Morrison, Theodore, ed., The Portable Chaucer (New York: Penguin Books, 1977). ISBN: 140150811
Find in a library

Text name(s): The Canterbury Tales; Troilus and Criseyde; Troilus and Cressida; The Book of the Duchess [excerpts]; The House of Fame [excerpts]; The Parliament of Fowles, or the Bird's Parliament [excerpts]; Legend of Good Women [excerpts]; Nobility; Truth; Lack of Steadfastness; Chaucer's Envoy to Bukton; Chaucer's Words to Adam, his own Copyist; Chaucer's Complaint to his Purse; Chaucer's Envoy to Scogan

Number of pages of primary source text: 611

Medieval Author(s): Chaucer, Geoffrey

Dates: 1380 - 1400

Archival Reference:

Original Language(s): English - Middle English;

Translation: English translation.

Translation Comments:

Geopolitical Region(s): England;

County/Region: Kent; Canterbury

Apparatus: Bibliography Introduction

Comments:

This edition of selected works of Chaucer in modern English translation is meant for a popular audience, rather than a scholarly one. It does not include any notes or glosses. Considered by many to be one of the greatest poets of the English language, Geoffrey Chaucer was born in London in the 1340s. He was a page in the household of Elizabeth, Countess of Ulster, who was married to Prince Lionel, one of King Edward III’s sons, and fought in France in 1359. After that he served Edward as a messenger and diplomat, customs agent, clerk of the king’s works (where he oversaw construction and renovation of the king’s houses and properties), and Justice of the Peace. His literary career began in translating works such as the Romance of the Rose and Boethius’ Consolation of Philosophy into English, and his first original work, the Book of the Duchess, was written in 1369-70. He died in or around 1400; the date on his 16th-century tomb in Westminster Abbey is October 25, 1400.

Introduction Summary:

The 50-page introduction includes discussion of Chaucer’s life and times, his followers and critics, his learning, bawdy tales, religious beliefs of the time and how they affected Chaucer’s works, and the modernization of his works.

Cataloger: RLL