A Dyte of Womenhis Hornys
About This Edition
The goal of the present edition is to create a widely accessible text while adhering to as many of the principles of a scholarly edition as possible, including reliability and transparency. The time constraints and the resources available for the creation of this edition impose some limitations. While the physical manuscripts are not accessible to the editorial team, many of the early manuscripts are available through high-resolution digital images or facsimile. Of the nine surviving copies of “Of Womenhis Hornys,” digital images of four texts (Bodleian Library Laud Misc. 683, Bodleian Library Ashmole 59, Cambridge University Library Hh.4.12, and Bodleian Library Rawlinson C.86) and the facsimile of Trinity College, Oxford R.3.19 have been transcribed and collated. Full transcriptions of all available manuscripts can be found under the “Transcriptions” link on this site.
Bodleian Library Laud Misc. 683 is the only text of Lydgate’s poem completed during his lifetime, and it is quite possible that it derived from Lydgate’s holograph. The only other manuscript that was created at Lydgate’s monastery and possibly copied from Lydgate’s holograph is Bodleian Library Ashmole 59, but this text was composed during the last year of Shirley’s life and is missing some lines that are restored in later texts derived from Shirley’s exemplar. Therefore, the present edition uses Laud 683 as a copy-text. All departures from Laud have been recorded in the editorial notes, including the source of and rationale for the emendation.
In contrast to previous editions of “A Dyte of Womenhis Hornys,” this text attempts to retain the lineation and orthography of the early manuscripts. Because certain Middle English suspensions—including macrons, yoghs, and thorns—produce a specific sound, they have been preserved as well. In an attempt to reproduce certain paleographic features, the long s, i/j, and u/v distinctions, and double minuscules have been retained as well. However, in the interest of readability, we have expanded superscript abbreviations. These expansions are recorded with the other emendations in the editorial notes.
Punctuating any medieval lyric that contains little or no markings is not without problems. In his edition of the “Nightingale Poems” by Lydgate, Otto Glauning comments that the markings for caesural pauses “teach us nothing, as they are put in very arbitrarily by the scribe” (xv). Glauning may be correct, but to completely dismiss the characteristics of the manuscript without any consideration is perhaps short-sighted. Of the manuscripts available to the editors at this point, only Laud 683 and Ashmole 59 contain caesural markings, and the markings vary considerably. Glauning indicates that Harley 2251 contains similar markings, and future research comparing the texts could yield fruitful evidence for the interpretation of the poem. In the absence of additional evidence, we cannot fully accept the markings. Therefore, all punctuation for the present edition is the decision of the editors.
While the editors have attempted to follow the principles of a scholarly edition as outlined by the CSE whenever possible, the present edition cannot be considered comprehensive for the advanced Lydgate scholar. Recognizing that many readers of this text may be unfamiliar with some of the features of Middle English, the present edition contains explanatory notes defining obsolete words and identifying historical allusions that occur within the poem. Definitions of words can be found in the right margin, and longer explanatory notes can be found in the footnotes to the poem and are recorded by line number.