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John M. Bowers, Tolkien's Lost Chaucer

John M. Bowers, Tolkien's Lost Chaucer Book Reviews John M. Bowers, Tolkien’s Lost Chaucer. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2019. 336 pp. ISBN: 978-0-19-884267-5. John Bowers’s new book, Tolkien’s Lost Chaucer, is well-researched, erudite, and thorough; it also corrects a misconception pervasive in Tolkien studies: that Chaucer had little influence on Tolkien’s writing. Based primarily on the 2012 re-discovery of the drafts and manuscripts of the proposed Clarendon Chaucer, Selections from Chaucer’s Poetry and Prose, on which Tolkien worked extensively, Tolkien’s Lost Chaucer also brings in other Tolkien scholarship, such as the essay he published on The Reeve’s Tale, and lecture notes for his classes. As such, it collects and publicizes Tolkien’s not-inconsequential insights into Chaucer’s works. The introduction sets out both Tolkien’s career-long engagement with Chaucer and Bowers’s own credentials for taking on this project. It also convincingly justifies an interest in Tolkien’s reception of Chaucer. The second half of the chapter reads a bit like a mystery novel, as it traces the re-discovery of the mysterious ‘grey box’ by Oxford University Press archivist Martin Maw, which was revealed to contain the Clarendon Chaucer, previously thought to have been long since discarded. Chapter 2 chronicles Tolkien’s involvement with the Clarendon Chaucer project from the 1920s http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Journal of Inklings Studies Edinburgh University Press

John M. Bowers, Tolkien's Lost Chaucer

Cawsey, Kathy
Journal of Inklings Studies , Volume 10 (2): 3 – Oct 1, 2020
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Publisher
Edinburgh University Press
Copyright
Copyright © Edinburgh University Press
ISSN
2045-8797
eISSN
2045-8800
DOI
10.3366/ink.2020.0081
Publisher site
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Abstract

Book Reviews John M. Bowers, Tolkien’s Lost Chaucer. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2019. 336 pp. ISBN: 978-0-19-884267-5. John Bowers’s new book, Tolkien’s Lost Chaucer, is well-researched, erudite, and thorough; it also corrects a misconception pervasive in Tolkien studies: that Chaucer had little influence on Tolkien’s writing. Based primarily on the 2012 re-discovery of the drafts and manuscripts of the proposed Clarendon Chaucer, Selections from Chaucer’s Poetry and Prose, on which Tolkien worked extensively, Tolkien’s Lost Chaucer also brings in other Tolkien scholarship, such as the essay he published on The Reeve’s Tale, and lecture notes for his classes. As such, it collects and publicizes Tolkien’s not-inconsequential insights into Chaucer’s works. The introduction sets out both Tolkien’s career-long engagement with Chaucer and Bowers’s own credentials for taking on this project. It also convincingly justifies an interest in Tolkien’s reception of Chaucer. The second half of the chapter reads a bit like a mystery novel, as it traces the re-discovery of the mysterious ‘grey box’ by Oxford University Press archivist Martin Maw, which was revealed to contain the Clarendon Chaucer, previously thought to have been long since discarded. Chapter 2 chronicles Tolkien’s involvement with the Clarendon Chaucer project from the 1920s

Journal

Journal of Inklings Studies – Edinburgh University Press

Published: Oct 1, 2020

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