Methodology

The Middle English Texts Series’ mission is to create affordable editions of medieval texts acceptable to the most demanding expert, yet approachable and even enticing to new readers of Middle English. To balance these equally important yet sometimes conflicting priorities, METS has adopted a “best text” approach, basing each edition on the text of judiciously selected base manuscripts, presenting smooth, modern reading experiences informed by the explanatory notes and scholarship of earlier editions, and supplementing presented texts with variant readings from other surviving versions.

The Series’ commitment to providing both scholarly excellence and learning support is also reflected in the expert assistance each edition offers. METS editions strike a balance between ensuring ease of reading and preserving the essence of their source material: Middle English texts are presented in a lightly modernized version of their original language (regularized spelling, expanded abbreviations, modern punctuation and word division, and substitutions for special characters like the yogh and thorn), while texts in other languages are presented alongside facing-page modern English translations. METS editions emphasize translating for accuracy in meaning over reproducing the source text’s meter, rhyme, and other poetic features. 

Each edition provides readers with extensive glosses for challenging Middle English words and phrases, notes on thematic and interpretive possibilities, and substantial explanatory notes. All editions also include general introductions that set the edited text within its own time, place, traditions, and larger literary context. Each of these scholarly elements rests on a bedrock of comprehensive, current bibliographies of pertinent scholarship and criticism.

The scope of the Middle English Texts Series includes all forms of literary production significant to medieval Britain and Ireland’s literary and cultural development between the twelfth and sixteenth centuries. The Editorial Board reviews each proposed edition and decides whether it meets the Series’ scope and rigorous standards for excellence; editions are selected for publication based on their potential to contribute to the field of medieval literary studies, fill a gap in availability or student-friendly access to important texts, provide a window into a unique manuscript or variant of a text, and expand the Series’ coverage of significant literary traditions. Submitted manuscripts undergo blind peer review before final acceptance. Once manuscripts are accepted, METS staff and members of the Editorial and Advisory Boards provide multiple rounds of feedback prior to publication.