Geoffrey Chaucer,F.N. Robinson, The Riverside Chaucer, 3rd Ed.

I'm currently writing my thesis on Chaucer's works and this edition, F.N. Robinson, The Riverside Chaucer, really is indispensable. Being the only book that contains (almost) all of Chaucer's works in Middle English, it is relied on by Mediaevalists who don't happen to have an Ellesmere manuscript at hand.

The edition, however, would probably benefit coming in two or more volumes and I understand that the Middle English can be infuriatingly tedious. For that, I'd recommend reading a translation first or perhaps a Norton Critical Edition as this edition really doesn't really explain Chaucer's style of phrasing.

However, if you're interested in Chaucer - this really is the book to buy.

If you're just getting into his works, this probably isn't the book for you.

Geoffrey Chaucer,F.N. Robinson, The Riverside Chaucer, 3rd Ed Review: I am taking the time to write this review after becoming so frustrated with the Tales that I couldn't go another minute without writing something about it.

The Explanatory Notes and the Glossary are extremely poorly done in this text. Not only are the lines numbered sequentially instead of numbered only when there is a note about the line, but time and time again the authors note the most obvious words for translation in the notes (soun = sound; northern lyght = light from the north) while much more obscure words are ignored, forcing the reader to turn to the Glossary - and good luck finding it there. It all makes for very tedious reading.