Textual Editing and Criticism: An Introduction addresses a gap in currently available materials for English and American literature teachers who bring textual editing and criticism into their courses.

Traditional critical editing, defined by the paper and print limitations of the book, is now considered by many to be inadequate for the expression and interpretation of complex works of literature. At the same time, digital developments are permitting us to extend the range of text objects we can reproduce and investigate critically - not just books, but newspapers, draft manuscripts and inscriptions on stone. Some exponents of the benefits of new information technologies argue that in future all editions should be produced in digital or online form. By contrast, others point to the fact that print, after more than five hundred years of development, continues to set the agenda for how we think about text, even in its non-print forms. This important book brings together leading textual critics, scholarly editors, technical specialists and publishers to discuss whether and how existing paradigms for developing and using critical editions are changing to reflect the increased commitment to and assumed significance of digital tools and methodologies.

Over the past twenty years, the field of scholarly editing has expanded and altered immeasurably. In Editing Documents and Texts Beth Luey has compiled for the first time 900 references from nearly 200 journals and books that explain how scholarly editors do their work and the theories behind their editing. Bridging the traditional gap between historical and literary editing, Luey surveys the relevant scholarship in all editorial fields and presents a thorough picture of the state of the discipline. Anyone interested in the editing of documents and texts--whether an undergraduate or graduate student, instructor, or a beginning or experienced editor--will find Editing Documents and Texts an indispensible reference.

Textual-Critical studies of medieval English literature have primarily focused on practical matters such as transcription, collation, recension, and the identification of scribal hands. But the theory of editing medieval English works remains largely unexplored. Tim William Machan addresses this void by setting out to articulate the textual and cultural factors that distinctively characterize Middle English works as Middle English and to reveal the role these factors play in editing and interpretation of these works. In revealing how the creation of textual criticism affected the transmission of Middle English, this book will be of interest and accessible to readers relatively new to both textual criticism and Middle English. It will also be of vital importance to specialists in medieval studies, Renaissance studies, and textual criticism.

Europe’s nation-states emerged from a complex of nineteenth-century developments in which cultural consciousness-raising played a formative role. The nineteenth-century reflection on Europe’s national identities involved a re-inventory and revalorisation of the vernacular cultural past and, above all, the nation’s literary heritage. Everywhere in Europe, foundational texts (including medieval epics and romances, ancient laws and chronicles) were retrieved from their obscure repositories. In new, printed editions, prepared according to the emerging academic standards of textual scholarship, they were appropriated, contested and canonised as public symbols of the nation’s permanence in history. This often neglected, but crucially important Europe-wide process of ‘editing the nation’s memory’ involved old states and emerging nations, large and small countries, metropolitan and peripheral regions; it straddled politics, the academic professionalization of textual scholarship and of the human sciences, and literary taste. This collection of studies by outstanding specialists offers a comparative synopsis on exemplary cases from all corners of the European continent.

A Handbook to Literary Research is a vital, one of a kind student resource, which has been written specifically for those embarking on a Masters degree in Literature. It provides an introduction to research techniques, methodologies and information sources relevant to the study of literature at postgraduate level. The unique and invaluable guide is divided into four sections: * a practical guide to the uses of research libraries, research sources and computers, including the Internet * an introduction to the work of textual scholars and bibliographers, focusing particularly on the practical and theoretical issues faced by textual editors * an overview of literary research and literary theory, including outlines of feminist theory, deconstruction, reader-response and reception theory, new historicism, and post-colonial theory * a detailed guide on how to write and present a Masters, including a glossary and checklist for finding guides, reference books and other study sources.

Designed for those beginning an MA in Literature, this text provides an introduction to research techniques, methodologies and information sources relevant to the study of literature at postgraduate level. Contemporary theoretical approaches are also outlined.

A practical introduction to the aims, controversies, and procedures of scholarly editing

This volume of essays addresses the practical implications of theoretical issues in a variety of texts from Shakespeare to Oscar Wilde.