A Literary History of England

Albert C. Baugh, Kemp Malone

The paperback edition, in four volumes, of this standard work will make it readily available to students.The scope of the work makes it valuable as a work of reference, connecting one period with another and placing each author clearly in the setting of his time.Reviewing the first edition, The Times Literary Supplement commented: in inclusiveness and in judgment it has few rivals of its kind .This first volume covers The Middle Ages (to 1500) in two sections: The Old English Period (to 1100) by Kemp Malone (John Hopkins University), and The Middle English Period (1100-1500) by Albert C. Baugh (University of Pennsylvania).

Preface to the First EditionNote to Second Edition PART I. THE OLD ENGLISH PERIOD (TO 1100) I. Folk, State, and Speech II. Anglo-Latin Writings III. The Old Tradition: Poetic Form IV. The Old Tradition: Popular Poetry V. The Old Tradition: Courtly Poetry VI. Religious Poetry: Cædmon and His School VII. Religious Poetry: Cynewulf and His School VIII. Religious Poetry: Poems on Various Themes IX. Secular Poetry X. Literary Prose PART II. THE MIDDLE ENGLISH PERIOD (1100-1500) I. General Characteristics of the Period II. The Survival of the Native Tradition (1100-1250) III. The Ancrene Riwle IV. Anglo-Norman Literature V. Early Latin Writers VI. Wit and Wisdom VII. For Their Soul's Need VIII. The Arthurian Legend to Layamon IX. The Romance: I X. The Romance: II XI. The Omnibus of Religion XII. The Lyric XIII. Richard Rolle and Other Mystics XIV. The Alliterative Revival XV. Piers Plowman and Other Alliterative Poems XVI. Chaucer: I XVII. Chaucer: II XVIII. Other Contemporaries of Chaucer XIX. The Beginnings of the Drama XX. Ebb Tide XXI. Looking Forward