William Chaucer; (Editor) E.T. Donaldson

It's still the same old story.... Every edition of Chaucer has to start by determining its target audience. Scholars? Casual readers? Students? Serious amateurs? The answer to this question determines not only the content but the form of the book.

I'd classify this book as being for serious amateurs. It includes the large majority, but not all, of Chaucer's works (only part of the House of Fame is included, and a lot of the short poems are omitted, as is most of the Legend of Good Women, Anelida and Arcite, and the prose sections of the Canterbury Tales). The text is more heavily modernized than in the standard Riverside Chaucer, but the language is quite clearly Middle English, not a modern translation. There are glosses but no detailed notes. The end includes a long discussion of the various works included.

It is the latter that is of the greatest value. E. Talbot Donaldson was one of the twentieth century's greatest Chaucer scholars, and while his opinions cannot be considered definitive, they certainly carry great weight. Even if you prefer another edition of Chaucer's texts, the book is worth it for the end matter.

And the text is good too, since it doesn't always read the same way as the Riverside edition. The orthography can be a little surprising, but it is very useful to have this alongside other editions. Even for the serious amateur, it probably isn't the best edition to have -- the Riverside retains that distinction -- but it's a very solid edition to have available for consultation.… (meer)