The Chief Middle English Poets: Selected Poems.

Boston, MA Houghton Mifflin: Riverside , 1914. Hardcover First Edition [1914], unstated. Very Good: shows moderate wear to the extremities; some rubbing overall; the titles at the backstrip have been dulled considerably, due to rubbing, but remain legible; very slight spine lean; faint soiling. Binding secure; text clean. Despite a number of minor flaws, remains structurally sound and tightly bound, with a clean text. A sturdy, presentable copy. NOT a Remainder, Book-Club, or Ex-Library. 8vo. 396pp. Notes and and Bibliographical References by Jessie L. Weston. First Edition [1914], unstated. Hardback: No DJ 'as issued'. Jessie Laidlay Weston (1850–1928) was an independent scholar and folklorist, working mainly on mediaeval Arthurian texts. Her best-known work is From Ritual to Romance (1920). In it she brought to bear an analysis harking back to James George Frazer on the Grail legend, arguing for origins earlier than the Christian or Celtic sources. It was cited by T. S. Eliot in his notes to The Waste Land. The interpretation of the Grail quest as mystical and connected to self-realisation, which she added to the anthropological layer of reading, was to become increasingly popular during the 1920s. Her editions of numerous medieval romances have been commended as valuable translations.