Publisher's Synopsis
The first of a two volume parallel-text edition, this is an important and critical text of all three accepted versions (A, B, and C texts) of the poem Piers Plowman, and also the Z text, the authenticity of which is still under debate. It provides a full critical apparatus for all four versions, based on first-hand study of manuscript evidence, in light of modern scholarly understanding of the ways in which medieval vernacular texts were copied and transmitted.;Key features include: texts edited by the format pioneered by W.W. Skeat in his famous parallel text edition of 1886 and not repeated until now * provides detailed textual analysis, which Skeat omitted, which enables the reader to evaluate the strength of manuscript support for the readings adopted at every stage; every reading is examined carefully, by itself and in the context of the variants in the version to which it belongs as well as the other versions, where they exist * allows a systematic comparison of variant readings in all versions.;The book is designed for schloars and graduate specialists in "Piers Plowman".
