Updating Piers Plowman Passus 3: An Editorial Agenda in Huntington Library MS Hm 114

Abstract

The copy of PPl in MS HM 114 (Ht) has been the subject of intermittent interest because of its eccentric textual qualities: mainly its conflation of the different versions of the poem and its pervasive linguistic interventions. Here passus 3 is given the close scrutiny that discussion of Ht has hitherto lacked. This is the earliest passus of the poem where the full character of the scribe/editor’s interventions becomes evident. Study reveals a developing coherence in his editorial approach to the poem. A nucleus of special interests, emphases and evasions emerges. Ht creates a synthesis of the known versions of the poem, working his way as an early ‘parallel reader’ through a series of textual paradigms. There is an ‘antiquarian’ aspect to his task, as well, perhaps, as a sense of producing a definitive and linguistically accessible text for a new readership with new interests. These interests can be characterized by a particular focus on matters of law, governance and commerce. The text appears to be the result of a sophisticated and exacting commission, although as a book MS HM 114 is a humble product. The study sheds some further light on the poem’s shadowy reception in the fifteenth century.