The Anglo-Norman Bible's Book of Joshua. A Critical Edition (BL Royal 1 C III)

Paperback, 208 pages, Size:156 x 234 mm, Illustrations:1 b/w, Languages: English, Middle English. ISBN 9782503591339. Summary The Anglo-Norman Bible's Joshua includes tales of spies, giants, the prostitute Rahab, the punishment of Achan, oracles, and Joshua's brilliant military victories. Joshua stops the sun. The first half of the book relates Joshua's stunning conquests in Canaan. The second half, the apportionment of the land among the tribes, detailed geographical surveys of territorial boundaries, and the death of Joshua. Skilful, well-paced story telling is a feature of the ANB's Joshua. To the accounts of Rahab and Achan we may add the chronicle of Joshua's successful, crushing campaign in the wake of the destruction of Makkedah. In rapid succession, and in an annalistic style involving staccato repetition of key phrases, the narrator relates the destruction of Libnah, Lachish, Eglon, Hebron, and Debir. The text of the ANB's Joshua is extant in British Library Royal 1 C III (base manuscript, L) and Paris, Biblioth que nationale de France, MS fran ais 1 (P), both c. 1350 and both the Bibles of kings. L belonged at some point in the fifteenth century to Reading's Benedictine abbey, entering the royal library in 1530. Characteristic of L is its occasional insertion of short glosses in English or Latin to clarify or correct the Anglo-Norman text. An illustrated text, P was prepared by an English workshop for the fourth baron de Welles, John, and his wife, Maud, daughter of William, Lord Ros. This is clearly the Bible of a wealthy and well-connected English family. After the Welles family, the manuscript belonged to Louis de Bruges (? 1492), then to King Louis XII of France. TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements Abbreviations INTRODUCTION The Old Testament book of Joshua Manuscripts of the Anglo-Norman Bible's book of Joshua L's Middle English and Latin glosses LANGUAGE Orthography Verbs Syntax Morphology Lexis Geography, terrain, and family in the Anglo-Norman Bible's book of Joshua Joshua in medieval culture Joshua in medieval exegesis Editorial considerations Bibliography THE ANGLO-NORMAN BIBLE'S BOOK OF JOSHUA Rejected readings and pal ographical notes Critical notes APPENDICES A. A hypothetical earlier manuscript B. Comparison of L and P C. Divergences in word-choice in L and P D. Glossary E. Geographical names in the Anglo-Norman Bible's book of Joshua