Caxton's Canterbury Tales

October 29, 2003 6:27 PM

Early eBook designs. William Caxton's first two editions of The Canterbury Tales, probably published in 1476 and 1483, have been put online by the British Library.
posted by liam (11 comments total)

I could be grossly ignorant, but it seems like the British Library has a lot of great stuff on the web, while I don't remember hearing of anything from the Library of Congress. Again, I haven't exactly been looking, and I could have just missed everything from the LoC ... but that's the feeling I get. (Feel free to prove me wrong.)
posted by Utilitaritron at 6:53 PM on October 29, 2003

You say "grossly ignorant" like it's a bad thing!
Here is a selection of previous MeFi LoC posts. Not a horrible starting point.
posted by anathema at 7:09 PM on October 29, 2003

Also notable and surprising in that Chaucer's descendants have not sued over rights control.
posted by rudyfink at 7:09 PM on October 29, 2003

The Library of Congress does have a lot of excellent stuff online, much of it linked to in MetaFilter over the years.
posted by liam at 7:13 PM on October 29, 2003

There was no "copyright" when these were first published. The Statute of Anne didn't even come into being until 1710. Rights control is not an issue.
posted by anathema at 7:14 PM on October 29, 2003

Not at all. Thanks.
posted by Utilitaritron at 7:37 PM on October 29, 2003

I love Chaucer...I seem to reread Canterbury Tales every couple of years. I love the fact that you can zoom this these images out to a readable size. Thanks for the find!
posted by dejah420 at 8:04 PM on October 29, 2003

The British Library has all sorts of interesting online exhibits, definitely. For more Chaucer images, facsimiles, etc., see the links at Luminarium.
posted by thomas j wise at 8:32 PM on October 29, 2003

And out his arse he putteth privily
Over the buttock, to the haunche bone.
And therewith spoke this clerk, this Absalon:
"Speak, sweet heart. I wot not where thou art."
This Nicholas anon let fly a fart
As great as it had been a thunder dint
That with that stroke he was almost y-blint.
posted by Zurishaddai at 8:35 PM on October 29, 2003

Yes, I know. It was a joke. Apparently, I should have used a blink tag or something.
posted by rudyfink at 8:39 PM on October 29, 2003

Yeah, I should have figured.
posted by anathema at 6:26 AM on October 30, 2003