A critical edition of the Middle English translation of Speculum Humanae Salvationis

Abstract

The aim of this thesis has been to provide a critical edition of the fifteenth century English translation of the fourteenth century Latin typological work Speculum Humanae Salvationis. The text is taken from the unique manuscript of the English translation, now in the library of Beeleigh Abbey, Maldon, Essex. The only existing edition, published by A.H. Huth for the Roxburghe Club in 1888, is largely inadequate. The introduction is in six sections. Section I deals with the subject matter of the poem. It attempts to explain the typological method of interpretation of the Scriptures and to place SHS within its literary and iconographical context in section II, theories about the date and authorship are discussed, and such conclusions as are possible are drawn. In section IIIA the known manuscripts of SHS, both in Latin and the medieval vernaculars, are noted, together with references to further accounts of them. In IIIB the manuscript of the English translation is described and its history outlined. In section IV the phonology and accidence of the English translation are discussed, and conclusions drawn about its dialect. In section V an attempt has been made to analyse the translator's methods and to assess the character of the of the translation. This is complemented by section VI, which deals with the vocabulary of the translation. The aim in the Notes has been to clarify the meaning of obscure passages and to indicate traditional material. The Glossary is comprehensive in order to supplement section IV above, and to facilitate further linguistic study. An index of names is given. The Select Bibliography contains books and articles which have proved particularly useful in the preparation of the thesis The Latin of a part of the text missing in the English translation but copied, in Latin, on the last folio of the manuscript, is given in the Appendix.