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George Hickes and the Invention of the Old English Maxims Poem
- ELH
- Johns Hopkins University Press
- Volume 85, Number 1, Spring 2018
- pp. 1-31
- 10.1353/elh.2018.0000
- Article
- Additional Information
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Abstract:
This study explores the implications of three overlooked asterisks penciled into the margins of the Exeter Book of Old English Poetry by the antiquarian-scholar George Hickes in the eighteenth century. Comparing Hickes's editorial treatment of the punctuation of the so-called Maxims poems in his print Thesaurus with the punctuation of their medieval manuscript contexts, I argue, demonstrates his enduring influence on the Maxims and their generic categorization as "gnomic" poetry, touching on recent debates over lyric. The essay analyzes the punctuation of the Maxims poems as a test case for scholars interested in the Old English gnomic corpus, and thus offers a prolegomenon for future editors.