The Sources of Middle English

Objectives

  1. To compile a list of Middle English texts the non-English sources of which survive and have been identified.
  2. To provide a bibliographic accounting of the particular texts and editions used and cited by the Middle English Dictionary as sources of Middle English translations and adaptations.
  3. To create a set of cross-references between MED entries and the head-forms under which the word (whether the same word, the cognate, the etymon, or the reflex) is treated in the other major historical dictionaries.
  4. To prepare these lists with a view toward integrating them into the developing SGML-based electronic MED, Middle English Hyper-Bibliography, and related resources, as well as printing them as addenda to the print-based MED.

The completion of the first objective will facilitate the comparison of ME texts with their French, Latin, and Old English antecedents; prospectively also the assembling of a multilingual textual database of medieval texts and corresponding medieval translations. The completion of the second objective will fill a notable gap in the bibliographical apparatus of the Middle English Dictionary, providing a necessary explanation for all of the hitherto unexplained and often opaque "[L ...]" and "[F ...]" references in the body of the dictionary and allowing users to refer to vital comparative material that frequently illuminates both the usage of medieval writers and the interpretation adopted by the MED's lexicographers. The completion of the third objective will take the electronic MED a crucial step down the road toward a true multilingual lexicography of medieval Britain. It is a commonplace that to describe Middle English in isolation from the multilingual context of late medieval Britain is effectively to misrepresent it: many words are truly interlingual, and the essential context of an English word may well appear only in French texts. Cross-referencing between dictionaries, perhaps as a prelude to cross-linking between electronic dictionaries, will help ease the isolation created by current misleading divisions by language and period. Similarly, completion of the fourth objective--integration of these tools into the larger projects underway in Middle English lexicography and bibliography--will forestall any incipient isolation among them, ensuring that the new indexes will receive maximum use and that the larger projects will be maximally useful. The completion of all four of these objectives will not only add significant value to the Middle English Dictionary, in both its print and its and its electronic forms, but will also prepare for a forseeable future in which electronic corpora and lexica converge to create ever more powerful access to earlier periods of language and culture.

Procedures

To create the proposed reference lists will require essentially a two-step procedure:

  1. Exhaustively scan the relevant records and print sources, collating them with one another:
  2. Search the electronic MED as it appears in order to:

Stage two is not absolutely essential to the production of useful lists (though it is to the production of complete ones); it can of course be done only when the electronic MED is in usable form; and it can readily be performed gradually, perhaps as part of an ongoing revision process applied to the dictionary as a whole. Stage one, on the other hand, should be performed now, while the institutional resources at the MED project are in place.

To prepare the lists for integration into the print and electronic forms of the dictionary will require at a minimum that the compiled information be encoded unambiguously, either in a SGML format compatible with that used to encode the dictionary itself (thus able to leverage existing software), or in any format that allows easy conversion.

Essential Information

The lists must contain:

  1. The local MED form or an equivalent SGML identifier linked to the MED form (the head-form and part-of-speech label for the word list; the date and bibliographic "stencil" for the sources lists).
  2. The remote non-MED source text or word in standardized form.
  3. Further identifying information (e.g., full bibliographic citation for the source).
  4. A label designating the relationship between the MED form and the remote form (e.g., in the word list: "reflex," "etymon," "cognate"; in the bibliographic list: "transl. of," "adaptation of").
  5. A label designating the language of the remote item.
  6. Notes supplying further details on the relationship.
  7. Any information necessary to the compilation procedures, though not to the end use.

