The House of Fame by Geoffrey Chaucer (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: The House of Fameby Geoffrey Chaucer C. K. Y. Saville Chaucer, Geoffrey, The House of Fame(Durham Medieval and Renaissance Texts, 3), ed. Nick Havely, 2ndedn Toronto, Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, 2013; paperback; pp. xiv, 274; R.R.P. CA$25.00; ISBN 9780888445636. In the words of editor, Nick Havely, ‘an edition – even a second one – of The House of Fameis never finished’, and this edition is indeed not definitive. It is, however, an up-to-date, aesthetically pleasing edition of the poem, which pays careful attention to all five original manuscript texts and claims to offer a ‘more substantial (though not exhaustive) list of variants than is available in the most recent ( Riverside Chaucer) edition’. Like the majority of editors, Havely chooses Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Fairfax 16 as his base text on account of its tidy state and the fact that it is the earliest of all five manuscripts (dated about fifty or sixty years after the poem’s generally postulated date of composition). He preserves almost all the original spellings in his transcription, including the retention of final ‘e’s even where ungrammatical and unmetrical, and is in general conservative in his adoption of the emendations of past editors, or, occasionally, his own. Aside from the lengthy bibliography of scholarly criticism, the main contribution of this edition is the delineation of the unique character of each manuscript, identifying the flaws, defects, and distinctions between the manuscripts in detailed textual notes. In this respect, Havely offers an authoritative version of the text, appropriate for a scholar or graduate student. An example of the value of Havely’s conservative approach is found at line 2018 where he prints ‘Laughe! and eke in poynt to breste’ (as contained in MS Fairfax 16 and Oxford, MS Bodley 636) rather than ‘Languysshe and eek in point to breste’ (as contained in other MSS). He draws appropriate attention to the divergence from the general editorial practice, explaining why he chooses ‘Laughe’ instead of ‘Languysshe’, explaining that it ‘marks a turning point in the Eagle’s long sentence’ where he changes the subject [End Page 280]from reflection on the dreamer’s misfortunes back to the main point of his discussion: ‘the promise of diversion.’ This edition also differs from other recent versions, such as Katheryn Lynch’s Dream Visions and Other Poems(Norton, 2007), and his own Chaucer’s Dream Poetry(Longman, 1997), in its glossing. Instead of a running marginal gloss, Havely includes a rather meagre gloss in footnote form at the bottom of the page, and a select glossary at the end of the book. This suggests an experienced intended readership, but if such an audience is to be offered a glossary, something more elaborate than one-word equivalents would be useful. An example can be found at line 1287, where a glossary might usefully have pointed to unexpected meanings and connotations of difficult and/or technical words. Havely includes a footnote observing that the ‘berile’ walls may recall the temple mentioned earlier in the poem, or the transparency of the walls of the New Jerusalem. He fails to note, however, that ‘berile’ is also a stone used for the optical lenses of eye-glasses, with the power to magnify through multiplying and expanding the speciesin the medium, hence making the objects seen through the stone seem larger than they are. This reading is not only supported by the immediate context, but can be plausibly linked to the Eagle’s discussion of how sound travels by means of multiplication of speciesthrough the medium of air. This accurate and scholarly edition of The House of Fameis a useful alternative to the Riverside Chauceredition, offering up-to-date information about dating, language, and verse style, a brief appendix containing Caxton’s ending and explicit, as well as press corrections in Thynne’s1532 edition, and a substantial commentary section at the end of the book. Nevertheless, the revisions taking into account recent studies in The House of Fameaside, there is no great difference between Havely’s 1994 and 1997 editions and the present one, nor is it the ideal introduction to...