The Canterbury Tales, A Selection – Second Edition

Drawing from the same text as the complete Broadview edition of the Tales, which is based on the famous Ellesmere Manuscript, this selected edition also features a critical introduction, marginal glosses in modern English of difficult words, and explanatory footnotes. The most widely taught appendix material from the complete edition is included, along with ten illustrations from the Ellesmere Manuscript. The second edition includes a new glossary, a timeline of Chaucer’s life and times, and detailed headers showing the section and line numbers, making it easier to find a specific section of the poem. Several popular prologues and tales have also been added to the selection: The Cook’s Prologue and Tale, The Friar’s Prologue and Tale, The Merchant’s Prologue and Tale, and The Parson’s Prologue. Comments “Boenig and Taylor have produced a welcome addition to the already-rich offerings available for the study of Chaucer in the classroom. The text hews closely to the Ellesmere Manuscript, making it useful for discussions of manuscript contexts of The Canterbury Tales. And both students and teachers will find the materials that frame the poem to be valuable aids in its study; the introduction offers a concise history of Chaucer and the reception of his work while the excerpted source texts that follow the poem are well chosen and provide crucial context.” — Timothy Stinson, North Carolina State University Praise for the complete edition: “With its meticulously edited text, generous glosses and notes, abundant selections from relevant medieval sources, and attractive reproductions of the sumptuous pages of the Ellesmere Manuscript, the Broadview Canterbury Tales will become the obvious choice for teachers, students, and general readers alike.” — John T. Sebastian, Loyola University New Orleans “This is the best edition of the Tales I’ve found to date.” — John Marlin, College of Saint Elizabeth