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The old English versions of the Gesta Romanorum; edited for the first time from manuscripts in the British Museum and University Library, Cambridge, with an introduction and notes
This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1838 ...alle the wittis, by which the soule was troubelyd and slayne, by diuerse infirmiteys, as yene by wrong couetise, herynge by bacbitinge, as glad for to here bacbiters, and bacbitynge and detraccione, and so of othir. And therfore the soule may not iville be seeyne with Crist, hire spouse, tille tyme that the yene be openyd, the eeris ben 3ivyne, and turnyde to helthe, and so of othir wittis. And if that it come this abowte, dowteles the sowle shalle go with Crist, hire spouse, to the palys of Heuene. Ad quod nos ducat! Amen. LXX. LAMARTINUS THE EMPEROUR. Lamartinus regnyd Emperour in the cite of Rome; and he helde in howsehold with him the sone of his brothir, whom he moche lovide, and the name of that childe was Fulgencius, and euery day he mynystrid to the Emperour of drynke. And in the same tyme ther was in the same place a stiwarde, that was stiwarde of alle the empire, and he was his eem; and he hade gret envie of this childe, that the Emperour lovid hym so moche, and therfore he stodeyd ny3t and day, howe that he my3t make discorde betwyne the Emperour and this childe. So in a certeyne tyme, whenne the stiward perceivid the Emperour in chambir, and araiynge him to bed, he went to him, and saide, "Sir, my lord, I haue a certeyne conseil to c. 2. shewe betwix you and me." u Sey," quoth the Emperour, "for heere bene nowe but we two." Then saide the stiwarde, "Sir, this childe Fulgencius, that is your cosyne, and that ye love so moche, fowly defamithe you ouer alle the empire, scil. that ye ben infecte with infirmite of lepre, in so moche that he may not, for stenche that comithe fro you, stond by you whenne that he bryngithe you drynke; and therfore euer whenne he comithe to you with drynke, sothly as soone as he hathe take y...
182 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2012
About the author
Frederic Madden
121 books4 followersSir Frederic Madden was an English palaeographer.
From his childhood he displayed a flair for linguistic and antiquarian studies. In 1826 he was engaged by the British Museum to assist in the preparation of the classified catalogue of printed books, and in 1828 he became assistant keeper of manuscripts. In 1832 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. In 1833 he was knighted, and in 1837 succeeded Josiah Forshall as keeper of manuscripts. He did not get on well with his colleagues, and retired in 1866.
Madden was the leading palaeographer of his day. However, his ignorance of German prevented his ranking high as a philologist, although he paid much attention to the early dialectical forms of French and English. His minor contributions to antiquarian research were numerous: the best known, perhaps, was his dissertation on the spelling of Shakespeare's name, which, mainly on the strength of a signature found in John Florio's copy of the work of Montaigne, he contended should be "Shakspere." This led to a lengthy debate and to a period when the "Shakspere" spelling nearly became the norm.
He edited for the Roxburghe Club Havelok the Dane (1828), discovered by himself among the Laudian manuscripts in the Bodleian Library, William and the Werwolf (1832) and the old English versions of the Gesta Romanorum (1838). In 1839 he edited the ancient metrical romances of Syr Gawayne for the Bannatyne Club, and in 1847 Layamon's Brut, with a prose translation, for the Society of Antiquaries. In 1850 the magnificent edition, in parallel columns, of what are known as the Wycliffite versions of the Bible, from the original manuscripts, upon which he and his coadjutor, Forshall, had been engaged for twenty years, was published by the University of Oxford.
In 1866-1869 he edited the Historia Minor of Matthew Paris for the Rolls Series. In 1833 he wrote the text of Henry Shaw's Illuminated Ornaments of the Middle Ages; and in 1850 edited the English translation of Joseph Balthazar Silvestre's Paléographie universelle.
During his tenure as Keeper of MSS, Madden undertook extensive conservation work on the Cotton manuscripts (often in the face of opposition from the Museum’s board, who deemed the enterprise prohibitively expensive). In collaboration with the bookbinder Henry Gough, he developed a conservation strategy that restored even the most badly damaged fragments and manuscripts to a usable state. Vellum sheets were cleaned and flattened and mounted in paper frames. Where possible, they were rebound in their original codices.
As well as the fragments found in the garret, he carried out conservation work on the rest of the collection. Many manuscripts had become brittle and fragile, including the codex that contains the only known copy of Beowulf (Cotton Vittelius A xv).
On his death at his home in St Stephen's Square, London, he bequeathed his journals and other private papers to the Bodleian Library, where they were to remain unopened until 1920.
From his childhood he displayed a flair for linguistic and antiquarian studies. In 1826 he was engaged by the British Museum to assist in the preparation of the classified catalogue of printed books, and in 1828 he became assistant keeper of manuscripts. In 1832 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. In 1833 he was knighted, and in 1837 succeeded Josiah Forshall as keeper of manuscripts. He did not get on well with his colleagues, and retired in 1866.
Madden was the leading palaeographer of his day. However, his ignorance of German prevented his ranking high as a philologist, although he paid much attention to the early dialectical forms of French and English. His minor contributions to antiquarian research were numerous: the best known, perhaps, was his dissertation on the spelling of Shakespeare's name, which, mainly on the strength of a signature found in John Florio's copy of the work of Montaigne, he contended should be "Shakspere." This led to a lengthy debate and to a period when the "Shakspere" spelling nearly became the norm.
He edited for the Roxburghe Club Havelok the Dane (1828), discovered by himself among the Laudian manuscripts in the Bodleian Library, William and the Werwolf (1832) and the old English versions of the Gesta Romanorum (1838). In 1839 he edited the ancient metrical romances of Syr Gawayne for the Bannatyne Club, and in 1847 Layamon's Brut, with a prose translation, for the Society of Antiquaries. In 1850 the magnificent edition, in parallel columns, of what are known as the Wycliffite versions of the Bible, from the original manuscripts, upon which he and his coadjutor, Forshall, had been engaged for twenty years, was published by the University of Oxford.
In 1866-1869 he edited the Historia Minor of Matthew Paris for the Rolls Series. In 1833 he wrote the text of Henry Shaw's Illuminated Ornaments of the Middle Ages; and in 1850 edited the English translation of Joseph Balthazar Silvestre's Paléographie universelle.
During his tenure as Keeper of MSS, Madden undertook extensive conservation work on the Cotton manuscripts (often in the face of opposition from the Museum’s board, who deemed the enterprise prohibitively expensive). In collaboration with the bookbinder Henry Gough, he developed a conservation strategy that restored even the most badly damaged fragments and manuscripts to a usable state. Vellum sheets were cleaned and flattened and mounted in paper frames. Where possible, they were rebound in their original codices.
As well as the fragments found in the garret, he carried out conservation work on the rest of the collection. Many manuscripts had become brittle and fragile, including the codex that contains the only known copy of Beowulf (Cotton Vittelius A xv).
On his death at his home in St Stephen's Square, London, he bequeathed his journals and other private papers to the Bodleian Library, where they were to remain unopened until 1920.
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