This groundbreaking work challenges the received history of William Langland's Piers Plowman. Through close textual analysis, Lawrence Warner brings about a fundamental shift in our understanding of the production and transmission of the poem's three versions, establishing an entirely new paradigm for the study of Middle English literature.

The Lost History of "Piers Plowman"
The Earliest Transmission of Langland's Work

Lawrence Warner

2010 | 136 pages | Cloth $49.95
Literature
View main book page

Table of Contents

Preface
Chapter 1. Piers Plowman Before 1400: Evidence for the Earliest Circulation of A, B, and C
Chapter 2. Scribal Conflation, Convergent Variation, and the Invention of Piers Plowman B
Chapter 3. The Poison of Possession: B Passus 15
Chapter 4. The Ending, and End, of Piers Plowman B
Conclusion. Lollars, Friars, and Fyndynges: C Passus 9 and the Creation of Piers Plowman

Notes
Bibliography
Index
Acknowledgments