Comedy and Culture: Cecco Angiolieri’s Poetry and Late Medieval Society
Fabian Alfie
Italian Perspectives 8•19 January 2002

Rustico Filippi, The Art of Insult
Translated by Fabian Alfie
New Translations 5•18 November 2014

In Medieval Mode: Collected Essays in Honour of Stephen Parkinson on his Retirement
Cláudia Pazos Alonso and Claire Williams
Portuguese Studies 31.2•30 October 2015

Science and Literature in Italian Culture: From Dante to Calvino
Edited by Pierpaolo Antonello and Simon A. Gilson
Legenda (General Series) •1 June 2004

  • ‘Legenda's elegantly produced volume is all things to all people. It does discuss literature and science, but its miscellany is all the more enjoyable for not being tightly constrained by a potentially dogmatic, even questionable, unifying theme of "L&S".’ — J. R. Woodhouse, Modern Language Review 100.3, 7 July 2005, 845-48 (full text online)
  • Speculum October 2005, 1404)

The Multilingual Muse: Transcultural Poetics in the Burgundian Netherlands
Edited by Adrian Armstrong and Elsa Strietman
Legenda (General Series) •1 November 2017

  • ‘This forward-thinking collection is part of an emerging and significant trend towards analysing medieval literature in the multilingual context in which it was written... this collection has a much wider significance beyond this geographical setting insofar as it provides a splendid model for future research into the multilingualism of medieval literature.’ — unsigned notice, Forum for Modern Language Studies 55.2, April 2019, 247-48 (full text online)
  • ‘Through the viewpoint of transcultural exchange, and by giving voice to cases in their contemporary contexts, the editors successfully present an enriching new picture of multilingualism in the fifteenth-century Low Countries.’ — Bram Caers, French Studies 73.2, April 2019, 284-85 (full text online)
  • ‘Largely refuses clichés and tired assumptions about translation and other interlingual-literary engagements, preferring instead to turn new ground for specific analyses of less obvious intertextual, interdiscursive, and intermedial contacts. Armstrong and Strietman have gathered a fine collection that puts on display the richly provocative multilingualism of the early modern Low Countries. Anyone interested in early modern literary culture will be delighted by the insights and methods of these fine essays.’ — Anne E. B. Coldiron, Early Modern Low Countries 3.1, 2019, 145–148 (full text online)
  • ‘This essay collection offers an excellent point of entry for reflection and further research on the impressive literature of the Low Countries under the dukes of Burgundy, and shows how the multilingualism and multiculturalism of the region energized and enriched its poetry.’ — unsigned notice, Medium Aevum 88, 2019, 191-92
  • ‘The Multilingual Muse est un ouvrage important qu’il faut saluer. En effet, il éclaire dans le détail la manière dont se forme culturellement, socio-économiquement et même politiquement--malgré notre remarque ci-dessus--un espace commun bilingue au 15e siècle et au début du 16e siècle. Nombre d’enseignements sont à retenir pour l’historien.ne du politique : la nécessité de repenser les modèles de diffusion culturelle et donc idéologique « top-down » pour privilégier des processus en réseaux interpénétrés, et surtout abandonner cette idée issue du 19e siècle, et pourtant encore bien présente chez nombre de collègues, que l’État dynastique tardo-médiéval et renaissant se construirait nécessairement par l’unification linguistique. L’exemple de la mosaïque étatique bourguignonne dément tout à fait ce postulat.’ — Jonathan Dumont, H-France 19, November 2019, 220
  • ‘This is an exciting volume which sheds important light on multilingualism in the world of the Burgundian Netherlands during the late Middle Ages.’ — Albrecht Classen, Mediaevistik 31, 2018, 465-67

Petrarch Commentary and Exegesis in Renaissance Italy and Beyond: Materiality, Paratexts and Interpretative Strategies
Edited by Guyda Armstrong, Simon A. Gilson and Federica Pich
Italian Perspectives 56•22 January 2023

Un Dit moral contre Fortune: A critical edition of MS Paris, BnF, fr. 25 418
Edited by Glynnis M. Cropp in association with John Keith Atkinson
European Translations 6•31 August 2018

  • ‘Une bonne contribution à une meilleure connaissance de la diffusion des traductions françaises de la Consolation de Boèce.’ — Gilles Roques, Revue de Linguistique Romane 83.1, janvier-juin 2019, 278-83
  • ‘This edition by Glynnis M. Cropp and John Keith Atkinson of Un dit moral contre Fortune, BnF, MS fr. 25418, is an important addition to the study of the medieval French versions of Boethius’s most popular work.’ — Tracy Adams, French Studies 74.1, January 2020, 106-07 (full text online)
  • ‘In the long and complex history of the Consolatio Philosophiae's transmission and interpretation, Cropp and Atkinson's volume presents a 'last link in a chain of translations' and is thus an important and necessary addition to studies in the field.’ — Jenny Davis Barrett, Parergon 37.2, 2020, 200-01

Dante, Petrarch, Boccaccio: Literature, Doctrine, Reality
Zygmunt G. Barański
Selected Essays 6•17 February 2020

  • ‘Many will be familiar with Barański’s work, his distinctive voice and ability to interrogate some of the thorniest issues relating to Dante, medieval poetics and doctrine; but to have this voice sustained in one single volume is to witness a quite remarkable academic career and distinctive engagement with Dante.’ — Daragh O’Connell, Annali d'Italianistica 39, 2021, 414

La Cort d'Amor: A Critical Edition
Edited by Matthew Bardell
Research Monographs in French Studies 11•1 May 2002

