Author Description

This volume presents, for the first time, an edition and facing English translation of all of the stories that belong to the Anglo-Latin corpus of the immensely popular and influential collection of moralized stories from the Middle Ages, known as Gesta Romanorum ("The Deeds of the Romans"). The Anglo-Latin branch of the Gesta is of particular interest and importance as it is the source of the Middle English versions of the stories as well as the earliest English printed version, and includes stories that are either not found in continental Gesta collections or that differ significantly from the continental versions. Oxford, Bodleian Library, Douce 310 has been chosen as the base manuscript for the edition and has been collated with seven other Anglo-Latin manuscripts in order to illustrate the nature and degree of textual variation that is a feature of the Anglo-Latin Gesta tradition, and to facilitate comparison between the Anglo-Latin versions of the stories and the Middle English and Early Modern English versions. An edited text and translation of the stories that do not form part of the collection in Douce 310, some of which are found in only one or two manuscripts, have also been provided. In addition, the volume includes notes that identify the sources, analogues, and folktale motifs of the stories and that explain key literary, cultural, and linguistic features, and an introduction that provides an overview of the history and significance of the Gesta and a detailed account of the Anglo-Latin tradition.