I haven't read all 24 stories from The Canterbury Tales, however I did study a number at A Level, and all these years later they are still with me. I initially marched over the words, puzzled the meaning, took the structure apart, but, but… Then the moment arrived when it all became clear! I actually saw five of the tales performed in a play using traditional language and a vivid, vibrant clarity appeared and gave meaning. From then on I would read the stories out loud and I could understand the pattern, the feel, the thoughts, the greed, corruption and saucy moments. These are wondrous tales, let yourself fall into them as they come to life in a way that could well open your eyes, they certainly opened mine.
This facsimile edition is a complete reproduction of the most reliable of the medieval manuscripts of The Canterbury Tales-the Hengwrt Manuscript (or Peniarth 392 D), now in the National Library of Wales, in Aberystwyth, Cardiganshire. Because it is to serve as the basic text of the Tales for the projected multivolume Variorum Edition of Chaucer's complete works, much deliberation was given to the choice of the Hengwrt Manuscript. Scribed in the late fourteenth or early fifteenth century, it is one of the earliest extant manuscripts of the Tales.