  • ‘Makes an important contribution to the study of medieval allegory and courtly love in general, as well as of the dissemination of Ovid in the Middle Ages. The narrative itself raises interesting questions concerning the relationship between literature in Occitan, Old French and Latin.’ — unsigned notice, Forum for Modern Language Studies XXXIX, 2003, 470
  • ‘L'édition d'un texte relativement négligé est toujours la bienvenue, surtout lorsque celles qui l'ont précédée ne sont pas satisfaisantes. Il va de soi qui toute publication constituera un progrès et peut mener à la résolution des difficultés qui restent. Tel est le cas de La Cort d'Amor.’ — Peter Ricketts, Revue des Langues Romanes CVII/1, 2003, 211-27
  • ‘This is an effective, accessible, and enlightening version of an often neglected and sadly misunderstood poem. It will undoubtedly lead specialists to consider further the dialogue between northern French and Occitan-speaking literary circles of the late twelfth century. It also shows the extent to which allegorical narratives prior to the Roman de la rose were exploring similar questions and problems.’ — Catherine Léglu, Speculum October 2004, 1028-30
  • ‘As well as having a thought-provoking introduction, Bardell's edition comes with a carefully delineated statement of editorial principles ... let us hope that critics will indeed make the Cort d'Amor their own thanks to this admirable edition.’ — Francesca Nicholson, Modern Language Review 99.3, 2004, 772 (full text online)
  • ‘Bardell's edition is the first reliable and complete one of the poem ... in highlighting the importance of the poem Bardell has opened the way for further study, particularly in the history and use of vernacular allegory and in the attitudes that the text propounds.’ — Leslie C. Brook, Medium Aevum LXXIII.i, 2004, 154-5
  • ‘Zusammenfassend kann man sagen: solide Neuausgabe, die als Basis für den Cort d'Amor gelten kann und die Editionen von Constant und Jones ersetzt; gute literarische Einleitung; eine vertiefte sprachliche Analyse steht aber noch aus.’ — Max Pfister, Zeitschrift für romanische Sprache Bd. 120, Heft 3, 2004, 564-8
  • ‘[Bardell's] reading of the allegory is sensitive and convincing. This challenging text has waited too long for a reliable edition. Bardell has advanced our understanding appreciably, but manifold uncertainties remain.’ — William D. Paden, French Studies 59.2, 2005, 225-26

Bridal-Quest Epics in Medieval Germany: A Revisionary Approach
Sarah Bowden
Bithell Series of Dissertations 40 / MHRA Texts and Dissertations 85•30 May 2012

  • ‘Bowden’s style is clear, lively, and elegant. As well as making a definitive statement, this book also offers insightful interpretations that are likely to make the texts in question more accessible and appealing to students.’ — Annette Volfing, Modern Language Review 109, 2014, 534-35 (full text online)

Two Old French Satires on the Power of the Keys: L'Escommeniement au lecheor and Le Pardon de foutre
Edited by Daron Burrows
Research Monographs in French Studies 18•4 February 2005

  • ‘The first of the two works edited here was published only in 1844; the second has never been edited until now... That these works should be known is undeniable. If it is unnecessary, or perhaps futile, to speak of their literary value, they are clearly interesting for other reasons. In particular, should anyone still need assurance that religion and the Church were fair game for medieval satirists, this volume should lay those doubts to rest.’ — Norris J. Lacy, French Review 82.1, 2009, 150-51

Performing Medieval Text
Edited by Ardis Butterfield, Henry Hope and Pauline Souleau
Legenda (General Series) •1 November 2017

  • ‘Collectively, these studies effectively demonstrate the necessity for, and advantage of, an understanding of performance that transcends traditional academic boundaries and the volume, overall, serves as a solid exemplar of how to approach doing so.’ — unsigned notice, Forum for Modern Language Studies 55.2, April 2019, 248 (full text online)
  • ‘An ambitious and wide-ranging exploration of performance in medieval European culture. Recognizing the ‘complex terminological web’ spun round the terms performance and performativity, the volume acknowledges and accepts performance as a ‘contested concept’. It also, importantly, recognizes the historical contingency of performance as an idea... The contributing essays illustrate both the ubiquity of performance in medieval culture and the very different ways it manifests in and through text, itself broadly conceived as manuscript, image, written word, and musical note.’ — Clare Wright, Modern Language Review 114.3, July 2019, 525-526 (full text online)
  • ‘This thought-filled and thought-provoking volume offers a polyphony of perspectives on, and examples of, medieval performance.’ — Blake Gutt, French Studies 73.4, October 2019, 622-23 (full text online)
  • ‘While these essays are likely to be read individually by specialists in their various fields, a reader of the whole volume will be rewarded with an enriched and nuanced understanding of the concepts of “performance” and “text,” and of the explanatory reach of the field of performance studies.’ — Anne Stone, Speculum 96.2, 2021, 482-84

History, Fiction, Verisimilitude: Studies in the Poetics of Gottfried's 'Tristan'
Mark Chinca
Bithell Series of Dissertations 18 / MHRA Texts and Dissertations 35•1 January 1993

Dante and Epicurus: A Dualistic Vision of Secular and Spiritual Fulfilment
George Corbett
Italian Perspectives 25•28 May 2013

