We are pleased to share the news of a forthcoming edited collection Textual and Bibliographical Studies in Older Scots Literature: Selected Essays of Priscilla Bawcutt prepared by CEMS member Janet Hadley Williams. This volume of Priscilla Bawcutt’s less accessible essays can be pre-ordered through the invitation form from Boydell and Brewer, through this link.
This rich selection from the writings of Priscilla Bawcutt, the major scholar of Older Scots literature, both honours her achievement and provides authoritative guidance to all involved in the pleasures and challenges of medieval and early modern Scottish studies. The first five chapters, including a hitherto unpublished paper, gather her insights into how to examine, contextualize, and edit early poetic texts. Among her discussions are those on the importance of explanatory notes, the usefulness of fragments, the demands of transcription, and the need for objectivity when identifying supposed influences, date, or author. Two central chapters then give balance and coherence to the complex evidence of change in literary activities and tastes in early Scotland. Five further chapters combine textual and bibliographical studies with contextual explorations, into personal libraries, habits of reading, annotators, and book circulation within family groups, across borders, or over time.