The Recovery of Old English: Anglo-Saxon Studies in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries (Publications of the Richard Rawlinson Center)

The eight essays in The Recovery of Old English consider major aspects of the progress of Anglo-Saxon studies from their Tudor beginnings until their coming of age in the second half of the seventeenth century. Individual essays focus on the work of key figures who opened up the study of the Anglo-Saxon language and culture: John Joscelyn, Richard Verstegen, William L'Isle, William Somner, and Francis Junius. The aims and methods of these and other scholars are explored through analysis of the ways in which they studied such landmarks of Anglo-Saxon literature as the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, the homilies of lfric, and the Old English poetic corpus. A special feature of the volume is the emphasis placed upon unpublished materials which are richly informative, but which hitherto have not received the attention they merit: the early scholars' workbooks, their transcriptions of Old English texts, and their annotations in the Anglo-Saxon manuscripts that they acquired, borrowed, or read in the major antiquarian libraries established during this period. The Recovery of Old English should appeal to a broad audience of those interested in Anglo-Saxon language, literature, and history, and in the religious and political context in which study of these fields first developed.The Recovery of Old English: Anglo-Saxon Studies in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries (Publications of the Richard Rawlinson Center), with ISBN 9781580440134 and ISBN 1580440134.