  • ‘George Corbett's book elegantly and lucidly addresses the relationship of Epicurean philosophy upon Dante's own ethical reasoning. As such, this work fills a gap left open not only in Dante studies, but within wider medieval studies as well, from which, as Corbett reminds us, Epicureanism has long been ignored. [...] While the book tackles issues of a highly philosophical nature, it does so consistently in a clear and accessible style. [...] Corbett's work will appeal not only to Dantists, but to scholars of philosophy, literature, and the Middle Ages, as well. As such, it is an outstanding book that proposes and skilfully realizes a truly ambitious project.’ — Lorenzo Valterza, Medium Aevum LXXXIII.2, 2014, 349-50
  • ‘George Corbett approfondisce il rapporto fra Dante e la filosofia epicurea alla luce di un approccio critico più ampio, volto a dimostrare la permanenza, nella Commedia, della visione dualistica dantesca.’ — Giulia Gaimari, L'Alighieri 43, 2014, 165-68
  • ‘Considered from the point of view of what Corbett’s book has to say about Dante and one of the—theologically speaking—more problematic spirits on his horizon, it is to be welcomed, its sense of Dante’s appreciation of an Epicurus notable for something other than mere sensuality but wedded, even so, to a species of mortalism making inevitably for his reprobation within the Christian scheme of things emerging from it both clearly and convincingly.’ — John Took, Speculum 89.2, April 2014, 466-68
  • ‘George Corbett writes with great clarity and logic, drawing on a wide range of resources from early commentators (among whom he moves with ease) and the whole of Dante’s œuvre to a host of modern Dante critics. Points of comparison and continuity rather than of palinodic rewriting are sought between the Commedia and the ‘minor works’, and the author is bold and confident in his challenges to various prevalent critical assumptions. The ambiguities surrounding Epicurus before and during Dante’s day are persuasively elucidated, with good, nuanced background on mediators such as Cicero, Augustine, and Albert the Great.’ — Jennifer Rushworth, Modern Language Review 109.3, July 2014, 821-22 (full text online)
  • ‘L'importante lavoro di George Corbett si propone di indagare in maniera esaustiva l'influenza esercitata dal pensiero filosofico epicureo nell'opera dantesca [...] l'autore si interroga su due questioni fondamentali: quali sono i testi che possono aver influenzato la ricezione di Dante dell'Epicureismo e in che modo il poeta riesce a rappresentare Epicuro e gli epicurei nelle sue opere.’ — Claudia Tardelli Terry, Italian Studies 69.3, November 2014, 449-50
  • ‘Corbett's book is well written, accurate, and rigorously argued. The thesis that Dante's Commedia presents a dualistic vision of the fulfilment of mankind is innovative and compelling for a new scholarly criticism of the Commedia. The first part on Dante's reception of Epicureanism is the most persuasive and ground-breaking; it shows how the reconstruction of Dante's sources is essential for understanding his reception of ancient literature and philosophy.’ — Filippo Gianferrari, Annali d'Italianistica 32, 2014, 593-95
  • ‘Stunningly readable with potent, clear argumentation, Corbett’s nonetheless highly academic presentation of Dante’s dualism in the context of the poet’s literary integration of the figure and philosophy of Epicurus reads like a page-turner. Furthermore, Corbett’s innovative methodological approach is cradled by a no less than masterful organization throughout the book. [...] The topic and breadth of the book, perhaps, lend themselves better to students and scholars versed well enough with the traditions of the philosophers, biblical exegetes and scholarly commentators that orbit so closely Dante’s works. Readers with a grasp of Latin will take double pleasure in reading volumes of quotes from their original sources as well as in their English translations. Corbett’s book, overall, is a must-have for the bookshelves of the committed dantista.’ — Elsie Emslie Stevens, Italica 41.4, 2014, 833-35
  • ‘George Corbett presenta un volume nel quale viene ripercorsa, con ampiezza e profondità di indagine, l’importante questione relativa ai rapporti fra Dante e l’epicureismo […] Il volume di Corbett si configura senza alcun dubbio, quindi, come un serio e notevole tentativo di far luce in modo esaustivo e corretto su un non irrilevante nodo problematico dell’universo filosofico e poetico dantesco, insieme punto d’arrivo di una lunga e ininterrotta tradizione esegetica e punto di partenza per nuovi, auspicabili interventi critici.’ — Armando Bisanti, Studi Medievali series 3 vol 56, 2015, 444-45

The Second Continuation of the Old French Perceval: A Critical and Lexicographical Study
Corin F. V. Corley
MHRA Texts and Dissertations 24•1 January 1987

Laughter and Narrative in the Later Middle Ages: German Comic Tales c. 1350-1525
Sebastian Coxon
Legenda (General Series) •25 July 2008

  • ‘This is the first sustained study of the German branch of the genre of comic verse narratives (maeren) which was hugely popular across Europe in the late Middle Ages... an impressively learned study, based on a huge corpus of primary and secondary texts. A wealth of information on laughter, humour and the reception of late-medieval literature is waiting to be unearthed here.’ — unsigned, Forum for Modern Language Studies 46.1, January 2010, 110
  • ‘An excellent study that undoubtedly advances our understanding of laughter and its functions in the past.’ — Sophia Menache, The Medieval Review September 2009
  • ‘Copious footnotes and an extensive bibliography document the author's mastery of the critical literature, and summaries of the German-language scholarship, as well as English translations of textual passages, make this study easily accessible to those with no knowledge of German. Coxon's volume offers a detailed and subtle analysis of a limited corpus that provides a significant context for future scholarship on the culture of laughter in the middle ages.’ — Thomas Kerth, Monatshefte 101.3, 2009, 410-12
  • ‘This is the fullest study of the German comic maere to have appeared in a long time, and is based on an impressively wide corpus of sources as well as background reading. There is a wealth of intriguing new information here that deserves further exploration - how the Church’s suspicion of laughter (Jesus never laughed!) was negotiated in these stories; that face and hair were the most frequently attacked body parts here; or that the best jokes were on millers and charcoal-burners.’ — Bettina Bildhauer, Modern Language Review 105.2, 2010, 583-84 (full text online)
  • ‘Si accennna poi al rapporto fra riso e letteratura, sottolineando il fatto che la letteratura medievale è, nel suo complesso, una fonte di enorme importanza per la storia del riso.’ — unsigned notice, Medioevo Latino XXXI, 2010, 535-36
  • ‘Unsigned notice’ — Germanistik 51.1-2, 2010, 234)
  • ‘As the first comprehensive study of late-medieval German comic tales, this study is a useful resource for medievalists... Scholars will appreciate the comprehensive references to key studies by other Germanists, and less adept readers of Middle High German will value the excellent translations.’ — Lisa Perfetti, Speculum 85.3, 2010, 658-60
  • ‘Gerade dort, wo er tatsächlich eng entlang seiner Referenztexte argumentiert, gelingen Coxon zahlreiche aufschlussreiche Beobachtungen. An diese Ergebnisse Coxons werden bei der Erforschung deutschsprachiger Versnovellen des Spätmittelalters wohl noch viele Untersuchungen (aus hoffentlich diversen Fachdisziplinen) anschließen können.’ — Matthias Kirchhoff, Literaturwissenschaftliches Jahrbuch 2010, 422-24

La Voie de Povreté et de Richesse
Edited by Glynnis M. Cropp
Critical Texts 51•11 May 2016

