John Lydgate image
star nullstar nullstar nullstar nullstar null

Born in 1370 / Died in 1450 / United Kingdom / English

Bibliography

Other info : Furtherreading

MAJOR WORKS

  • The Temple of Glas (1403?). Manuscripts: Alain Renoir and C. David Benson (1980) list nine manuscripts; John Norton-Smith's 1966 text is based on Bodleian Library MS. Tanner 346. First publication: The temple of glas (Westminster: William Caxton, 1477?). Standard editions: The Temple of Glas, edited by Joseph Schick, EETS, e.s. 60 (1891; reprinted, 1924, 1973); also in John Lydgate: Poems, edited by Norton-Smith (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1966), pp. 67-112, 176-191.
  • Reson and Sensuallyte (circa 1408). Manuscripts: Bodleian Library MS. 3896 (Fairfax 16) and British Library MS. Additional 29729. Standard edition: Reson and Sensuallyte, edited by Ernst Sieper, 2 volumes, EETS, e.s. 84 & 89 (1901-1903; reprinted, 1965).
  • The Life of Our Lady (1409-1411?). Manuscripts: Alain Renoir and C. David Benson list forty-seven manuscripts, the best of which (according to Norton-Smith) is Durham University MS. Cosin V.ii.16. First publication: tHis book was compyled by dan John lydgate ... in thonoure glorye & reuerence of the byrthe of our moste blessyd lady, mayde wyf, and moder of our lord Ihesu cryst, edited by William Caxton (Westminster: William Caxton, 1484?). Standard edition: A Critical Edition of John Lydgate's Life of Our Lady, edited by Joseph A. Lauritis, Ralph A. Klinefelter, and Vernon F. Gallagher, Duquesne Studies, Philological Series 2 (Pittsburgh: Duquesne University Press, 1961).
  • Troy Book (1412-1420). Manuscripts: This long poem exists in more than twenty manuscripts; Henry Bergen's text (1906-1935) is based on British Library MS. Cotton Augustus A.iv, collated with British Library MS. Arundel 99 and Bodleian Library MSS. Digby 230 and Digby 232. First publication: The hystorye, Sege and dystruccyon of Troye (London: Richard Pynson, 1513). Standard edition: Troy Book, edited by Henry Bergen, 4 volumes, EETS, e.s. 97, 103, 106, and 126 (1906-1935; reprinted, 1973).
  • The Siege of Thebes (1420-1422). Manuscripts: Alain Renoir and C. David Benson list thirty manuscripts; the standard EETS edition is based on British Library MS. Arundel 119. First publication: The Storye of Thebes (London: Wynkyn de Worde, 1496?). Standard edition: The Siege of Thebes, 2 volumes, edited by Axel Erdmann and Eilert Ekwall, EETS, e.s. 108 (1911; reprinted, 1960) and e.s. 125 (1930; reprinted, 1973).
  • The Serpent of Division (1422). Manuscripts: Alain Renoir and C. David Benson list five manuscripts of this prose treatise. Standard edition: The Serpent of Division, edited by Henry Noble MacCracken (London: Frowde / New Haven: Yale University Press, 1911).
  • The Pilgrimage of the Life of Man (1426-1430). Manuscripts: British Library MSS. Cotton Vitellius C.xiii, Cotton Tiberius A.vii (a fragment), and Stowe 952; and Worcester Cathedral MS. C.i.8 (a fragment). Standard edition: Deguileville's Pilgrimage of the Life of Man, 3 volumes, edited by Frederick J. Furnivall and Katharine B. Locock, EETS, e.s. 77, 83 & 92 (1899-1904; reprinted, 1973).
  • The Dance of Death (or The Daunce of Machabree) (1426-1430). Manuscripts: Alain Renoir and C. David Benson list fifteen manuscripts, eight with and seven without the five-stanza prologue; the standard EETS edition is based on Ellesmere MS. 26.A.13 (in the Huntington Library) and Lansdowne MS. 699 (in the British Library). Standard edition: The Dance of Death, edited by Florence Warren and Beatrice White, EETS, o.s. 181 (1931; reprinted, 1971).
  • Fall of Princes (1431-1439). Manuscripts: Alain Renoir and C. David Benson list thirty-four manuscripts plus numerous manuscripts of extracts; Henry Bergen's text is based on Bodley MS. 263, collated throughout with British Library MSS. Royal 18.D.iv and Harley 1245, and in part with other manuscripts. First publication: Here begynnethe the boke calledde John bochas descriuinge the falle of princis ... (London: Richard Pynson, 1494). Standard edition: Fall of Princes, edited by Henry Bergen, 4 volumes (Washington, D.C.: The Carnegie Institution, 1923-1927); and EETS, e.s. 121-124 (1924-1927; reprinted, 1967).
  • The Lives of Saints Edmund and Fremund (1433). Manuscripts: Alain Renoir and C. David Benson list thirteen manuscripts. Edition: "John Lydgate's Saint Edmund and Saint Fremund: An Annotated Edition," edited by James I. Miller, Ph.D. dissertation, Harvard University, 1967.
  • The Lives of Saint Albon and Saint Amphabel (1439) Manuscripts: The poem exists in more or less complete form in five manuscripts; both standard editions are based on Lansdowne MS. 699 (in the British Library). First publication: Here begynnethe the glorious lyfe and passion of seint Albon prothomartyr of Englande / and also the lyfe and passion of saint Amphabel / whiche conuerted saint Albon to the fayth of Christe (St. Albans: J. Hertford, 1534). Standard editions: The Life of Saint Alban and Saint Amphibal, edited by J. E. van der Westhuizen (Leiden: Brill, 1974); The Life of Saint Albon and Saint Amphibalus, edited by George F. Reinecke, Garland Medieval Texts no. 11 (New York & London: Garland, 1985).
  • Secrees of the Old Philosoffres (with Benedict Burgh) (1446?). Manuscripts: Alain Renoir and C. David Benson list twenty manuscripts; Steele's text is based on Sloane MS. 2464 (in the British Library). Standard edition: Secrees of the Old Philosoffres, edited by Robert Steele, EETS, e.s. 66 (1894; reprinted, 1973).
  • The Testament of Lydgate (1448-1449). Manuscripts: The poem exists in whole or in part in about a dozen manuscripts; Henry Noble MacCracken's text is based on British Library MS. Harley 218. First publication: Here begynneth the testament of John Lydgate monke of Berry: which he made hymselfe / by his lyfe dayes (London: Richard Pynson, 1515?). Edition: The Testament of Dan John Lydgate, in The Minor Poems of John Lydgate, edited by Henry Noble MacCracken, volume 1, EETS, e.s. 107 (1911; reprinted, 1962), pp. 329-362.

COLLECTED EDITIONS

  • In English Verse between Chaucer and Surrey, edited by Eleanor Prescott Hammond (Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 1927; reprinted, Octagon, 1965), pp. 77-187.
  • The Minor Poems of John Lydgate, edited by Henry Noble MacCracken, 2 volumes, EETS, e.s. 107 (1911; reprinted, 1962) and o.s. 192 (1934; reprinted, 1961).
  • John Lydgate: Poems, edited by John Norton-Smith (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1966).