Скачать или смотреть How to Read Middle English: Transcribing Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales

Learn how to read 15th-century handwriting with Vanessa Wilkie, senior curator of Medieval Manuscripts. Using the famed Ellesmere Chaucer manuscript, Vanessa demonstrates how to recognize unusual letterforms, lost characters like thorn (þ) and yogh (ȝ), and quirks of medieval spelling. Follow along as you decipher the text one letter at a time, and discover the value of going straight to the source, rather than relying on modern translations. This is a hands-on introduction to one of The Huntington’s historic treasures.

Digitized Ellesmere Chaucer: https://hdl.huntington.org/digital/co...

See the Ellesmere Chaucer on view now in the Huntington Art Gallery as part of a new exhibition series, Stories from the Library: https://www.huntington.org/stories-fr...

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Director of Photography: Aric Allen
Editor: Aric Allen
Managing Producer: Deborah Miller Marr