  • ‘As Glynnis Cropp notes in her foreword, while historians have made reference to La Voie de Povreté et de Richesse, a vernacular fourteenth-century dream-vision poem, the text itself has never received a critical edition. That omission has now been impressively rectified... this is an impressive and accessible edition, justifying why La Voie de Povreté et de Richesse deserves recognition in its own right.’ — Bridget Riley, Modern Language Review 116.2, April 2017, 506 (full text online)
  • ‘L’edizione di Cropp... ha il merito incontestabile di far progredire in maniera sostanziale la nostra conoscenza di un testo e di una tradizione no ad oggi completamente trascurati. Il testo critico è stabilito con criteri chiari e le scelte operate sono controllabili. Si tratta di un lavoro di grande peso e impegno, che offre delle basi di partenza solide a chi vorrà approfondirne la complessa situazione testuale della Voie de la Pouvreté et de la Richesse.’ — Maria Teresa Rachetta, Revue de Linguistique Romane 82.325-26, January-June 2018, 278-81
  • ‘This slim but attractively produced volume is part of the enormously useful MHRA Critical Texts series... The volume contains a useful introduction followed by the edited text based on MS Paris, BnF, fr. 1563, fols 203r–221r. An index of proper names, a glossary, and a thorough bibliography are compiled with that meticulous attention to detail we are accustomed to nd in Cropp’s work... An invaluable edition.’ — Anne M. Scott, Parergon 36.1, 2019, 238-39

Böece de Confort remanié: Edition critique
Edited by Glynnis M. Cropp
European Translations 1•1 March 2011

  • ‘Glynnis M. Cropp nous offre une édition soignée du Böece de Confort remanié.’ — Béatrice Stumpf, Revue de Linguistique Romane 303-4, 2012, 557-62
  • ‘The Böece de Confort remanié marks the latest step in publishing the rich medieval French tradition of Boethius reception and is a fitting first volume in the MHRA European Translations series of valuable, affordable critical editions.’ — Helen J. Swift, Modern Language Review 108, 2013, 642-43 (full text online)
  • ‘Le plus grand mérite de ce volume réside sans doute dans la précision avec laquelle son auteure a édité le texte [...] Nous voudrions souligner ... l’utilité des Annexes ... qui constitueront des aides précieuses pour les chercheurs qui travailleront sur les différentes versions des traductions et des commentaires médiévaux de Boèce."’ — Andrea Valentini, Medioevo Romanzo XXXVI, 2012, 194-96

Jean Brisebarre: 'Li Restor du Paon'
Enid Donkin
MHRA Texts and Dissertations 15•1 January 1980

Gómez Manrique, Statesman and Poet: The Practice of Poetry in Fifteenth-Century Spain
Gisèle Earle
Studies in Hispanic and Lusophone Cultures 31•26 February 2018

  • ‘In this comprehensive study of how Manrique practised poetry, which also includes his prose, Earle offers both detailed textual analysis of individual works and an interpretation of Manrique’s literary corpus. Through this dual focus, Earle emphasizes the evolution of Manrique’s rhetorical style through figurative language and the political thrust of Manrique’s writing, including works that have traditionally been studied separately, such as elegy and devotional texts. As a result, this study makes a valuable contribution to existing scholarship through its new perspective on Manrique’s textual production, which also opens doors for future investigation.’ — Holly Sims, Bulletin of Spanish Studies 96.8, 2019, 1343-65 (full text online)

Dante's Plurilingualism: Authority, Knowledge, Subjectivity
Edited by Sara Fortuna, Manuele Gragnolati and Jürgen Trabant
Legenda (General Series) •6 September 2010

  • ‘From the introduction to the concluding interview with Giorgio Pressburger, this volume of essays is characterized by both authoritative contributions from major figures in Dante studies (Baranski, Gragnolati, Pertile) and also by genuinely original lines of enquiry. Dante’s Plurilingualism constitutes an indispensable point of reference for contemporary Dante studies, an ideal companion to the new Dante editions that have recently appeared, and also acts as a constant spur to reread all of the poet’s works, and to appreciate the ‘plurilingualism’ that is inherent even in those works that that precede the Comedy.’ — Federica Pich, Lettere Italiane 2011, 323-28
  • ‘Although we also find essays that offer a strong historicizing or linguistic focus and others that are powerful contributions to the methodologies and findings traditionally associated with Dante studies, the volume remains of particular note (and importance) for its concern to open Dante up to dialogue across disciplines and to relate him to contemporary debates.’ — Simon Gilson, Modern Language Review 107.1, January 2012, 292-93 (full text online)
  • ‘Colpisce e affascina, in Dante’s Plurilingualism, una ben percepibile disposizione all’audacia interpretativa, al “saggio” come esperimento intellettuale; ciò che convince, nell’insieme, è che non si sia di fronte alla mera esibizione di uno “stile” critico – pur di- versamente delineato –, ma ad un molteplice tentativo di indagine su Dante, inteso come oggetto e al tempo stesso soggetto non tanto di una determinata stagione della lingua e della letteratura italiane, quanto di una più ampia e complessa storia culturale.’ — Martino Marazzi, L'Alighieri 39, June 2012, 160-64
  • ‘Proprio nella lingua che usiamo, con cui scriviamo, possiamo essere convinti che Dante sia arrivato prima di noi e che ci abbia lasciato una grandissima eredità. Gli interventi di questo volume riescono a mettere in evidenza tutti gli aspetti per cui la lingua di Dante e il suo modo di utilizzarla appaiono ancora oggi come un 'miracolo inconcepibile'.’ — Irene Baccarini, Dante VIII, 2011, 227-30

Metaphor in Dante
David Gibbons
Legenda (General Series) •1 December 2002

  • ‘David Gibbon's book is a fascinating and subtle investigation of Dante's dazzling and experimental use of metaphors in the Divine Comedy. ... an important and notewhorty contribution to the understanding of Dante's use, creation, and renewal of the poetic language.’ — Paola Nasti, Modern Language Review 100.1, 2005, 229-30 (full text online)
  • ‘Not only is Gibbons alert to the complexity of the question generally - at once historical, hermeneutical, dialectical, and literary-aesthetic in kind - but his analysis of the texts he invokes is both sensitive and illuminating as regards the variety of Dante's imagery and its functionality within the poem as a whole.’ — John Took, Italian Studies Volume LIX, 2004, 153-4

