A revision of the English version of Reynard the Fox. Includes The History of Reynard the Fox and The History of Reynardine.

The History of Reynard the Fox is one of the most remarkable books of the middle ages: Germany, France, Belgium, and Holland, have contended for its authorship, and the conflicting claims appear to be hardly yet decided . Within these twenty years, libraries have been ransacked for old copies, and very large sums have been expended in the purchase of manuscripts discovered in private collections; a considerable number of editions of ancient versions have been printed, and all this research has been accompanied by much controversy and criticism, in which some of the greatest writers in Germany and Holland have taken part. We do not propose to enter into this discussion, but only to state the uncertainty that exists, and to set down our own opinions. ... It is not unlikely that translations exist of originals long since destroyed; and the edition of 1701, which forms the basis of our publication, may have been such a one. Of this edition, we shall only say that it contains less of the coarseness of the old time than preceding versions; but that it retained enough of them to render the work inadmissible to the general reader. This has undoubtedly operated to check the popularity of the work in modern times, when a more careful selection of matter is demanded than our ancestors thought necessary. The present publication boasts of being the first that may be read without offence by the most scrupulous, and we trust that in the castigation which it has undergone under our care, none of the real excellence of the tale has evaporated. We have appended to our history an abridgement of The Second Part of the History of Reynard, published in 1681, which carries on the history to the death of the Fox, and long after. This part, which is wholly English, and found in no other version, is of very inferior merit to the original work, and runs out to a tedious length. In our publication it is considerably condensed , and we venture to say it has gained much by its curtailment. We have added an abridgement of the Shifts of Reynardine, the Son of Reynard, which was published in London in 1684, and intended as a supplement to Reynard. - [Introduction]

Language: English