Author Description

Some of the most prominent figures in medieval literature and textual studies have assembled to offer essays on Middle English manuscripts and verse in honor of Hoyt N. Duggan ("Dug"). Duggan is a pioneer in matters of medieval prosody and is founder of the Piers Plowman Electronic Archive, an ambitious project in digital-textual archaeology. Duggan's project is based on antique books, but it is an innovation in the history of all books, unlocking, in unprecedented detail, manuscript evidence that has stood silent or occluded for centuries. Inspired by Duggan's work, the contributing authors study not only the handwritten artifacts themselves but also the labor and craft that produced them, their poetic artistry, and their complex roles in religious, literary, and social history.