Saints and Monsters in Medieval French and Occitan Literature: Sublime and Abject Bodies
Huw Grange
Research Monographs in French Studies 53•17 May 2017

  • ‘The author moves with an impressive lightness of touch across a huge range of versions of four saints’ lives — those of Margaret, George, Honorat, and Enimia — covering verse and prose, and Latin, French, and Occitan, in mostly unpublished manuscript versions... a considerable accomplishment.’ — Luke Sunderland, French Studies 72.3, July 2018, 428-29
  • ‘This well-crafted book captures the goodwill of its audience from page one. Its author, Huw Grange, makes a simple inversion that rights a chronological wrong: saints are not the comic-book superheroes of the Middle Ages; rather today’s superheroes continue in the medieval saints’ tradition of extraordinary corporality... Saints and Monsters is what one would hope for a book of its kind insofar as its sophisticated engagement with theory is everywhere also an engagement with the literary object.’ — Brian J. Reilly, H-France 18.175, August 2018
  • ‘Grange’s final words affirm that the lives he’s described “want to live,” and in that want lies his book’s central thesis; but it is just possible that these saints are, thanks in part to Grange’s efforts at telling their stories, still living; and it is just possible that so are we.’ — Cary Howie, Speculum 95.1, January 2020, 249-50

La Belle Dame qui eust mercy and Le Dialogue d'amoureux et de sa dame: A Critical Edition and English Translation of Two Anonymous Late-Medieval French Amorous Debate Poems
Edited by Joan Grenier-Winther
Critical Texts 60•28 September 2018

  • ‘The poems themselves are presented with facing-page translations, in clear and idiomatic English, making this edition eminently useful for scholars and students alike.’ — unsigned notice, Medium Aevum 88, 2019, 184
  • ‘This volume is a welcome addition to studies of fifteenth-century French poetry, especially within the context of the Quarrel of the Belle dame sans mercy.’ — Joan E. McRae, Modern Language Review 115.1, 2020, 178-79 (full text online)
  • ‘Joan Grenier-Winther has provided a welcome new bilingual scholarly edition of two important poems (each about four hundred lines) out of around twenty love poems long recognized as ‘the cycle of the Belle Dame sans mercy’... Scholarship is served by the excellent Introduction, comprehensive list of variant readings, description of all manuscripts and early books up to 1617, and an extensive bibliography with separate categories for other editions, critical studies, and manuscript studies.’ — Linda Burke, French Studies 74.1, January 2020, 107-08 (full text online)

The Object and the Cause in the Vulgate Cycle
Miranda Griffin
Legenda (General Series) •13 September 2005

  • ‘One notable quality of the book is its didactic aspect. Griffin takes time to define and explain precisely the complex notions she uses. She states clearly (sometimes excessively so) what she intends to do, balancing presentation of psychoanalytic concepts and examination of the Vulgate Cycle.’ — Michelle Szkilnik, Speculum January 2006, 193-94
  • ‘If we can judge a book by its cover, Miranda Griffin's study wins top accolades: the blue and red of the cover design mimic precisely the prevalent colors of typical 13th-century Arthurian manuscript decorations, while the cover illustration of king dictating to scribe suggests authenticity and accountability both outside and within. Inside, the text is neatly organized into four cleverly titled chapters - see, for example, chapter 4: "Death, Doubles, and (De)composition - along with an Introduction and Conclusion... Her extraction of appropriate examples from the texts of the Vulgate Cycle and application of psychoanalytic theory to these episodes is surrounded by an ample survey of and response to the critical tradition in Arthurian studies.’ — Joan E. McRae, Encomia 28, 2006, 46-47
  • ‘This is a highly accomplished and subtle analysis of the Vulgate Cycle that manages to negotiate successfully between primary material, the critical debates surrounding that material, and psychoanalytic theory. The difficulty of such an enterprise should not be underestimated. Griffin maintains throughout an impressive command of a large corpus... explanations of the psychoanalytic models she deploys are remarkably lucid, well-informed and to-the-point... New, impeccably researched and exciting perspectives on a highly complex corpus of texts.’ — Emma Campbell, The Medieval Review October 2008
  • ‘This stimulating study springs from its author's observation of the striking parallels between psychoanalytic theories of human desire and the centuries-older Vulgate Cycle's complicated narration of the Arthurian Grail quest... The quest for wholeness that marks the Cycle is also, as Griffin cogently observes, paralleled by our own scholarly pursuit of a unified text and comprehensively coherent reading of this multilayered work - a reading that, perhaps despite its author's own intentions, this study quite effectively achieves.’ — Lisa H. Cooper, Arthuriana 16.4, 2006, 88-89
  • ‘The critical encounter between psychoanalytic theory and medieval French literature has produced several stimulating texts in recent years, and Miranda Griffin's study of the thirteenth-century Vulgate Cycle is a welcome addition to the list.’ — Thomas Hinton, French Studies 62.4, 2008, 464-519

Medieval Narrative
Edited by Andrew Gurr
Yearbook of English Studies 22•1 January 1992

The Philomena of Chrétien the Jew: The Semiotics of Evil
Peter Haidu, edited by Matilda Tomaryn Bruckner
Research Monographs in French Studies 59•28 September 2020

  • ‘Haidu forwards an argument – or ‘weaves together [its] threads’ (p. 8), much like Philomena herself – in an alternative reading that is as cogent as it is complex, as arresting as it is analytical, as ‘emotional’ as it is ‘intellectual’ (p. 5).’ — Rebecca Courtier, Medium Aevum 92.1, 2023, 183-85

Reading Dante and Proust by Analogy
Julia Caterina Hartley
Transcript 12•23 September 2019

