Julian of Norwich (ca. 1343–ca. 1416), a contemporary of Geoffrey Chaucer, William Langland, and John Wyclif, is the earliest woman writer of English we know about. Although she described herself as “a simple creature unlettered,” Julian is now widely recognized as one of the great speculative theologians of the Middle Ages, whose thinking about God as love has made a permanent contribution to the tradition of Christian belief. Despite her recent popularity, however, Julian is usually read only in translation and often in extracts rather than as a whole.
This book presents a much-needed new edition of Julian’s writings in Middle English, one that makes possible the serious reading and study of her thought not just for students and scholars of Middle English but also for those with little or no previous experience with the language.
• Separate texts of both Julian’s works, A Vision Showed to a Devout Woman and A Revelation of Love, with modern punctuation and paragraphing and partly regularized spelling.
• A second, analytic edition of A Vision printed underneath the text of A Revelation to show what was left out, changed, or added as Julian expanded the earlier work into the later one.
• Facing-page explanatory notes, with translations of difficult words and phrases, cross-references to other parts of the text, and citations of biblical and other sources.
• A thoroughly accessible introduction to Julian’s life and writings.
• An appendix of medieval and early modern records relating to Julian and her writings.
• An analytic bibliography of editions, translations, scholarly studies, and other works.
The most distinctive feature of this volume is the editors’ approach to the manuscripts. Middle English editions habitually retain original spellings of their base manuscript intact and only emend that manuscript when its readings make no sense. At once more interventionist and more speculative, this edition synthesizes readings from all the surviving manuscripts, with careful justification of each choice involved in this process. For readers who are not concerned with textual matters, the result will be a more readable and satisfying text. For Middle English scholars, the edition is intended both as a hypothesis and as a challenge to the assumptions the field brings to the business of editing.
Ada Mishler –
Exactly what I wanted
So nice to be able to read the original text (as far as thatâs possible- which is explained in this book) with side-by-side translation for someone like me, who knows nothing about older variants of English.
Laura S. Miles –
The New Definitive Edition of Julian
If you are reading or publishing on Julian of Norwich, this is the new definitive edition that will soon supersede previous editions: Colledge and Walsh, Glasscoe, Beer, Bolton Holloway, Crampton (still the best cheapest one), though the Paulist Press translation still reigns as the most accessible. After an excellent and clear introduction the short text – “A Vision” – is presented with facing-page copious notes, followed by the long text – “A Revelation” – with the corresponding short text printed on the bottom of the page for easy comparison (for the first time ever), and facing-page notes. The text has been modernized ever so slightly, yet significantly, in order to appeal to a wider audience, and most scholars have resigned themselves to these modernizations even though they feel and look extreme at first.Overall the text is easy to use, the book beautiful, and the scholarship what you would expect from Nicholas Watson: clear, concise, and brilliant. Extensive editorial discussion in the Introduction helps to substantiate the decision to stick with the Paris text and actually provides a pretty good general editorial practice review. Of course variant readings from Sloane, etc. are still provided in the back, so it’s infinitely useful. The notes differ in tone from Colledge and Walsh, replacing what some have called a patronizing patriachical view with a more open, comparative stance, using more vernacular texts as echos and respectfully assuming more originality on the part of Julian. Having the long text paralleled by the short text, with helpful bold and italics to indicate departures and excisions from the long text, will totally transform the way you read them both – it’s a long overdue feat to print them side-by-side.This book was also published in Europe under Brepols, with a different cover, but it’s exactly the same book.
Richerson L. Rhodes –
Superb!
A GREAT book with contemporary and old English translations. I love being able to read the modern translation and then read the original which sometimes gives you a different slant on what Julian is relating. A must have for anyone who knows of Julian of Norwich.
Marcelo –
Five Stars
A good book!! Very lovely!!
T. W. –
Overburdened with notes experienced readers won’t require
I like the critical text Watson and Jenkins have produced. I found the introduction very informative. What I’m not crazy about is the closely-printed page of notes opposite each page of text. The problem is that the wheat is buried in chaff. If you have ever read a book in Middle English before, you will find the notes excessive. What redeems it is that Julian’s English, once you get used to some odd dialectical words and spellings, is really pretty easy (for Middle English). So, one can often read long stretches, only occasionally looking over at the notes. But when you do you have to hunt and wade through them. It would be nice to have something more like one of those editions of Chaucer that just gives the help you really want on each page. Because I do like the text they’ve produced, and I’m uncertain whether one of the other editions would be better for me, I’ll stick with this.However, if you have a chance to look at Crampton’s TEAMS text of the Revelations (Sloane MS) or the Norton Critical Edition ed. Baker (Paris MS), you should. I suspect that each of these would offer a better reading experience in some respects.
Candide –
Julian of Norwich
This book is a revelation and an absolute must for anyone interested in Christianity. The book itself is a very scholarly work, providing fascinating notes and explanations to help the reader find their way through the Middle English text. I highly recommend it.
Mr B –
Many people may be familiar with Eliotâs quotation from Julian of Norwich at the end of the Four Quartets â âalle shalle be welleâ, others will have come across her writings looking at the writings of the Christian mystics of the Middle Ages, with various titles such as âRevelations of Divine Love.â Julian is no Hildergard of Bingen, nor is she a mystic in the sense that the unknown author of the almost contemporary âCloud of unknowingâ â now believed to have been an English Cistercian monk, might be described. At first this writing is reminiscent of Anselm, but she is a first in many ways: she is a woman, writing in English, about her experiences as an anchorite in Norwich, writing not just for members of the church, but for âmine evenchristenâ¦. That they might alle see and know the same that I saweâ (which is of course a quote from Revelations 8. 22-23. But she is not only a first, she is a one-off for her age which included Chaucer, John Wycliffe, and William Langland whose âPiers Plowmanâ is arguably the inspiration for Bunyanâs âPilgrims Progress.â (I must admit I prefer Langland, why? Readers might like to read C.S. Lewisâs âDiscarded Image.â)She describes herself as âunletteredâ so is unlikely to have read Dante, or some of the Rhineish women mystics such as Mechthild of Magdeburg, and it is probably this unletteredness that has contributed to the clarity in her writing.She is not included in Dronkeâs âWoman writers of the Middle Ages,â which focuses on writers from the 3rd to the 13 th. c. Her immediate contemporary was Margery Kempe, who is more interesting as a witness of the age, than any theological speculation. The context for this rather sumptuous production, is her place in English Literary history, as well as her place in the history of a very English Christianity. So we have the first version of âShewingsâ and the later, longer, revisited version. The Penguin and Oxford World Classics editions are very accessible âtranslationsâ, and it was reading Denys Turnerâs book on her, that prompted me to get this version which contains the original of both versions of âShewings.â Of interest to readers of a wide range of interests, but very enjoyable to read. Try small sections aloud, until you can get to something. When I was reading Middle English as part of my English degree, it was suggested that we try and read aloud, say Chaucer, with a Yorkshire accent. This is both rich, and yet is very accessible; it came out of prayer and reflection and it will encourage prayer and reflection. Super.
Caitlin Matthews –
This is the ultimate study text of Julian of Norwich’s Revelations with full scholarly apparatus and textual analysis. The text is set out across the right hand opening with the notes relevant to that page on the left hand opening. The introductory material is set in two columns, which I do not like much, but it is excellently written. Note that the text is in the original Middle English which can be read aloud as easily as Chaucer. I have been reading this text in different versions for over 40 years now, and I am very happy to have this edition.