Chaucer: A Bibliographical Introduction by John Leyerle, Anne Quick (review)

HUMANITIES 101 'Sources and Words: investigate the possible Latin backgrounds of three works: Cross deals with six notices in the Old English Martyrology; Anderson surveys previous identifications of sources for Maldon, noting in particular the importance of the Encomium Emmae Reginae; and Bloomfield revisits his own earlier analysis of Deor, confirming it as preferable to Markland's, which theorizes that Deor exhibits the influence of the 'AJfredian ' Boethius. The reasons for the arrangement of these sixteen essays into the divisions just noted are clear enough, although there are many possible cross-connections: for example, Anderson, Frese, and Nelson all discuss Maldon; both Calder and Renoir mention the Andreas-Beowulfconnection; and Bloomfield's structuralist reading adds to the range of critical approaches exemplified in part II. Other connections between essays can be pursued through the index. The aim of this volume is to honour a scholar whose approach to Old English literature was both varied and thoroughly learned. In this it succeeds admirably. One is tempted to complain that the book is heavily weighted in favour of poetry: only Gneuss, Mellinkoff, and Cross deal with prose, and in none of their essays is it in primary focus. Nonetheless, this emphasis on poetry reflects Greenfield's own interests (see his list of publications, awards and honours on pp 283-7), and the papers here collected certainly demonstrate variety and learning in other respects: from the 'notes' of Stanley, through the detailed subdivided analyses of Rissanen and Cross, to the polished pieces, of which those by Gneuss, Frese, Calder, Frank, and Pope are particularly fine examples. Not only does the book honour its dedicatee; it provides both inspiration and exempla for others who aspire to follow in his steps. (PAULINE A. THOMPSON) John Leyerle and Anne Quick. Chaucer: A Bibliographicnl Introduction Toronto Medieval Bibliographies 10. University of Toronto Press. xx, 320. $35.00; $16.95 paper. The Toronto Medieval Bibliographies already published are most useful. Their compilers, such as Leonard Boyle, Andrew Hughes, and others, deal with specialized areas in which even the experienced medievalist requires some guidance. In the field of Chaucer studies, however, much bibliographical guidance is already available, and the question arises: if this bibliography is to become the standard work, what does it offer that is not to be found in the Hammond, Griffiths, Crawford, and Baird comprehensive bibliographies or in the selective bibliographies in Fisher's The Complete Poetry and Prose of Geoffrey Chaucer (1977), Baugh's Goldentree Bibliography (2nd edition 1977), Rowland's Companion to Chaucer Studies 102 LE'ITERS IN CANADA 1986 (revised edition 1979), or The Riverside Chaucer edited by Benson (1987)? Presumably one expects a judicious compression of the above, a critical enumeration that justifies the selection and consists of all works deemed indispensable for the three groups addressed, the beginner in Chaucer studies, the student competent in other medieval disciplines but unfamiliar with Chaucer, and the librarian seeking to build a Chaucer library in a small college. In addition, exceptional for bibliographies besides that published annually in Studies in the Age of Chaucer, the entries are annotated . Regrettably, the ambitious nature of this approach seems to have caused too many problems for it to work well. The book itself is difficult to use. The system of referencing is neither numerical nor alphabetical, and the index rarely gives the pagination. The reader is forced to run the gamut from M1 (Materials) on P 3 to B238 (Background) on P 306, all the time holding the book with both hands because the pages will not lie flat. For the Bookofthe Duchess and the Canterbury Tales the entries can be found without much difficulty under DD and CT, but for Boethius the index cites twelve entries in M (Materials), one in CRS (Critical Studies), and twenty in six other sections, none of which is in alphabetical order. If this system is confusing here, in a revised edition it would prove useless. For example, when Baird-Lange's second bibliography appears, it will have to occupy a space between M4 and M5. Similarly, every new entry will disturb the present sequence. The value of the content is affected by two factors. The first is the delay in...