Lancelot of the Laik from Cambridge University Library MS.
Book Description
printed for the Society by W. Blackwood and Sons & illustrated by three fold-out facsimiles of the original manuscript & a 36-page introduction. The romance known as 'Lancelot of the Laik' survives in only one manuscript, Cambridge University Kk.1.5, and even there it is incomplete (only three Books and a Prologue remain), ending abruptly in the middle of the 3487th line. The ms. dates from very late in the fifteenth century & the writing of the poem has generally been placed not much earlier. Derived from the French prose Lancelot (c. 1215–30) the poem was written in a Scottish dialect, although that appearing in the Cambridge manuscript is far from uniform. Book 2 features an extensive “Advice to Princes” section in which King Arthur is given instruction on good kingship, which may be a response to the problems of the reign of James III of Scotland, & certainly seems to belong to a tradition of political advice which enjoyed continuous currency in Scotland between about 1450 and about 1580. Contents & Errata lists to the front; Glossary to the rear.
Dealer Notes
First Edition; Gilt titles spine; Top edge gilt in good condition; binding, covers and spine fully intact but pages appear to have been re-glued into binding at some time; tiny spot of wear to rear cover
Author
Gray, Margaret Muriel (editor)
Date
1912
Binding
Hardcover (Quarter Leather) with gilt border line to green cloth covers
Publisher
Scottish Text Society (Edinburgh)
Condition
Near Fine Condition
Pages
36 + 113
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