The Text of the ABC of Aristotle in the ‘Winchester Anthology’
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Ian Cornelius
Abstract
The Middle English ABC of Aristotle is an alliterative abecedary poem that survives in fifteen manuscript copies dating between the mid-fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. The most eccentric copy, bearing the greatest number of unique textual variants, is in London, British Library, Additional 60577, a commonplace book and miscellany of verse and prose known today as the ‘Winchester Anthology’. The Winchester copy of the ABC of Aristotle is distinguished from all others by changes to vocabulary, idiom, and prosody. The result is a unique redaction, illustrating the kind of literary composition that could be expected to grow out of late medieval English grammar schools. The Winchester redaction also expresses a shift in prosodic allegiance. The traditional alliterative line is subtly reshaped into an accentual-syllabic form.
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- Frontmatter
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- Multilingualism and Language Contact in the Cely Letters
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- The Old English Life of Saint Mary of Egypt and London, British Library, Cotton Julius E.vii: A Textual Study
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- Elizabeth Archibald and David F. Johnson (eds.). 2020. Arthurian Literature XXXV. Cambridge: Brewer, x + 217 pp., 5 illustr., £ 60.00/$ 99.00
- David George with Thomas Clayton, Niels Herold, Megan-Marie Johnson and Ashley Spriggs (eds.). 2019. Coriolanus: A New Variorum Edition of Shakespeare. 2 vols. Morrisville, NC: Lulu Press, 654 pp. and 532 pp., $ 60.00 each.
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- Susheila Nasta and Mark U. Stein (eds.). 2020. The Cambridge History of Black and Asian British Writing. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, xxiv + 732 pp., £ 99.99.
- David Kerler and Timo Müller (eds.). 2019. Poem Unlimited: New Perspectives on Poetry and Genre. Anglia Book Series 63. Berlin: De Gruyter, vi + 282 pp., € 99.95.
- Ingo Berensmeyer, Gert Buelens and Marysa Demoor (eds.). 2019. The Cambridge Handbook of Literary Authorship. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, xii + 491 pp., 5 figures, £ 115.00.
