Other editions of book The Canterbury Tales

The Canterbury TalesGeoffrey ChaucerThe Canterbury Tales (Middle English: Tales of Caunterbury) is a collection of 24 stories that runs to over 17,000 lines written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer between 1387–1400. In 1386, Chaucer became Controller of Customs and Justice of Peace and, three years later, Clerk of the King's work in 1389. It was during these years that Chaucer began working on his most famous text, The Canterbury Tales. The tales (mostly written in verse, although some are in prose) are presented as part of a story-telling contest by a group of pilgrims as they travel together on a journey from London to Canterbury to visit the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral. The prize for this contest is a free meal at the Tabard Inn at Southwark on their return.

The Canterbury Tales is a collection of 24 stories that runs to over 17,000 lines written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer between 1387–1400. In 1386, Chaucer became Controller of Customs and Justice of Peace and, three years later, Clerk of the King's work in 1389. It was during these years that Chaucer began working on his most famous text, The Canterbury Tales. The tales (mostly written in verse, although some are in prose) are presented as part of a story-telling contest by a group of pilgrims as they travel together on a journey from London to Canterbury to visit the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral. The prize for this contest is a free meal at the Tabard Inn at Southwark on their return.

It would be impossible to overstate the influence of Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales. A work with one metaphorical foot planted in the Florentine Renaissance literary tradition of Boccaccio’s Decameron and the other in works ranging from John Bunyan, Voltaire, and Mark Twain to the popular entertainments of our own time, The Canterbury Tales stands astride the cultures of Great Britain and America, and much of Europe, like a benign colossus. Beyond its importance as a cultural touchstone and literary work of unvarnished genius, Chaucer’s unfinished epic poem is also one of the most beloved works in the English language–and for good reason: It is lively, absorbing, perceptive, and outrageously funny–an undisputed classic that has held a special appeal for generations of readers. Chaucer has gathered twenty-nine of literature’s most indelible archetypes–from the exalted Knight to the bawdy Wife to the besotted Miller to the humble Plowman–in a vivid group portrait that captures the full spectrum of late-medieval English society and both informs and expands our discourse on the human condition.

"The characters of Chaucer's pilgrims," said William Blake, "are the characters which compose all ages and nations." In The Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer found an original way of combining characters and anecdotes to produce a portrait of a burgeoning medieval society. His characters, finely drawn representatives of the religious and secular institutions of their time, are also individuals whose appeal has survived the six centuries since their conception. The tales range from rich exotica to crude humor, form lives of saints to the demise of scoundrels. Throughout, we are conscious of Chaucer's irony, humanity, curiosity, and sheer enjoyment of life. In this new verse translation, the first in over thirty years, poet and writer David Wright has made The Canterbury Tales accessible to all, while preserving the wit and vivacity of Chaucer's Middle English classic.

This vintage book contains Geoffrey Chaucer's famous collection of stories, “The Canterbury Tales”. The 24 tales are written over 17,000 lines and represent the efforts of a flock of pilgrims engaged in a story-telling contest. The pilgrims are travelling from London to Canterbury to visit the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral, and the winner of the contest will receive a free meal when they return. Widely considered to be Chaucer's magnum opus, “The Canterbury Tales” is highly recommended for all lovers of the English language and would make for a worthy addition to any bookshelf. Many vintage books such as this are increasingly scarce and expensive. We are republishing this volume now in an affordable, modern edition complete with a specially commissioned new introduction.

Dark green, leather-look paper covered boards with gilt border on front, gilt spine titles. The Canterbury Tales is a collection of stories written by Geoffrey Chaucer in the 14th century (two of them in prose, the rest in verse). The tales, some of which are originals and others not, are contained inside a frame tale and told by a group of pilgrims on their way from Southwark to Canterbury to visit the shrine of Saint Thomas à Becket's at Canterbury Cathedral.