Nicolson, J.U., ed., The Canterbury Tales (New York: Garden City Publishing, 1934).

Text name(s): The Canterbury Tales

Number of pages of primary source text: 627

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:

Comments:

This modern translation of the Canterbury Tales is meant for a popular audience. It includes portraits of the pilgrims, but no other scholarly apparatus. 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 5-page introduction discusses Chaucer’s innovations as a poet and provides a general overview of the Canterbury Tales

Cataloger: MK