  • ‘Hartley’s erudite, persuasive, and reader-friendly book is a powerful debut, an irresistible invitation to love literature. I confidently look forward to her future work.’ — Thomas Pavel, Modern Philology 24 August 2020 (full text online)
  • ‘Hartley’s book contributes significantly to the fields of Dante and Proust stu- dies. Moreover, it is persuasive in demonstrating the rich productive potential of this dynamic, interactive approach, setting an important example for literary comparisons to come.’ — Valentina Mele, Modern Language Review 115.4, October 2020, 891-92 (full text online)
  • ‘By practicing a meticulous close reading of selected passages from both the Commedia and the Recherche, Hartley’s intention is to read Dante in light of Proust and Proust in light of Dante, in a continuous change of perspective that keeps the interpreter’s attention receptive enough to uncover, in each author, thematic and stylistic aspects that would not otherwise have been noticed... A stimulating methodological contribution to the field of comparative literature.’ — Alessandra Aloisi, H-France 20.204, November 2020
  • ‘A scholar who grew up in a trilingual family (English, Italian, French) and who therefore can slip smoothly from one linguistic world to another, Julia Caterina Hartley performs an exquisitely comparatist analysis in Reading Dante and Proust by Analogy. Hartley’s conclusions are quite unexpected and shed new light on two authors who share more than one might think: Alighieri, as a medieval writer who anticipates modernity, and Proust, as a modern writer who engages with the weight of the past... In sum, this book is a meticulous comparative work at its best.’ — Ilaria Serra, Speculum 96.2, 2021, 509-10
  • ‘En plus d’être une brillante étude comparée de Proust et de Dante, ce livre offre un fin plaidoyer pour la littérature comparée considérée autant comme un art de la critique que comme une forme de critique littéraire... L’objectif est atteint, les deux œuvres sont lues ‘afresh’, dans une urgente réciprocité.’ — Hugues Azérad, French Studies 76.1, January 2022, 129–30 (full text online)
  • ‘An enlightening, original, and powerful book, addressed to Dante scholars and Proust scholars, as well as comparatists and scholars of literature in general... Besides the simple fact that Hartley’s work gives us the pleasure of looking at two masterpieces together, with an elegant and enjoyable style, this volume is an important example of how comparative literature, across space and time, can tell us something new even on texts about which everything has already been said, and on literary structures in general, by finely combining close and distant reading.’ — Serena Vandi, Italian Studies 77.2, 2022, 202-03 (full text online)

Dante Beyond Borders: Contexts and Reception
Edited by Nick Havely and Jonathan Katz with Richard Cooper
Italian Perspectives 52•17 November 2021

From Florence to the Heavenly City: The Poetry of Citizenship in Dante
Claire E. Honess
Italian Perspectives 13•24 May 2006

Dreams of Lovers and Lies of Poets: Poetry, Knowledge, and Desire in the Roman de la Rose
Sylvia Huot
Research Monographs in French Studies 31•23 April 2010

  • ‘In addition to its richly suggestive analysis of the complex relationship between sexuality and language in the Rose, Huot's study makes a distinctive contribution to criticism's long-standing quest after meaning in the poem.’ — Helen Swift, Medium Aevum 74, 2010
  • ‘Huot’s argument is lively and cogent. This slim, persuasive book leaves little meaning in any claim that creative immersion in the ancients was unknown until the Renaissance. It gives us a richly polymorphous reading of the Rose.’ — William D. Paden, French Studies 65.4, 2011, 516
  • ‘Sylvia Huot’s elegant study deftly traces how both Guillaume and Jean manipulate earlier authors, particularly Ovid, Boethius, and Virgil, to generate an exploration of the workings of sexual desire, a subject which can only ever be discussed imperfectly and implicitly.’ — Jonathan Morton, Modern Language Review 107.3, July 2012, 931-32 (full text online)

Early Welsh Gnomic and Nature Poetry
Edited by Nicolas Jacobs
MHRA Library of Medieval Welsh Literature 1•1 March 2012

  • ‘La simplicité des textes fait de ce livre une excellente introduction au gallois ancien.’ — Pierre-Yves Lambert, Etudes celtiques XXXIX, 2013, 330
  • ‘Nicolas Jacobs hat sehr gute Arbeit geleistet; sein Buch wird für lange Zeit die Standardedition dieser notorisch dunklen und schwierigen, aber vielleicht gerade eben deshalb so anziehenden Verse bleiben und darüber hinaus als mustergültiganerkannt sein. — Y gwaith a ganmol ei weithiwr!’ — Stefan Zimmer, Zeitschrift für celtische Philologie 59, 2012, 271
  • ‘Mae Nicolas Jacobs a golygyddion y 'Library of Medieval Welsh Literature' yn haeddu ein diolchiadau gwresog am ailagor maes a esgeuluswyd yn rhy hir ac am wneud y corff hwn o farddoniaeth yn fwy hygyrch i fyfyrwyr ac ysgolheigion mwy profiadol fel ei gilydd. [Nicolas Jacobs and the editors of the Library of Medieval Welsh Literature deserve our warmest thanks for reopening a field of study which has been neglected too long and for making this body of poetry more accessible for students and more experienced scholars alike.]’ — Barry James Lewis, Dwned 18, 2012, 99-107

Arthur in Early Welsh Poetry
Edited by Nerys Ann Jones
MHRA Library of Medieval Welsh Literature 4•12 July 2019

  • ‘If you are looking for a well-written, meticulous examination of a range of early medieval Welsh texts concerning Arthur in their manuscript and linguistic context, then Arthur in Early Welsh Poetry should be on your shelf.’ — Daniel Helbert, Speculum 96.1, January 2021, 232-33
  • ‘I am sure that this book will be much used and appreciated by lecturers and also by scholars studying the pieces of poetry contained in it, and quite likely also by advanced students of medieval Welsh. There are still too few editions that do fine-grained analyses of early texts, particularly of early poetry, and this book represents one of the successful efforts towards filling this gap.’ — Stefan Schumacher, Journal of Celtic Linguistics 22, 2021, 172 (full text online)
  • ‘This is another very welcome volume in the MHRA Library of Medieval Welsh Literature ... Nerys Ann Jones deserves our thanks for turning a large and disparate body of material into this attractive, coherent, and easily navigable book. I expect to be using it well into the future.’ — Barry J. Lewis, Cambrian Medieval Celtic Studies 83, 2022, 89–92

The Theme of Love in the 'Romans d'Antiquité'
Rosemarie Jones
MHRA Texts and Dissertations 5•1 January 1972

