The Mercat Anthology of Early Scottish Literature, 1375 1707

by R.D.S. Jack (Editor), P.A.T. Rozendaal (Editor)

This anthology is intended to answer the need for a large-scale anthology of early Scottish Literature, which is felt particularly acutely in the academic field. It has been designed as a teaching text suitable for use by students and at advanced level in schools. Longer works are either presented complete - e.g. James I, 'Kingis Quair'; or by sections which sum up the main themes and concerns of the text - e.g Barbour's 'Bruce' Book I. There are full critical and linguistic introductions; brief biographical and bibliographic introductions for each author or subsection; the texts have all been re-edited; every difficult word is glossed, and full explanatory notes appear at the foot of each page.A noteworthy feature of the book is Professor Jack's Critical Introduction, 'Where Stands Scottish Literature Now?'. This challenges many widely-held assumptions about Scottish Literature, in particular the tendency to undervalue or even ignore the writers of the seventeenth century in Scotland. Among other things the Introduction seeks to explore the reasons behind this strange neglect.Basing its argument on the texts of the Anthology as a whole, it seeks to redefine the accepted canon and suggests an alternative way of approaching Scottish literary history.

512 pages, Paperback

First published September 27, 2007

About the author

Ronald D.S. Jack, F.R.S.E., F.E.A. (1941 - 2016) was Emeritus Professor of Mediaeval and Scottish Literature at Edinburgh University. He was a distinguished scholar of medieval drama, early Scottish literature, Robert Burns, and J.M. Barrie.

His books include Scottish Prose 1550-1700 (1972); The Italian Influence on Scottish Literature (1972); Scottish Verse 1560-1660 (1978); Alexander Montgomerie (1985); History of Scottish Literature, Volume 1 (1988); Patterns of Divine Comedy (1989); William Dunbar (1996), The Mercat Anthology of Early Scottish Literature (2000, with P.A.T. Rozendaal) and Scotland in Europe (2006, with Tom Hubbard). In 2010, the 150th anniversary of Barrie's birth, a reprint appeared, from humming earth, of The Road to the Never Land. Rodopi published another monograph, Myths and the Myth-maker: A Literary Account of J.M. Barrie's Formative Years in December 2010.