Sample

Half a shelf of the MED library, chosen at random, yields the following raw information that could be refined into a list of sources. The numbers alongside the data elements correspond to the types of essential information enumerated above.
7. Bk#/Src#1-6
8/21A
  1. {date}c1450(?c1425){/date}{st}St. Christina Mirab.{/st}
  2. Vita S. Christinae [?version]
  3. Vita S. Christinae mirabilis virginis : Vita auctore Thoma Cantipratano Ordinis Praedicatorum ex codice nostro Membranaceo Ms. Camerensi in Belgio prope Bruxellas, cum pluribus aliis collato. [?Acta Sanctorum....] 650-660.
  4. transl.
  5. L
  6. .
8/-
  1. {date}c1450(?c1425){/date}{st}St. Eliz. Spalb.{/st}
  2. Vita ?
  3. -
  4. transl.
  5. L
  6. L source claimed in intro to ME version, not cited in MED.
8/21C
  1. {date}c1450(?c1425){/date}{st}St. Kath. Sienna{/st}
  2. Letter of Stephen of Sienna.
  3. Vita S. Catharinae Senensis, pars 3, cap. 6-8. Letter of Stephen of Sienna (1411). Acta Sanctorum Boll. 30 April, (April, v. 3, pp. 961-967).
  4. transl.
  5. L
  6. .
8/21B
  1. {date}c1450(?c1425){/date}{st}St. Mary Oign.{/st}
  2. Vita B. Mariae Oigniacensis [version?]
  3. Vita B. Mariae Oigniacensis, Acta sanctorum Boll., 24 June (June, v.? : pp. 549-572).
  4. transl.
  5. L
  6. .
3/3X
  1. {date}a1350{/date}{st}St. Alex.(1){/st}
  2. Vita S. Alexius ("Common version")
  3. Odenkirchen; see note.
  4. related?
  5. L
  6. Vaguely associated with common L version in Acta SS Boll 17 July, 251-254. Available in rev. ed. by W. Foerster and E. Koschwitz, Altfranzöaut;sisches Üaut;bungsbuch, 6th ed. (Leipzig, 1921), 300-308; rpt. by Odenkirchen, Carl J. The Life of St. Alexius : in the Old French Version of the Hildesheim Manuscript : the original text reviewed, with comparative Greek and Latin versions, all accompanied by English translations.... Brookline, Mass. : Classical Folia Editions; dist. by Leiden : E.J. Brill, 1978. Medieval Classics: Texts and Studies, 9. Pp. 34-51. No instructions to cite, except vaguely in #3X.
3/3X
  1. {date}a1350{/date}{st}St. Alex.(1){/st}
  2. Vita S. Alexius (Legenda Aurea version)
  3. Odenkirchen or Graesse; see note.
  4. related?
  5. L
  6. Legenda Aurea version vaguely associated by instructions in #3X. No specific instructions to cite (or prohibitions against citing). Text available in Odenkirchen, Carl J. The Life of St. Alexius : in the Old French Version of the Hildesheim Manuscript : the original text reviewed, with comparative Greek and Latin versions, all accompanied by English translations.... Brookline, Mass. : Classical Folia Editions; dist. by Leiden : E.J. Brill, 1978. Medieval Classics: Texts and Studies, 9. Pp. 143-156 and Graesse, [fill in full citation], 403-406.
3/3X
  1. {date}c1400{/date}{st}St. Alex.(2){/st}
  2. Vita S. Alexius ("common version">
  3. Odenkirchen; see note.
  4. related?
  5. L
  6. Vaguely associated with common L version in Acta SS Boll 17 July, 251-254. Available in rev. ed. by W. Foerster and E. Koschwitz, Altfranzöaut;sisches Üaut;bungsbuch, 6th ed. (Leipzig, 1921), 300-308; rpt. by Odenkirchen, Carl J. The Life of St. Alexius : in the Old French Version of the Hildesheim Manuscript : the original text reviewed, with comparative Greek and Latin versions, all accompanied by English translations.... Brookline, Mass. : Classical Folia Editions; dist. by Leiden : E.J. Brill, 1978. Medieval Classics: Texts and Studies, 9. Pp. 34-51. No instructions to cite, except vaguely in #3X.
3/3X
  1. {date}c1400{/date}{st}St. Alex.(2){/st}
  2. Vita S. Alexius (Legenda Aurea version)
  3. Odenkirchen or Graesse; see note.
  4. related?
  5. L
  6. Legenda Aurea version vaguely associated by instructions in #3X. No specific instructions to cite (or prohibitions against citing). Text available in Odenkirchen, Carl J. The Life of St. Alexius : in the Old French Version of the Hildesheim Manuscript : the original text reviewed, with comparative Greek and Latin versions, all accompanied by English translations.... Brookline, Mass. : Classical Folia Editions; dist. by Leiden : E.J. Brill, 1978. Medieval Classics: Texts and Studies, 9. Pp. 143-156 and Graesse, 403-406.
3/3X
  1. {date}c1400{/date}{st}St. Alex.(3){/st}
  2. Vita S. Alexius [version?]
  3. Odenkirchen; see note.
  4. related?
  5. L
  6. L said by Furnivall to be closest is in Acta SS Boll 17 July, 251-254. Available in rev. ed. by W. Foerster and E. Koschwitz, Altfranzöaut;sisches Üaut;bungsbuch, 6th ed. (Leipzig, 1921), 300-308; rpt. by Odenkirchen, Carl J. The Life of St. Alexius : in the Old French Version of the Hildesheim Manuscript : the original text reviewed, with comparative Greek and Latin versions, all accompanied by English translations.... Brookline, Mass. : Classical Folia Editions; dist. by Leiden : E.J. Brill, 1978. Medieval Classics: Texts and Studies, 9. Pp. 34-51. No instructions to cite, except vaguely in #3X.
