Wulfstan's Canon Law Collection

First edition of important but problematic Anglo-Saxon text, with much to say about how later Anglo-Saxon writers used earlier materials.

This volume presents the first edited version of the canon collection associated with two of the key literary figures of the late Anglo-Saxon period: Ælfric, abbot of Eynsham [d. after 1006], and Wulfstan, bishop ofWorcester and archbishop of York [d. 1023]. Although of considerable importance, its textual problems (how many items comprise the collection? When, and by whom, was it composed?) have made proper critical study difficult. This edition aims to answer the need; the texts of the two recensions are edited with full critical apparatus of the five known manuscripts, a detailed study of sources, facing English translation, and an introductory essay on the text and its background.

Dr ANDREW HAMER teaches at the University of Liverpool.