Thomas Hoccleve A Facsimile of the Autograph Verse Manuscripts

The poetry of Thomas Hoccleve (1367?-1426) has attracted increased attention in recent years. All the verse known to be by him with the exception of his Regiment of Princes, survives in three manuscript copies made by him in the last years of his life. These manuscripts provide a very rare opportunity to study the work of a medieval English poet in copies carefully transcribed by the author himself. Almost all the contents of the three manuscripts were reproduced in the Early English Text Society's editions of Hoccleve's 'Minor Poems'; but the facsimile makes it possible to see exactly how the poet presents his own work, meticulously spelled and metred. The Introduction, as well as listing the contents of the manuscripts and describing them, includes a discussion of Hoccleve's handwriting. Other aspects considered are the dates of the copies, together with the poet's use of abbreviations and punctuation.