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A thread for #NationalPoetryMonth, showcasing items from the @britishlibrary collections.
Starting with Beowulf! The longest epic poem in Old English survives in a single manuscript, made sometime around AD 1000. We have a soft spot for Grendel's Mother!
https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/beowulf
Starting with Beowulf! The longest epic poem in Old English survives in a single manuscript, made sometime around AD 1000. We have a soft spot for Grendel's Mother!
https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/beowulf
One of the masterpieces of Middle English literature is Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.
Once again, this poem survives in a single medieval copy, which features an extraordinary cycle of illumination.
https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/sir-gawain-and-the-green-knight
Once again, this poem survives in a single medieval copy, which features an extraordinary cycle of illumination.
https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/sir-gawain-and-the-green-knight
Here is the first printed edition of The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer.
It was printed by William Caxton in 1476-77 in his workshop in the grounds of Westminster Abbey, and is generally accepted as the first substantial book printed in Britain.
https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/first-printed-edition-of-the-canterbury-tales
It was printed by William Caxton in 1476-77 in his workshop in the grounds of Westminster Abbey, and is generally accepted as the first substantial book printed in Britain.
https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/first-printed-edition-of-the-canterbury-tales
Marie de France is one of the first recorded female authors in Europe but her identity is a mystery. The epilogue to her Fables states, ‘Marie ai nun, si sui de France’ (Marie is my name and I am from France).
https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/the-lays-and-fables-of-marie-de-france
https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/the-lays-and-fables-of-marie-de-france
Finally for your delectation, here is William Scott’s The Modell of Poesye (1599), in a manuscript containing the author's notes and revisions.
This guide to composing and appreciating poetry is one of the earliest examples of English literary criticism.
https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/the-modell-of-poesye-1599
This guide to composing and appreciating poetry is one of the earliest examples of English literary criticism.
https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/the-modell-of-poesye-1599
