, Length: 21.90cm
Weight: 0.556kg
ISBN: 9780198867968
ISBN 10: 0198867964
Pages: 320
Publication Date: 30 July 2020
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
Professional & Vocational
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: To order
Stock availability from the supplier is unknown. We will order it for you and ship this item to you once it is received by us.
Reviews
This edition of Caxton's Golden Legend promises to shed more light on the exact sources he used and the ways he adapted them. -- Sherry L. Reames, Speculum
Author Information
Mayumi Taguchi is a Professor at Osaka Sangyo University; she has been involved with several editorial projects on late medieval devotional texts. John Scahill was formerly a Professor of English at Keio University, Tokyo. Satoko Tokunaga is Associate Professor of English at Keio University and the Hon. Secretary for Japan of the Bibliographical Society.