Desire in Dante and the Middle Ages
Edited by Manuele Gragnolati, Tristan Kay, Elena Lombardi and Francesca Southerden
Legenda (General Series) •1 June 2012

  • ‘A series of Dante symposia organized by Manuele Gragnolati and colleagues over the past few years have brought youthful vitality to an ancient field... There is much careful scholarship and thoughtful reading in this book, which should attract Dante and medieval studies scholars alike, particularly those interested in contemporary critical approaches to medieval texts.’ — Gary Cestaro, Renaissance Quarterly 66.1 (Spring 2013), 323-24
  • ‘As well as offering several original contributions on this fundamental aspect of Dante’s work, it seeks to situate the Florentine writer more effectively within the broader spectrum of medieval culture and to establish greater intellectual exchange between Dante scholars and those from other disciplines.’ — unsigned notice, Studi Medievali 53.2 (2012), 1029-30
  • ‘The essays not only present a rich view of contemporary thinking on medieval notions and expressions of desire but address some of the most compelling issues of modern Dante and medieval scholarship... desire in the medieval context emerges as an issue to be expressed through the unique capabilities of poetry, an experience to be physically, spiritually, and emotionally undergone, and, ultimately, a state to be manifested in the very act of writing.’ — Ruth Chester, Modern Language Review 109.1, January 2014, 221-22 (full text online)
  • ‘This is a well-conceived collection, with an excellent bibliography, that will be valuable both for Dante scholars and every medievalist or early modernist with an interest in topics related to desire: the body, perception, memory, mysticism, just to name a few. The volume achieves a rare balance of interdisciplinarity and cohesiveness, bringing together approaches to the text as diverse as queer theory and translation studies, but maintaining a common intent to map desire as a hermeneutic tool in Dante studies and beyond.’ — Eleonora Stoppino, Speculum 89.3, 2014, 773-74
  • ‘This is a very useful source for Dante scholars, because it offers original and innovative contributions on the many-sided aspects of desire. [...] It is also a very valuable study for any scholar interested in the topic on a comparative or interdisciplinary level and seeks to illustrate how the current discourse on desire can apply to Dante and the medieval world.’ — Niccolino Applauso, Italica 90.4, Winter 2013
  • ‘This interesting interdisciplinary collection contributes significantly to our growing understanding of desire in the Middle Ages.’ — Beatrice Priest, Medium Aevum 82.2, 2013
  • ‘Il punto di forza di questo volume risiede a mio avviso nell'impiego di originali modelli d'analisi dell'opera dell'Alighieri che, offrendo percorsi inediti e accostamenti seppur talora arditi, hanno il pregio di costituire un effervescente contributo al panorama degli studi danteschi. Proprio la materia d'analisi, il desiderio, che si pone come proteiforme agente di cambiamento, l'insieme di questi articoli non manchera' di stimolare nuovi indirizzi di ricerca.’ — Gabriella Addivinola, L'Alighieri 42, 2013

Dante in Oxford: The Paget Toynbee Lectures
Edited by Tristan Kay, Martin McLaughlin and Michelangelo Zaccarello
Legenda (General Series) •4 February 2011

  • ‘A welcome addition to the ocean of Dante studies.’ — John A. Scott, Modern Language Review 108.2, April 2013, 648-50 (full text online)

Single Combat and Warfare in German Literature of the High Middle Ages: Stricker's Karl der Grosse and Daniel von dem Blühenden Tal
Rachel E. Kellett
Bithell Series of Dissertations 33 / MHRA Texts and Dissertations 72•1 August 2008

  • ‘The thoroughness of [Kellett's] restudy is a welcome reinforcement of many of the more impressionistic inferences drawn by previous scholars. The work will prove essential reading for those interested in the variegated oeuvre of the man who referred to himself (perhaps rather too modestly) as ‘Der Stricker’.’ — Neil Thomas, Modern Language Review 105, 2010, 270-71 (full text online)

Berceo's 'Vida de Santa Oria': Text, Translation and Commentary
Anthony Lappin
Legenda (General Series) •1 November 2000

  • ‘While chiefly important for providing the specialist with a reliable version of the VSO, it also gives a detailed commentary on the text: both of these will now be indispensable tools for the Berceo scholar. The English translation will usefully serve to make the Vida de Santa Oria accessible to scholars of other disciplines.’ — Gregory Peter Andrachuk, Modern Language Review 97.3, 2002, 743-5 (full text online)
  • ‘The problems presented to a modern editor of Berceo's Vida de Santa Oria are daunting. The text survives in a unique medieval copy [which] appears to have been made, at the most conservative estimate, more than a century after the death of its author... Lappin keeps Berceo's text clean and readable by relegating textual notes to the end, and supports the text with over a hundred pages of informed and detailed critical commentary... There is much to be said for [Lappin's] essentially pragmatic editorial approach. It honestly confronts the problem of a late or corrupt copy-text and does not assume, as has happened so often in the past, that an author who has become part of the canon is therefore free from literary sin and incapable of omission or logical inconsistency. Lappin's Berceo emerges as an immaculate composer of verse but a vulnerable story-teller.’ — Ian Macpherson, Bulletin of Spanish Studies LXXX, 2003, 112-13
  • ‘Should become the standard reference for all future research on the Vida and, indeed, a touchstone for studying all of Berceo's hagiographies.’ — E. Michael Gerli, Speculum 2003, 2003, 936-8
  • ‘Un buon lavoro, che risolve sicuramente alcuni problemi editoriali e interpretavi.’ — Eduardo Blasco Ferrer, Zeitschrift für romanische Philologie 120/2, 2004, 411-14
  • ‘The publication of a full lenght study and edition of one of Berceo's hagiographic works is a rare event; even rarer is the appearance of an English translation. But this book is not likely to be remembered for these reasons. More likely is that it will be read for what it is: a radical, but flawed, attempt to breathe new life into Oria scholarship.’ — Andrew M. Beresford, Bulletin of Hispanic Studies Volume 80, n.1, January 2003, 119-20

Dante’s Blood
Anne C. Leone 
Italian Perspectives 59•31 August 2023

Between Sequence and Sirventes: Aspects of Parody in the Troubadour Lyric
Catherine Léglu
Research Monographs in French Studies 8•1 December 2000

