The Canterbury Tales Chaucer Norton Critical 1989

📖 The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer (1989, W. W. Norton & Company) — this Norton Critical Edition presents nine of Chaucer’s most celebrated tales alongside the General Prologue, printed in the original Middle English with normalized spelling and comprehensive marginal glosses. Edited by V. A. Kolve and Glending Olson, it remains one of the most widely used scholarly editions for students and general readers approaching 14th-century English literature for the first time.

QUICK FACTS

• Author: Geoffrey Chaucer (c. 1343/4–1400), the first poet buried in Poets’ Corner at Westminster Abbey
• Editors: V. A. Kolve & Glending Olson
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company, New York / London
• Year: 1989, First Edition (Norton Critical Editions series)
• Format: Paperback, no dust jacket
• ISBN: 0-393-95245-2 | Condition: VG-/VG — full report below

THE STORY

Written in the late 14th century, The Canterbury Tales follows a group of pilgrims traveling from London to the shrine of Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral. To pass the time, each pilgrim agrees to tell stories — producing a collection that ranges from chivalric romance to bawdy farce, from devotional preaching to philosophical debate. Chaucer’s frame narrative allowed him to explore nearly every genre of medieval writing while painting an unforgettable portrait of English society across all classes.

THIS EDITION

This 1989 Norton Critical Edition selects nine of the most popular and critically admired tales: the General Prologue, the Knight’s Tale, the Miller’s Prologue and Tale, the Reeve’s Prologue and Tale, the Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale, the Clerk’s Prologue and Tale, the Franklin’s Prologue and Tale, the Pardoner’s Prologue and Tale, and the Nun’s Priest’s Prologue and Tale, along with excerpts from the Cook’s and Friar’s prologues. The text presents Chaucer’s Middle English with modernized, consistent spelling and line-by-line marginal glossing, making it accessible to readers without specialized linguistic training. Supplementary sections include “Chaucer’s Language,” a Sources and Backgrounds section (featuring Boccaccio’s Decameron excerpts, Sercambi’s Novelle, and an essay on the idea of pilgrimage), and critical essays by leading Chaucerians.

COVER ART & DESIGN

The front cover features a muted blue background with a framed black-and-white illustration of medieval pilgrims on horseback, reminiscent of manuscript illuminations. The spine displays “CHAUCER” on a blue label at top and “NORTON CRITICAL EDITIONS” with the Norton logo at bottom, with the title in black capitals. The back cover includes the Ellesmere portrait of Chaucer (courtesy of the Huntington Library, San Marino, California) and John Lydgate’s “Map of Thebes” (courtesy of the British Library). The interior layout presents the Middle English text in a single-column format with line numbers and marginal glosses alongside the main text.

WHY IT MATTERS

• The Canterbury Tales is the foundational work of English literature — Chaucer’s decision to write in Middle English rather than Latin or French helped establish English as a legitimate literary language.
• Kolve and Olson’s normalized-spelling approach has been praised for making Chaucer readable to modern audiences while preserving the rhythms and wordplay of the original verse.
• The Norton Critical Editions series (founded 1962) remains the standard scholarly paperback imprint for college and university English courses worldwide.

FREQUENTLY ASKED

What edition is this? This is the 1989 First Edition of the Norton Critical Edition of The Canterbury Tales, edited by V. A. Kolve and Glending Olson. ISBN 0-393-95245-2.

What condition is it in? VG-/VG — minor shelf wear, slight spine crease, clean pages with some marginal annotations in the front portion. Full condition report below.

Does it include all 24 tales? No — this is the “Nine Tales and the General Prologue” selection, which contains the most frequently taught tales and is designed for a one-semester course.

FOR COLLECTORS

Previous owner annotations in blue ink on the table of contents page reference the Ellesmere and Hengwrt manuscripts — the two great surviving manuscripts of The Canterbury Tales. This copy was clearly used by a student of Chaucer studies. A solid working copy of a standard scholarly edition that remains in print but is sought after in its original 1989 printing for its cleaner layout compared to later revised editions.

Condition Report

Overall Grade: Very Good- (VG-)/Very Good (VG)

Cover & Spine: Minor rubbing to extremities and slight shelf-wear along the edges. The spine has one very slight crease near front of book, but is not rolled or cracked. A hint of reading curl to outer edge of front cover. Textblock has a thin stain at bottom outer corner.

Dust Jacket: N/A

Text Block & Pages: The paper is off-white/cream and in clean, readable condition. Contains some marginal annotations, mostly in the first 100 or so pages.

Binding: Solid, no loose, torn or folded pages.

See accompanying images for full condition details. Will ship promptly, carefully packaged.

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