"From the 10th-Century manuscript of Beowulf to the work of such 20th century authors as Sylvia Plath, this beautifully illustrated book presents a panorama of more than 1000 years of literature in English through original manuscripts from the British Library's unparalleled collection. Organized chronologically the book reproduces manuscripts by 80 of the greatest British and Irish writers of the last millennium, from Malory and Shakespeare to Swift and Pope, from Coleridge and Wordsworth to T. S. Eliot and Dylan Thomas including such masterpieces of literature as Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre, and Virginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway."--BOOK JACKET.