Paston Letters and Papers of the Fifteenth Century

Book excerpt: The Paston family papers provide an incomparable picture of life in fifteenth-century England, and richly illustrate the resources of the language at an important period. They have long been consulted by historians and other students of the fifteenth century for their information about social history and politics, both within East Anglia and also nationally. This authoritative edition, by Professor Norman Davis--formerly Director of the Early English Text Society--was published by the Clarendon Press in 1971 (volume I) and 1976 (volume II) but has long been out of print. In addition to the letters and papers themselves, Volume I contains excellent biographical sketches of the writers, a full comparative chronological table, and an informative introduction to the separate documents. Volume II contains correspondence addressed to the Pastons by others than members of the family. This is arranged in chronological order under the names of the recipients, and in addition some sixty miscellaneous documents are also included. A third volume, which Professor Davis was unable to complete before his death, is in preparation, edited by Dr. Richard Beadle and Professor Colin Richmond. This will include the remaining text and the indexes, and will complete the series.