Research Catalog

Title

Caxton's Golden legend / edited by Mayumi Taguchi, John Scahill and Satoko Tokunaga.

Author

Jacobus, de Voragine, approximately 1229-1298

Publication

• Oxford, United Kingdom : Published for the Early English Text Society by the Oxford University Press, 2020-2021.
• ©2020-©2021

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

• Taguchi, Mayumi
• Scahill, John
• Tokunaga, Satoko, 1974-
• Early English Text Society, commissioning body.
• Oxford University Press, publisher.

Description

2 volumes : facsimiles; 23 cm.

Summary

• This is volume I of the first scholarly edition of the "Golden Legend", the largest and most elaborate production of the first printer in English, William Caxton. It is an English translation of Jacobus de Voragine's "Legenda aurea" (ca. 1267), a collection of legends for the feasts of saints (the "Sanctorale"?) and other major days of the liturgical year (the "Temporale"). The "Legenda aurea" was one of the most popular and influential books in the later medieval Western world; it circulated widely, and was repeatedly translated into many vernacular languages. This volume reproduces Caxton's original text of the "Temporale" with modern punctuation and capitalization, notes on content, syntax and lexis, a detailed glossary, and an index of proper names. Caxton's complex combination of sources is given particular attention: the principal one was a little-known reworking of the French translation made by Jean de Vignay, but he also used the Latin original and a previous English translation, the "Gilte Legende", and made some personal additions. The Introduction considers the structure of the entire book that Caxton created, but focuses on the Temporale and the set of Old Testament legends that will follow in volume 2. It discusses their sources and language, highlighting the differences between the first two volumes and the notable number of new words and senses. It also gives a detailed bibliographic account of this printing in its historical context and descriptions of all surviving copies.
• This is volume II of the first scholarly edition of the Golden Legend, the largest and most elaborate production of the first printer in English, William Caxton. It is an English translation of Jacobus de Voragine's Legenda aurea (ca. 1267), a collection of legends for the feasts of saints (the Sanctorale) and other major days of the liturgical year (the Temporale). The Legenda aurea was one of the most popular and influential books in the later medieval Western world; it circulated widely, and was repeatedly translated into many vernacular languages. This second volume contains Caxton's most notable addition: a series of Old Testament legends, from Adam to Judith; it contains its own explanatory notes, glossary, and Index of Proper Names. It reproduces Caxton's original text with modern punctuation and capitalization, notes on content, syntax and lexis, a detailed glossary and an index of proper names. The notes provide detailed support for the view that Caxton's text is largely based on the work of an earlier unknown writer in English. They also demonstrate that writer's strikingly independent handling of a variety of sources, including the Latin Vulgate Bible, the Historia scholastica, the French Bible historiale, and the English Cursor mundi and the Wycliffite translation of the Bible.

Series Statement

Early English Text Society O.S. ; 355, 357

Uniform Title

• Legenda aurea. English (Middle English)
• Temporale.
• Old Testament legends.
• Early English Text Society (Series). Original series ; no. 355.
• Early English Text Society (Series). Original series ; no. 357.

Alternative Title

Legenda aurea.

Subject

• Jacobus, de Voragine, approximately 1229-1298
• Caxton, William, approximately 1422-1491 or 1492
• Legenda aurea (Jacobus, de Voragine)
• Printing > England > London > History
• Printing > England > History > Origin and antecedents
• Printing
• Printing > Origin and antecedents
• England
• England > London

Genre/Form

History.

Note

• Translation of: Legenda aurea.

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

Language (note)

• Text in Middle English; introduction, commentary and bibliographical matter in modern English

Contents

Volume I. Temporale : Introduction ; Caxton's Golden legend -- Volume II. The Old Testament legends.

Call Number

JFD 21-5

ISBN

• 9780198867968
• 0198867964
• 9780192847676
• 0192847678

LCCN

2021425143

OCLC

1145425865

Author

Jacobus, de Voragine, approximately 1229-1298, author.

Title

Caxton's Golden legend / edited by Mayumi Taguchi, John Scahill and Satoko Tokunaga.

Publisher

Oxford, United Kingdom : Published for the Early English Text Society by the Oxford University Press, 2020-2021.

Copyright Date

©2020-©2021

Type of Content

text

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

volume

Series

Early English Text Society O.S. ; 355, 357

Early English Text Society (Series). Original series ; no. 355.

Early English Text Society (Series). Original series ; no. 357.

Bibliography

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

Language

Text in Middle English; introduction, commentary and bibliographical matter in modern English

Added Author

Taguchi, Mayumi, editor.

Scahill, John, editor.

Tokunaga, Satoko, 1974- editor.

Early English Text Society, commissioning body.

Oxford University Press, publisher.

Added Title

Container of (work): Temporale.

Container of (work): Old Testament legends.

Research Call Number

JFD 21-5