Medieval Miscellanies in the Netherlands

In the Middle Ages, handwritten books tended to contain multiple texts, often from very diverse genres. Modern editions nevertheless tend to contain only one separate text. These editions therefore deprive us of a wider view of the historical connection between some texts that actually existed, from the perspective of the reader at the time. By publishing all texts that originally formed part of the same miscellany as a whole, this project endeavours to provide insight in every edition in the unique intertextual relationships that characterise a specific miscellany as a literary and linguistic resource. These historical dimensions, that are very important to scientific research, would remain invisible in other types of editions.

The edition

Since every source is published in its entirety, the editions often contain a treasure trove of overlooked texts, or even texts that were as yet unknown. The editions are furthermore a valuable resource for studying Middle Dutch texts, copyists lexicography and copyists’  the study of copyists’ work, boosting the dissemination and transmission of medieval texts on a broader scale, raising awareness of their existence.

The volumes that have been published so far – from relatively small manuscripts in terms of format and number of texts to gigantic compilations – have opened up significant portions of the Middle Dutch heritage within the covers of one single or sometimes double publication. Diplomatic editions will be published digitally in the future.This series’ combination of text edition and access to codicological information contributes to a better understanding of the nature of the ‘miscellany’ phenomenon.

The aim is to reflect all texts true to source. The format opted for in principle is the diplomatic edition format. If the texts to be edited are nevertheless considered of specific interest to literary history, and the content of the manuscript is so complex that it is considered indispensable for any scientific study of the text to have the benefit of word explanations and clarifications on the content, a critical, annotated edition may be preferable.

The series is published in collaboration with the international project committee Medieval Miscellanies in the Netherlands (MVN), comprising the following members:

Prof. Amand Berteloot (Münster)
Dr. Peter Boot (Huygens Institute (KNAW))
Dr. Thom Mertens (University of Antwerp)
Dr. Dieuwke van der Poel (Utrecht University, chair)
Prof.-em. dr. Paul Wackers (Utrecht)