An edition of Le Roman de Renart from manuscript B (Bibliothèque Nationale de France, fr. 371). Two volumes: Volume 1 - Branches I-XI; Volume 2 - Branches XII-XX.

There is not one Roman de Renart, but several collections, several anthologies of stories, of "branches" preserved by different manuscripts of which each presents their novel by Renart . We will find here the text of the Cangé Manuscript (B) , previously published by Mario Roques. Its twenty branches offer the main stages of Renart's career, from its birth (Branch III, Renart's childhood ) to its imperial apotheosis (XX branch, Renart Emperor ). Everything happens as if the authors had wanted to make a flamboyant bouquet of all the types of pleasant or unhappy misadventures of Renart until he obtained a place of choice, probably final, at the court. Most remarkable is the literary and ideological coherence of this work built in several decades by various authors, aware of their participation in a collective work. From the literary production of the French Middle Ages, the modern reader hardly knows only a few names and some works, mostly just famous. The intent of this new collection is to give them wider dissemination by offering updated editions, with original translations and everything that can facilitate understanding. But it seemed equally important to associate less known works with these established values, often unconventional, capable, however, capable of arouse the pleasure of discovery. - [Publisher]

Language: French

ISBN: 978-2-7453-2553-2