An 18th Century Irish Reader Book

4 stars

We used this for my Intro to ME Lit course in grad school. I haven't read many other ME anthology textbooks to compare, but I think Burrows' book served very well.

This contains excerpts of major ME texts from 1100-1400, including religious, legal, fictional, & poetic works. The selections include texts by authors who wrote in various geographic locations as well, so you get a nice variety of regional dialects.

The downside to having selections & excerpts is that I got to read snippets & scenes of several compelling stories with no easy way to read the endings!! I was in agony for months not knowing the ending to Havelok The Dane!!

Fortunately, my professor told me about the Early English Text Society which publishes facsimiles & prints of OE and ME texts out of Oxford University Press. I am currently building out my collection, buying a few volumes per year. It's a great deal to join the society if you're interested! You get discounts & newsletters & such.

Also in this textbook is a nice glossary of many of the vocab words in the original texts. (For a larger dictionary, the U of Michigan has a free online one; it's a work in progress as they are continuing to compile it, but it has been massively helpful to me!)

At the front of the textbook are basic notes on grammar, pronunciation, regional dialects, and the vowel shifts & grammatical simplifications that happened during the ME period. My professor used these, along with many other supplemental handouts. He approved of the regional dialect maps provided, but added some nuances for our class. (I also supplemented these with some more in-depth ME grammar textbooks from the uni library.)

All in all, this was a great introductory textbook for me. If you're brand new to ME & are studying on your own, I recommend you find other grammar/technical resources to read alongside this book as you study.