  • ‘Provides a very interesting combination of comparative analysis of musical and textual borrowings, with the discussion of the wider background and referents of the troubadours. This approach enlightens a too-often forgotten corpus of poetry and also provides a fruitful methodological model.’ — Miriam Cabré, French Studies LVI.2, 2002, 221-94
  • ‘An interesting study that considerably increases our appreciation of the complex relationships between secular and sacred song and between canons and clerics, troubadours and jongleurs, categories that have too long been separated by different academic disciplines.’ — Laura Kendrick, Speculum October, 2003, 1338-40
  • unsigned notice, Forum for Modern Language Studies xxxix/1, 2003, 107
  • ‘An insightful analysis of a series of medieval Occitan parodies... Specialists and graduate students will find themselves doubly served by Léglu's careful research as well as by her patient development of complex issues.’ — Daniel E. O'Sullivan, French Review 76.3, 2003, 594-5
  • ‘Die Arbeit hält, was sie eingangs verspricht: Verf. zeigt vielfältige Aspekte jener miteinander dialogisierenden Texte auf, die sich im Grenzbereich zwischen erbaulicher und weltlicher Dichtung bewegen. Über die Reihenfolge der jeweils besprochenen Aspekte sowie über ihre Bedeutung im Einzelfall liesse sich sicherlich diskutieren.’ — Michael Bernsen, Zeitschrift für romanische Philologie 119, 2003, 355-7
  • ‘Brilliant readings of individual texts, as well as invaluable exposition of liturgical and other ecclesiastical material relevant to troubadour compositions.’ — Linda M. Paterson, Medium Aevum LXXII.1, 2003, 148-9
  • ‘Apporte un point de vue qui contribuera à faire progresser notre connaissance des troubadours.’ — Peter Ricketts, Revue des Langues Romanes CVII/2, 2003, 501-3
  • Hendrikje Haufe, Zeitschrift für französische Sprache und Literatur 116.2, 2006, 199-200

The Early Poetry of Guittone d'Arezzo
Vincent Moleta
MHRA Texts and Dissertations 9•1 January 1976

Saracens and their World in Boiardo and Ariosto
Maria Pavlova
Italian Perspectives 47•28 September 2020

  • ‘This carefully-researched monograph achieves its aim of offering “a comprehensive insight” into the vast system of pagan characters within the romance epics of Boiardo and Ariosto... Scholars and graduate students invested in the Este and the Italian chivalric poem will be the most likely to follow the fine-grained analyses of the incredible genealogy and fictional heroes. The broader strokes will interest specialists in adjacent languages and fields. Pavlova’s results should be made available also to undergraduates, albeit in more accessible forms, when we teach these spacious poems from Renaissance Ferrara.’ — Jennifer Kathleen Mackenzie, Annali d'Italianistica 39, 2021, 514-516
  • ‘Scholars have usually highlighted an opposition between Boiardo’s admired representation of the Saracen world and its negative portrayal in Ariosto’s poem, and have interpreted these different approaches in the light of the historical, political, and religious transformations that took place in Italy between the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Pavlova aims to challenge this reading by reconsidering the close relationship between Italy and the Islamic world through an original postcolonial perspective, and by reading the two poems in the context of the literary tradition to which they belong.’ — Francesco Lucioli, Modern Language Review 118.2, 2023, 260-61 (full text online)

Epic and Chronicle: The 'Poema de mio Cid' and the 'Crónica de veinte reyes'
Brian Powell
MHRA Texts and Dissertations 18•1 January 1983

Narrative Strategies for Participation in Dante's Divine Comedy
Katherine Powlesland
Italian Perspectives 53•13 September 2022

  • ‘Drawing inspiration from second-wave cognitivist theories and particularly from embodied cognition, Powlesland proposes a new and fresh way to analyse the Comedy as a participatory text. The scholar achieves this by innovatively borrowing concepts and views from video games studies and adapting them to literary criticism... a strong contribution to Dante Studies, achieved through an innovative and unexpected perspective that bridges the gap between literary studies and videoludic criticism. As such, it is a cutting-edge text both in method and in content.’ — Mattia Bellini, Italian Studies 79.1, 2024, 100-01 (full text online)
  • ‘Powlesland’s study offers an original approach to some of the most well-worn threads of investigation in Dante criticism. Revisiting the last century of Anglophone criticism’s most essential narratological puzzles, Powlesland presents a fresh perspective, one that reinvests the body with its critical role in reading, and that draws on current research in cognitive science and video game theory to complement rigorous analysis of the poem’s narrative structure.’ — Elizabeth Coggeshall, Italica 100.3, 2023, 458-60 (full text online)

Writing Across Time in the Twelfth Century: Historical Distance and Difference in the Kaiserchronik
Christoph J. Pretzer
Germanic Literatures 25•7 March 2022

  • ‘As the back cover notes, the book “connects new and old points from scholarship with innovative perspectives on the text.” In places, this has provided a potential new framework for viewing the text as a whole; in others, it has produced reasonable readings that escape various interpretive dead ends from previous generations of scholars.’ — Adam Oberlin, Journal of English and Germanic Philology 123.1, January 2024, 108-11

Illustrated Medieval Alexander-Books in Germany and the Netherlands
D. J. A. Ross
Publications of the Modern Humanities Research Association 3•1 January 1971

A Selection of Early Welsh Saga Poems
Edited by Jenny Rowland
MHRA Library of Medieval Welsh Literature 3•1 September 2014

  • ‘A Selection of Early Welsh Saga Poems is a timely introduction to this fascinating genre, and is recommended reading for all beginning and advanced students of early Welsh poetry.’ — Alderik H. Blum, Modern Language Review 111.4, October 2016, 1132-33 (full text online)

Dante and Petrarch in the Garden of Language
Francesca Southerden
Italian Perspectives 57•13 September 2022

Dante Alighieri: Four Political Letters
Translated and with a commentary by Claire E. Honess
Critical Texts 6•1 October 2007

Frontier Memory: Cultural Conflict and Exchange in the Romancero fronterizo
Sizen Yiacoup
MHRA Texts and Dissertations 87•1 October 2013