3/3X
  1. {date}c1400{/date}{st}St. Alex.(3){/st}
  2. Vita S. Alexius (Legenda Aurea version)
  3. Odenkirchen or Graesse; see note.
  4. related?
  5. L
  6. Legenda Aurea version vaguely associated by instructions in #3X. No specific instructions to cite (or prohibitions against citing). Text available in Odenkirchen, Carl J. The Life of St. Alexius : in the Old French Version of the Hildesheim Manuscript : the original text reviewed, with comparative Greek and Latin versions, all accompanied by English translations.... Brookline, Mass. : Classical Folia Editions; dist. by Leiden : E.J. Brill, 1978. Medieval Classics: Texts and Studies, 9. Pp. 143-156 and Graesse, 403-406.
3/3X
  1. {date}a1500{/date}{st}St. Alex.(5){/st}
  2. Vita S. Alexius [version?]
  3. Odenkirchen; see note.
  4. related?
  5. L
  6. Vaguely associated with common L version in Acta SS Boll 17 July, 251-254. Available in rev. ed. by W. Foerster and E. Koschwitz, Altfranzöaut;sisches Üaut;bungsbuch, 6th ed. (Leipzig, 1921), 300-308; rpt. by Odenkirchen, Carl J. The Life of St. Alexius : in the Old French Version of the Hildesheim Manuscript : the original text reviewed, with comparative Greek and Latin versions, all accompanied by English translations.... Brookline, Mass. : Classical Folia Editions; dist. by Leiden : E.J. Brill, 1978. Medieval Classics: Texts and Studies, 9. Pp. 34-51. No instructions to cite, except vaguely in #3X.
3/3X
  1. {date}a1500{/date}{st}St. Alex.(5){/st}
  2. Vita S. Alexius (Legenda Aurea version)
  3. Odenkirchen or Graesse; see note.
  4. related?
  5. L
  6. Legenda Aurea version vaguely associated by instructions in #3X. No specific instructions to cite (or prohibitions against citing). Text available in Odenkirchen, Carl J. The Life of St. Alexius : in the Old French Version of the Hildesheim Manuscript : the original text reviewed, with comparative Greek and Latin versions, all accompanied by English translations.... Brookline, Mass. : Classical Folia Editions; dist. by Leiden : E.J. Brill, 1978. Medieval Classics: Texts and Studies, 9. Pp. 143-156 and Graesse, 403-406.
3/-
  1. {date}c1400{/date}{st}Seint Ieremie telleþ{/st}
  2. -
  3. -
  4. -
  5. L?/F?
  6. A version of the Fifteen Signs. No L cited. Await further info on relationships among L, F, and ME versions.
594/3X
  1. {date}{/date}{st}St. Alex.(4){/st}
  2. Vita S. Alexius (version?)
  3. Odenkirchen, Carl J. The Life of St. Alexius : in the Old French Version of the Hildesheim Manuscript : the original text reviewed, with comparative Greek and Latin versions, all accompanied by English translations.... Brookline, Mass. : Classical Folia Editions; dist. by Leiden : E.J. Brill, 1978. Medieval Classics: Texts and Studies, 9.
  4. related
  5. L
  6. L said to be reasonably close. Less close to other ME versions, but citable?
    F said to be too remote to cite for any ME version
4AAX/4AB
  1. {date}c1400{/date}{st}Aelred Inst.(1){/st}
  2. Aelred of Rievaulx, De institutione inclusarum.
  3. C.H. Talbot, ed., "The 'De Institutis Inclusarum" of Aelred of Rievaulx," Analecta Sacri Ordinis Cisterciensis 7 (1951): 167-217 [text 177-217].
  4. transl.
  5. L
  6. Talbot's edition also available as rpt. in Talbot's comprehensive edition, Aelredi Rievallensis Opera Omnia, CCCM 1 (Turnholt: Brepols, 1971), 636-682. May have been cited also from the notes to Marsha Lyn Dutton Stuckey, An Edition of Two Middle English Translations of Aelred's 'De Institutione Inclusarum' (diss. Ph.D. Mich. 1981); or from the notes to John Ayto and Alexandra Barrat, ed., Aelred of Rievaulx's 'De Institutione Inclusarum,' EETS os 287, London: Oxford Univ. Press, 1984.
4AAX/4AB
  1. {date}c1450{/date}{st}Aelred Inst.(2){/st}
  2. Aelred of Rievaulx, De institutione inclusarum.
  3. C.H. Talbot, ed., "The 'De Institutis Inclusarum" of Aelred of Rievaulx," Analecta Sacri Ordinis Cisterciensis 7 (1951): 167-217 [text 177-217].
  4. adaptat.
  5. L
  6. Talbot's edition also available as rpt. in Talbot's comprehensive edition, Aelredi Rievallensis Opera Omnia, CCCM 1 (Turnholt: Brepols, 1971), 636-682. May have been cited also from the notes to Marsha Lyn Dutton Stuckey, An Edition of Two Middle English Translations of Aelred's 'De Institutione Inclusarum' (diss. Ph.D. Mich. 1981); or from the notes to John Ayto and Alexandra Barrat, ed., Aelred of Rievaulx's 'De Institutione Inclusarum,' EETS os 287, London: Oxford Univ. Press, 1984.

Time required

Based on the difficulties encountered in treating this small sample--missing bibliographic information, vague descriptions of relationship and instructions regarding citation, etc.--a full list of MED sources should take approximately 400 hours to compile. I have not yet attempted to estimate how long dictionary cross-reference lists would take to compile.

Paul Schaffner (pfs@umich.edu)
24 July 1997