London: Cresset Press [0-09-177223-0] [1992]. (4to) Fine in fine dust jacket. 288pp. Frontispiece, map, black and white and color illustrations, sources of illustrations. Previous owner's inscription. An illustrated edition. Introduction by John Wain. Foreword by Melvyn Bragg. Translated by Nevill Coghill. Locale:. (Poetry).

Synopsis

Geoffrey Chaucer was born in London, the son of a wine-merchant, in about 1342, and as he spent his life in royal government service his career happens to be unusually well documented. By 1357 Chaucer was a page to the wife of Prince Lionel, second son of Edward III, and it was while in the prince's service that Chaucer was ransomed when captured during the English campaign in France in 1359-60. Chaucer's wife Philippa, whom he married c. 1365, was the sister of Katherine Swynford, the mistress (c. 1370) and third wife (1396) of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, whose first wife Blanche (d. 1368) is commemorated in Chaucer's ealrist major poem, The Book of the Duchess . From 1374 Chaucer worked as controller of customs on wool in the port of London, but between 1366 and 1378 he made a number of trips abroad on official business, including two trips to Italy in 1372-3 and 1378. The influence of Chaucer's encounter with Italian literature is felt in the poems he wrote in the late 1370's and early 1380s – The House of Fame , The Parliament of Fowls and a version of The Knight's Tale – and finds its fullest expression in Troilus and Criseyde . In 1386 Chaucer was member of parliament for Kent, but in the same year he resigned his customs post, although in 1389 he was appointed Clerk of the King's Works (resigning in 1391). After finishing Troilus and his translation into English prose of Boethius' De consolatione philosophiae , Chaucer started his Legend of Good Women . In the 1390s he worked on his most ambitious project, The Canterbury Tales , which remained unfinished at his death. In 1399 Chaucer leased a house in the precincts of Westminster Abbey but died in 1400 and was buried in the Abbey.

Reviews

(Log in or Create an Account first!)

Details

Bookseller: Burton Lysecki Books, ABAC/ILAB (CA)
Bookseller's Inventory #: 015090
Title: The Canterbury Tales
Author: Chaucer, Geoffrey
Format/Binding: Hardcover
Book Condition: Used
Quantity Available: 1
ISBN 10: 0091772230
ISBN 13: 9780091772239
Publisher: Cresset Press
Place of Publication: London
This edition first published: 1992
Keywords: Poetry, Collectible
Bookseller catalogs: Poetry;

Terms of Sale

Burton Lysecki Books, ABAC/ILAB

Prices net to all in USD. We use Brodart dust jacket protectors. Our records are updated daily. We pack well and ship promptly. . Return your book for a full refund if not as described. More questions? Call us!

About the Seller

Burton Lysecki Books, ABAC/ILAB

This seller has earned a 4 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.

Biblio member since 2003

Winnipeg, Manitoba

Ask Seller a Question

About Burton Lysecki Books, ABAC/ILAB

Home to an eclectic collection of over 100,000 titles, our store specializes in History-- Canadian history, Military history, Local history, Philosophy, and Law. We have antiquarian books, scarce books, Modern Firsts, Fiction, fine bindings, sets, Art history, and much more. We upload new arrivals daily. Come see what 50 years of book collecting looks like!

Glossary

Glossary

Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:

Jacket: Sometimes used as another term for dust jacket, a protective and often decorative wrapper, usually made of paper which wraps...
Fine: A book in fine condition exhibits no flaws. A fine condition book closely approaches As New condition, but may lack the...