Widely considered the greatest English poet of the Middle Ages, Geoffrey Chaucer is best known for the enduring ‘The Canterbury Tales’, which ranks as one of the most important works of the English language. It is a collection of 24 tales, presented as a story-telling contest by a group of pilgrims, as they travel from London to Canterbury to visit the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket. Chaucer's works helped establish the legitimacy of Middle English, at a time when the dominant literary languages in England were French and Latin. He has been called the father of English literature, who also gained fame as a philosopher and astronomer, while performing the duties of an accomplished courtier, diplomat, and civil servant. The first volume of our new Series Three offers the complete works of Geoffrey Chaucer, with medieval illustrations, scholarly features, informative introductions and the usual Delphi bonus material. (Version 1)
* Beautifully illustrated with images relating to Chaucer's life and works
* Concise introductions to the poems and other texts
* Images of how the books were first illustrated, giving your eReader a taste of the medieval texts
* Excellent formatting of the poetry
* THE CANTERBURY TALES features the original Ellesmere Manuscript illustrations of the pilgrims
* Offers two versions of the major texts THE CANTERBURY TALES and TROILUS AND CRISEDYE, each with individual contents tables and links: The Oxford University 1894 scholarly text, with original spellings and line numbers (ideal for students) AND a modernised spellings and annotated text version to help the general reader – now you can truly enjoy Chaucer's language!
* Special criticism section, with essays by writers such as G. K. Chesterton, Virginia Woolf and James Joyce evaluating Chaucer's contribution to literature
* Features four biographies – immerse yourself in Chaucer's medieval world!
* Scholarly ordering of texts into chronological order and literary genres
CONTENTS:
The Poetry
THE ROMAUNT OF THE ROSE
THE BOOK OF THE DUCHESS
THE HOUSE OF FAME
ANELIDA AND ARCITE
PARLEMENT OF FOULES
TROILUS AND CRISEYDE (ORIGINAL TEXT)
TROILUS AND CRISEYDE (MODERNISED AND ANNOTATED)
THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN
THE CANTERBURY TALES (ORIGINAL TEXT)
THE CANTERBURY TALES (MODERNISED AND ANNOTATED)
MINOR POEMS
The Non-Fiction
BOECE
TREATISE ON THE ASTROLABE
The Criticism
CHAUCER AND HIS TIMES by Grace Eleanor Hadow
ON MR. GEOFFREY CHAUCER by G. K. Chesterton
ADVENTURES IN CRITICISM by Sir Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch
LECTURES ON CHAUCER AND SPENSER by William Hazlitt
Extract from 'MY LITERARY PASSIONS' by William Dean Howells
THE RENAISSANCE AND THE REFORMATION by Andrew Lang
THE PASTONS AND CHAUCER by Virginia Woolf
Extract from 'INTRODUCTION TO THE PAINTINGS' by D. H. Lawrence
Extract from 'REALISM AND IDEALISM IN ENGLISH LITERATURE' by James Joyce
The Biographies
CHAUCER AND HIS ENGLAND by G. G. Coulton
CHAUCER by Sir Adolphus William Ward
CHAUCER'S OFFICIAL LIFE by James Root Hulbert
BRIEF LIFE OF GEOFFREY CHAUCER by D. Laing Purves
