The invention of Middle English

"At a time when medieval studies is increasingly concerned to historicize and theorize its own origins and history, the development of the study of Middle English has been relatively neglected. The Invention of Middle English collects for the first time the principal sources through which this history can be traced. The documents presented here highlight the uncertain and haphazard way in which ideas about Middle English language and literature were shaped by antiquarians in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. It is a valuable sourcebook for medieval studies, for study of the reception of the Middle Ages and, more generally, for the history of the rise of English.". "The anthology is divided into two sections. In the first, the development of ideas about Middle English language is traced in the work of thirteen writers, including George Hickes, Thomas Warton, Jacob Grimm, Henry Sweet, and James Murray. In the second, literary criticism and commentary are represented by nineteen authors, including Warton, Thomas Percy, Joseph Ritson, Walter Scott, Thomas Wright, and Walter Skeat. Each of the extracts is annotated and introduced with a note presenting historical, biographical, and bibliographical information along with a guide to further reading. A general introduction to the book provides an overview of the state of Middle English study and a brief history of the formation of the discipline."--BOOK JACKET.