Edited by Sarah M. Horrall (1985) Edition From MS St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, E.I.I
The Middle English prose Lyf of Oure Lady and its Latin source the Vita Sancte Marie of the English Franciscan Thomas of Hales have not previously been edited, nor has the connection been made between the Middle English and the Latin texts. The Middle English Lyf is extant in two manuscripts of the fifteenth century: St George’s Chapter, Windsor Chapel, E.I.I., used here as the base text, and Bodleian Library MS Laud Misc. 174. The Latin Vita is of the mid-thirteenth century and is known to survive in at least seventeen manuscripts. The text printed here is from Bodleian MS Hatton 102, a Group I manuscript of the early fourteenth century. The Middle English Lyf is a close translation from a lost manuscript of the same redaction of the Vita, and used the same translation methods as produced the Later Version of the Wycliffite Bible in the late fourteenth century. The Introduction discusses Thomas of Hales and the Latin Vita, the manuscripts, the translation technique, and the Middle English Lyf. The Middle English text is presented with the Latin text set in parallel at the bottom of the page. The edition includes explanatory notes and a glossary.
This volume is currently out of print.