{"product_id":"the-lost-history-of-piers-plowman-the-earliest-transmission-of-langlands-work-hardback-9780812242751","title":"The Lost History of \"Piers Plowman\"; The Earliest Transmission of Langland's Work (Hardback) 9780812242751","description":"\u003cfont face=\"Georgia\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"6\"\u003eThe Lost History of \"Piers Plowman\"\u003c\/font\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\r\n\u003cfont size=\"5\"\u003eThe Earliest Transmission of Langland's Work\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"4\"\u003eLawrence Warner (Author)\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e9780812242751\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003eHardback, published 29 November 2010\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e136 pages, 3 illus.\u003cbr\u003e22.9 x 15.2 x 1.5 cm, 0.666 kg\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp align=\"justify\"\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e\"[Warner's] fundamental conclusion is the most radical in modern study of the poem. . . . This is an original and important book, one that will shape thinking about the text of \u003ci\u003ePiers Plowman\u003c\/i\u003e for a long time to come.\" (\u003ci\u003eTimes Literary Supplement\u003c\/i\u003e)\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp align=\"justify\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eDespite the recent outpouring of scholarship on \u003ci\u003ePiers Plowman\u003c\/i\u003e, Lawrence Warner contends, we know much less about the poem's production, transmission, and readership than one might think. When did William Langland write each of the three versions of the poem, and when did they enter wide circulation? What role did scribes and other agents play in these processes? \u003ci\u003eThe Lost History of \"Piers Plowman\"\u003c\/i\u003e engages with these questions to bring about a fundamental shift in our understanding of the genesis and development of the Middle English poem.\u003cbr\u003e According to received history, the poem exists in three distinct, chronological versions, the A, B, and C texts, with most scholars agreeing that Langland completed the B text-the version most familiar to modern readers-around 1377-78. Challenging much of the prevalent wisdom about the poem, Warner argues that the received B text is not an integral poem aligned with a single author but, rather, two groups of manuscripts, each of which, because of scribal activities, takes on varying amounts of what we now call C version matter. Through close textual analysis, he reveals that the B text is a conflation of an ur-B text with a collection of passages that belong to the C version of circa 1390, demonstrating that the circulation of the C text actually predates that of the B.\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eThe Lost History of \"Piers Plowman\"\u003c\/i\u003e is a groundbreaking and provocative work that establishes an entirely new paradigm for the study of one of the central works of Middle English literature. It will be of interest to scholars and students of textual studies, editorial theory, and medieval history.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003ePreface\u003cbr\u003e Chapter 1. Piers Plowman Before 1400: Evidence for the Earliest Circulation of A, B, and C\u003cbr\u003e Chapter 2. Scribal Conflation, Convergent Variation, and the Invention of Piers Plowman B\u003cbr\u003e Chapter 3. The Poison of Possession: B Passus 15\u003cbr\u003e Chapter 4. The Ending, and End, of Piers Plowman B\u003cbr\u003e Conclusion. Lollars, Friars, and Fyndynges: C Passus 9 and the Creation of Piers Plowman\u003cbr\u003e Notes\u003cbr\u003e Bibliography\u003cbr\u003e Index\u003cbr\u003e Acknowledgments\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003c\/font\u003e","brand":"University of Pennsylvania Press","offers":[{"title":"Brand New","offer_id":52555710890264,"sku":"9780812242751","price":38.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/freshlyprintedbooks.co.uk\/products\/the-lost-history-of-piers-plowman-the-earliest-transmission-of-langlands-work-hardback-9780812242751","provider":"Freshly Printed Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}