As Roman-de-Renart scholars know there are three main editions of the French beast epic, each representing one of the three principal families of manuscripts. Ms. A [Bibliothèque Nationale de France, fr. 20043] from the family which tells the epic in its earliest form was Martin’s base for his edition of the 1880’s. When he found A faulty, he usually fell back on D [Bodleian Library, MS. Douce 360]; and when A lacked whole branches he would use chiefly either N [Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Reg. lat. 1699] or go outside the alpha family and use B [Bibliothèque Nationale de France, fr. 371] or L [Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal, Ms-3335] from the beta family. Ms. B from the group which tells the epic in a slightly later form than A was almost completely edited by Roques between 1948 and 1963., This was done in such a way that the other two principal members of the group, K [Bibliothèque du Château de Chantilly (Musée Condé), Ms 472] and L, may be reconstructed by the reader in all but orthographical detail. Méon’s edition of the 1820’s tells the epic in its latest form and is based primarily on ms. C [Bibliothèque Nationale de France, fr. 1579]. Unfortunately Méon frequently modified C, usually by borrowings from other manuscripts—not always, it would appear, from the gamma family—and sometimes by using what must have seemed to him good common sense. It is not therefore possible to reconstruct from his edition—in any event, now relatively rare—even his base manuscript, let alone that of any other member of the family. With these and other facts in mind we have come to the conclusion that there is a real need for a scientific edition of a member of the gamma family of Roman-de-Renart manuscripts, and that C is not the one on which to base that edition. The main objects of this article, then, are to justify the appearance of a new edition of the Roman de Renart from the gamma family and to argue the case for a manuscript other than C as the base for that edition [Biblioteca Reale (Torino), Varia 151]. - [Authors]

Language: English

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