The Ælfric of Eynsham Project

FAIN: RQ-50239-06

Aaron J. Kleist
Unaffiliated Independent Scholar (La Mirada, CA 90639)

Publication in print and electronic form of selected Anglo-Saxon homilies by Ælfric of Eynsham. (36 months)

Now scarcely known, ironically, to most students of literature, the tenth-century monk Ælfric of Eynsham was the most erudite, prolific, and influential author in English before Chaucer. Though knowledge of Old English was largely lost in the 300 years following his death, the popularity of Ælfric’s writings remained remarkably steadfast through the thirteenth century. Using cutting-edge technology, this project will provide printed and electronic editions and translations of key works by Ælfric that remain unpublished, partially published, or scattered through out-of-print texts, making them accessible to non-specialists as well as to scholars, and promoting a heightened appreciation for this pivotal figure of early English literature.

Associated Products

The Digital Aelfric (Database/Archive/Digital Edition)
Title: The Digital Aelfric
Author: Aaron J. Kleist, Editor
Abstract: This publication offers a dynamic edition of works by Ælfric of Eynsham, the most erudite and prolific author writing in English before Chaucer. Focusing on arguably his most influential work, the Catholic Homilies, it examines the only homilies for which witnesses to all six stages of authorial revision survive, tracing their development through Ælfric’s lifetime and nearly 200 years of transmission thereafter. Where printed editions are hard put to capture such a fluid developmental process, the Digital Ælfric allows one visually to trace each step along the way. Annotated transcripts by 43 contributors of all 118 extant copies may be viewed alongside each other or compared directly with digital images of all relevant manuscript pages. Accompanied by scholarly introductions to the project and to Ælfric’s life and work, the Digital Ælfric seeks to open new avenues for scholarly exploration and to promote a heightened appreciation for this vital figure in English literature.
Year: 2016
Primary URL: http://www.sd-editions.com/DigitalAelfric/
Primary URL Description: Subscription-only URL of SDE (Scholarly Digital Editions) publisher
Access Model: Subscription only

Prizes

Seal of Approval
Date: 12/1/2014
Organization: MLA Committee on Scholarly Editions

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