LONDON.- Often called the ‘father of English poetry’, Geoffrey Chaucer (b. c. 1340s, d. 1400) was a prolific writer whose works have transfixed generations of readers. Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales is considered one of the greatest works of medieval literature, but he also wrote in a range of poetic forms and genres. Among his works are the Trojan epic Troilus and Criseyde, the dream vision The Legend of Good Women, his translations of the Roman de la Rose and The Consolation of Philosophy, his instructional manual on the astrolabe, and a whole host of minor poems.
The British Library holds the world’s largest surviving collection of Chaucer’s works, and this year we have reached a major milestone. Thanks to generous funding provided by The Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, the Peck Stacpoole Foundation, and the American Trust for the British Library, the Library has completed the digitisation of all of our pre-1600 manuscripts containing Chaucer’s works, over 60 collection items in total. We have digitised not only complete copies of Chaucer’s poems, but also unique survivals, including fragmentary texts found in Middle English anthologies or inscribed in printed editions and incunabula.
The newly digitised and accessible material includes:
• The Canterbury Tales, which presents a portrait of late medieval Britain through a combination of poignant tragedy and tongue-in-cheek humour, and larger-than-life characters, and, although unfinished when Chaucer died in 1400, is still celebrated as some of the greatest works in the English language
• Lesser-known and lesser-studied works by Chaucer, such as his Treatise on the Astrolabe and Anelida and Arcite
• One of only a small number of surviving portraits of Chaucer
• A clasped volume with its original medieval binding
• A manuscript written by John Shirley, one of the most important transcribers of Chaucer’s work in the late medieval period.
One of the most transformational figures of English Literature, as well as being – arguably – the greatest poet of the Middle English period, we’re delighted to open up Chaucer’s works to researchers and literary enthusiasts around the world. The collection will be freely available online on 25 October to coincide with the 623rd anniversary of Chaucer’s death.
The manuscripts have been catalogued in full, with comprehensive descriptions of their contents, decoration, physical characteristics and provenance. Hosted on the British Library Universal Viewer, Chaucer’s manuscripts are available to view in full – what’s more, users will able be able to compare these manuscripts side-by-side in digital form, allowing close comparison between the volumes, their texts, and scribal hands.
