This section catalogs available “plain text” versions of Chaucer’s works and other medieval works of interest to Chaucer scholars, teachers, and students. Digital facsimiles of manuscripts are located under Images.
Chaucer’s Works
These links are based on those originally supplied by Edwin Duncan and Alan Baragona. The order of Chaucer’s works and the abbreviations used for them are those of The Riverside Chaucer, 3rd ed. (Boston 1987).
CT (Canterbury Tales)
Robinson’s Edition, University of Michigan: Searchable
A machine readable version of the text in The Works of Geoffrey Chaucer, ed. F.N. Robinson, 2nd. ed. (Houghton Mifflin: Boston: 1957). Part of the Corpus of Middle English Verse and Prose associated with the Middle English Dictionary and Middle English Compendium. Can choose any Fragment or Tale from table of contents.
This text is searchable: for individual words and phrases; for boolean coocurrences (up to three items, and/or/not, within the same line and/or paragraph); for proximity collocations (up to three items, near or not near, followed by or not followed by, within 40, 80 or 120 characters of each other). You can also BROWSE this collection for (currently) 145 other Middle English works.
Robinson’s Edition, Oxford Text Archive
A machine readable version of the text in The Works of Geoffrey Chaucer, ed. F.N. Robinson, 2nd. ed. (Houghton Mifflin: Boston: 1957). At the Electronic Text Center, University of Virginia. Can choose any Fragment or Tale from table of contents.
Librarius
A composite edition by Sinan Kökbugur for the Librarius web site. Individual tales selectable from a table of contents. Middle English text, many of whose words are linked to Modern English glosses in an adjacent window (uses frames). This site has become busy with banner ads.
Reader Friendly, Partial
“A Reader-friendly Edition” of the General Prologue and Four Marriage Tales [WBT, ClT, MerT, FkT] Put into modern spelling by MICHAEL MURPHY.” Also a brief introduction. Side glosses and generous footnote translations. In Portable Document Format (PDF); you need Adobe Acrobat or a similar plug-in to read this.
BD (Book of the Duchess)
Skeat’s Edition, Berkeley Online Medieval and Classical Library
Based on the edition published in The Complete Works of Geoffrey Chaucer, ed. W.W. Skeat (Oxford, 1899). Electronic version “edited, proofed, and prepared by Douglas B. Killings September 1994, based upon a previous e-text of unknown origin. Additional assistance provided by Diane M. Brendan.”
A Hypertext Edition
“Prepared by Terrence Asgar-Deen, Stan Beeler, Sally Chivers, Lynnette Choon-Ling Chong, Charmaine Connop-Scollard, Christine Hoffos, Heidi Kurtz, Murray McGillivray, Blair McNaughton, Kelly Thompson, under the general editorship of Murray McGillivray. University of Calgary Press, Calgary, Alberta, 1997.”
Provides a “reading text” accompanied by glosses and notes (uses frames) as well as separate transcriptions of MS Bodley 638, MS Fairfax 16, and MS Tanner 346 and allows side-by-side comparison of the MSS transcribed. Also provides “Chaucer’s Main Old French and Latin Sources for the Book of the Duchess.” Another section, “Page Images of Manuscript and Early Print Copies,” had no active links as of 4/5/99.
HF (House of Fame)
Skeat’s Edition, Berkeley Online Medieval and Classical Library
Based on the edition published in The Complete Works of Geoffrey Chaucer, ed. W.W. Skeat (Oxford, 1899). Electronic version “edited, proofed, and prepared by Douglas B. Killings September 1994, based upon a previous e-text of unknown origin, with additional assistance provided by Diane M. Brendan.”
Anel (Anelida and Arcite)
PF (Parliament of Fowls)
Skeat’s Edition, Berkeley Online Medieval and Classical Library
Based on the edition published in The Complete Works of Geoffrey Chaucer, ed. W.W. Skeat (Oxford, 1900). Electronic version “edited, proofed, and prepared by Douglas B. Killings September 1994, based upon a previous e-text of unknown origin, with additional assistance provided by Diane M. Brendan.”
Bo (Boece)
Tr (Troilus and Criseyde)
Robinson’s Edition, University of Michigan: Searchable
A machine readable version of the text in The Works of Geoffrey Chaucer, ed. F.N. Robinson, 2nd. ed. (Houghton Mifflin: Boston: 1957). Part of the Corpus of Middle English Verse and Prose associated with the Middle English Dictionary and Middle English Compendium. Can choose any Book or any group of ten stanzas from table of contents.
This text is searchable: for individual words and phrases; for boolean coocurrences (up to three items, and/or/not, within the same line and/or paragraph); for proximity collocations (up to three items, near or not near, followed by or not followed by, within 40, 80 or 120 characters of each other).
Windeatt’s Edition, University of Virginia
A machine readable version of the text in Troilus & Criseyde: a new edition of “The book of Troilus” edited by: B.A. Windeatt (London and New York: Longman, 1984). At the Electronic Text Center, University of Virginia. The pages call up the entire text, but it seems to load quickly even via a 24KB modem.
Skeat’s Edition, Berkeley Online Medieval and Classical Library
Based on the edition published in The Complete Works of Geoffrey Chaucer, ed. W.W. Skeat (Oxford, 1900). Electronic version “edited, proofed, and prepared by Douglas B. Killings, March 1995, based upon a previous e-text of unknown origin. Additional assistance provided by Diane M. Brendan.”
Reader Friendly, Abbreviated
“A Reader-friendly Edition Abbreviated and put into modern spelling by MICHAEL MURPHY along with The Testament of Cresseid by Robert Henryson. Also a brief introduction. Side glosses and generous footnote translations. NOTE Murphy says the text is “abbreviated.” In Portable Document Format (PDF); you need Adobe Acrobat or a similar plug-in to read this.
LGW (Legend of Good Women)
Skeat’s Edition, Berkeley Online Medieval and Classical Library
Based on the edition published in The Complete Works of Geoffrey Chaucer, ed. W.W. Skeat (Oxford, 1900). Electronic version “edited, proofed, and prepared by Douglas B. Killings November 1996. Proofreading by Diane M. Brendan, December 1996.”
The Short Poems
Poems not Ascribed to Chaucer in the Manuscripts
A Treatise on the Astrolabe
Skeat’s EETS Edition, Searchable
An electronic version based on Skeat, A Treatise on The Astrolabe: addressed to his son Lowys, EETS (London, 1870). Part of the Corpus of Middle English Verse and Prose associated with the Middle English Dictionary and Middle English Compendium. Can choose any section from table of contents. Searchable (see the Michigan CT and Tr above).
Rom (The Romaunt of the Rose)
Other Medieval Works
ORB LIBRARY: Sources of Primary Documents on the Internet
ORB: Internet Medieval Sourcebook
University of Toronto “Representative Poetry on-line: Version 2.04”
Often just selections but some full texts. Indexed by author and title. But not all texts are accessible to those outside the University; for example, their Riverside 1987 Chaucer is not.
University of Virginia VIRGO (formerly Electronic Text Center)
Virginia’s Middle English Collection at the Electronic Text Center offers a number of texts listed alphabetically by author: Anonymous (e.g. Owl and Nightingale, Pearl) and works by Dunbar, Gower, Henryson, Langland, Layamon, as well as Chaucer, and excerpts from the Paston Letters and Papers. Searchable as a collection.
University of Michigan’s Humanities Text Initiative.
A growing collection of accessible texts online and searchable, including some fifty Middle English Texts.
Suggest an additional link by e-mail: chaucermetapage@gmail.com.
