§ 1. THE PRESENT TEXT.
The text of the ‘Canterbury Tales,’ as printed in the present volume, is an
entirely new one, owing nothing to the numerous printed editions which have
preceded it. The only exceptions to this statement are to be found in the
case of such portions as have been formerly edited, for the Clarendon
Press, by Dr. Morris and myself. The reasons for the necessity of a
formation of an absolutely new text will appear on a perusal of the text
itself, as compared with any of its predecessors.
On the other hand, it owes everything to the labours of Dr. Furnivall for
the Chaucer Society, but for which no satisfactory results could have been
obtained, except at the cost of more time and toil than I could well devote
to the subject. In other words, my work is entirely founded upon the
splendid ‘Six-text’ Edition published by that Society, supplemented by the
very valuable reprint of the celebrated ‘Harleian’ manuscript in the same
series. These Seven Texts are all exact reproductions of seven important
MSS., and are, in two respects, more important to the student than the MSS.
themselves; that is to say, they can be studied simultaneously instead of
separately, and they can be consulted and re-consulted at any moment, being
always accessible. The importance of such opportunities is obvious.
§ 2. THE MANUSCRIPTS.
The following list contains all the MSS. of the existence of which I am
aware. As to their types, see § 7. [viii]