The Text of the ABC of Aristotle in the ‘Winchester Anthology’
Item
Title
The Text of the ABC of Aristotle in the ‘Winchester Anthology’
Link
https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/ang-2021-0026/html
List of Authors
Ian Cornelius
Abstract
The Middle English ABC of Aristotle is an alliterative abecedary poem that survives in fifteen manuscript copies dating between the mid-fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. The most eccentric copy, bearing the greatest number of unique textual variants, is in London, British Library, Additional 60577, a commonplace book and miscellany of verse and prose known today as the ‘Winchester Anthology’. The Winchester copy of the ABC of Aristotle is distinguished from all others by changes to vocabulary, idiom, and prosody. The result is a unique redaction, illustrating the kind of literary composition that could be expected to grow out of late medieval English grammar schools. The Winchester redaction also expresses a shift in prosodic allegiance. The traditional alliterative line is subtly reshaped into an accentual-syllabic form.
Date
June 19, 2021
Publication Title
Anglia
Publisher
De Gruyter
Identifier
https://doi.org/10.1515/ang-2021-0026
Bibliographic Citation
Cornelius, Ian. "The Text of the ABC of Aristotle in the ‘Winchester Anthology’" Anglia, vol. 139, no. 2, 2021, pp. 400-418. https://doi.org/10.1515/ang-2021-0026