(detail from mural by Ezra Winter, 1939. Library of Congress Washington, D.C.)
The first two chapters of Derek Pearsall’s edition of The Canterbury Tales provide an account of the forms and means by which Chaucer’s great poem survives, asking, in particular: what does the physical evidence of the medieval manuscripts in which Chaucer’s poetry survives tell us about his intentions?
The remaining chapters cover key principles of each of the Tales.