'For Mr. Ritson's Collection' - George Ellis, Joseph Ritson And National Library Of Wales Mss 5599, 5600c.

Meecham-Jones, Simon

English Studies 2001 82 (2)127-145
(ReLIS:jul:juljig:y:2001:v:82:i:2:p:127-145)

Abstract:

In the final decades of the Eighteenth century and the opening years of the Nineteenth century the efforts and achievements of a (relatively) small number of antiquarians and scholars returned a wealth of medieval romances and ballads to the attention of readers. Although the social status, political sympathies and intellectual contacts of those editors can be shown to have exercised a powerful influence on the textual history of the editions through which medieval texts were made available to a wider public , the personal and working relationships of the scholars involved in editing and publishing medieval romances have been rarely investigated. Uncovering such influences has proved a difficult task when, as a result of loss or deliberate suppression, records of the editorial processes are both sparse and misleading. One source so far over looked is found in National Library of Wales manuscripts 5599 and 5600c, which bear a selection of dedicatory and marginal notes shedding a revealing, if oblique, light on the complex culture of ollaboration and personal rivalry which influenced the pursuit of antiquarian studies in this period.

Keywords: Literatura inglesa ; Romanticismo ; Poesía ; Edición ; Siglo 18º ; Siglo 19º
Pages: 127-145
Volume: 82
Year: 2001
Issue: 2

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