Baker Academic, 1995. Paperback. Like new trade softcover in printed wraps. 8vo. (6 x 0.58 x 9 inches) Publisher's overstock mark on the bottom of the text block. Clean text free of marks and underlining. Cover design by Arie Verploegh. Includes a bibliography. Like new. Item #2658
ISBN: 9780801020315

Translated and introduced by Robert Canning and Joan Ferrante.

We know very little about Marie de France besides her name, her work and her position as the first major woman writer in medieval Europe. She might have been the illegitimate sister of Henry II and hence the sister-in-law of Eleanor of Aquitaine or she might have been the abbess of Reading. She composed the lais (short verse stories that resemble fairy tales) sometime between 1160 and 1199. Professors Ferrante and Canning have not only given us a marvelous new translation of Marie's stories but have provided as well an informative introduction, an interpretative essay for each tale and a set of foot notes that explain medieval concepts and details to the modern reader.

Price: $18.95