from Medieval Academy News (Spring 2004)

Editing Texts in the Profession of Medieval Studies
by Michael Herren

The importance of editing texts to the profession of medieval studies needs to be stressed by all medievalists and the Medieval Academy. Over the past few decades, this activity has not been sufficiently recognized by North American universities in the choice of dissertation topics, in hiring of new professors, and as part of the tenure and promotion process. The following brief is intended to show the centrality of editing to the progress and development of the field and to point out the exceptional intellectual challenges posed by this activity.

Although it is fair to say that in classical studies nearly all important literary and historical sources have been adequately edited, the same is not true in medieval studies. Hundreds, possibly thousands, of texts remain in manuscript and are thus accessible to only a handful of scholars. Hundreds of other texts are available only in outdated editions, based on an inadequate number of manuscripts or edited according to no-longer-accepted standards. For some works, new manuscripts have been discovered that substantially enlarge or change the character of texts.

It should be obvious how this situation impacts on the work of historians and literary scholars attempting synthetic and critical studies. Such studies are only as good as the quality of the editions on which they are founded. It should also be noted that the reliability of translations of works is directly proportionate to the soundness of the editions on which they are based. Thus critical editions form the foundation of analyses of written sources in much the same way as archaeology is the basis of the analyses of material sources. It might be useful to think of critical editing as a kind of literary archaeology.

The skills required to produce a competent critical edition are formidable. Whether the work is written in Latin or a medieval vernacular language, the editor must have a knowledge of the language in question that far surpasses a simple reading ability. The language must be internalized almost as one’s own. The editor must also have well-developed skills in paleography and codicology in order to be able to date and localize manuscripts independently. Many manuscripts are neither dated nor localized, and many others need to be re-examined in these regards. Finally, the grouping of manuscripts into families and the choice of the correct reading require a deep knowledge not only of the language, but also of the content of the work being edited.

The editor must understand the work thoroughly in order to punctuate it properly, to recognize where dialogue is employed, and to detect verse passages written as prose. The editor must also have a good eye for interpolations and the contamination of the work by other works and by the introduction of glosses and commentary into the body of the text. Beyond all these tasks the editor must investigate the sources of the text being edited and present them convincingly, distinguishing between true sources and “mere” parallels. Such work is not only laborious; it also requires judgment of the highest order.

These neglected skills need to be revived in North American universities and full recognition given to their importance to the disciplines of history, literary studies, religious studies, philosophy, and medieval studies in general. I urge all medievalists and the Medieval Academy to encourage dissertation committees, hiring committees, and promotion and tenure committees in North American universities that carry on teaching and research in any aspect of the field of medieval studies to give such recognition to editing projects.

Editor’s note. Comments on this statement are invited from members of the Medieval Academy to help inform Council discussions when it meets in Seattle this spring. At that meeting, Council will consider developing a statement of the value of medieval studies, the kinds of specialized training required, and the nature of the various types of research undertaken by medievalists. Such a statement could be useful in helping to explain the distinctive character of medieval studies to administrators, faculty members in other disciplines, graduate students, funding agencies, and the public at large.