Collectors Post

TEXTS
 

The Towneley Plays  
     The complete text from the Electric Text Center of the University of Virginia Library.

The York Plays
     The complete text from the Electric Text Center of the University of Virginia Library.

Everyman
     The complete text from the Humanities Text Initiative, University of Michigan.

Five Sixteenth-Century Latin Plays


     From the collection of ‘Comedies and Tragedies’, edited by Nicholas Brylinger, Basle, in 1540. Translated by C.C. Lee, Toronto.

Middle English Moral Comedies  
     Gerard NeCastro of the University of Maine at Machias presents the basic texts of eleven English comedies, several of which are very difficult to find
elsewhere:
 

This is a developing site. Very useful.

Two Modernized Performance Texts
     These useful acting versions of important medieval plays are presented by Alexandra Johnston of The University of Toronto, Canada:
    1. The Castle of Perseverance (Modernized by Alexandra F. Johnston, based on an acting edition prepared by David M. Parry)
    2. The N-Town Plays (modernized by Stanley J. Kahrl and Alexandra F. Johnston)
 

ARTICLES

Gloria J. Betcher: Class Notes on Medieval English Drama
     Some very useful notes (from Iowa State University) on:

Brigham Young University: The Wakefield Passion Play
     A group of excellent, informative articles for undergraduates:
    1. ‘Dwelling on the Mysteries’ (Peter J. Sorensen)
    2. ‘Union of Opposites’ (Catherine Corman Parry)
    3. ‘Creating the Play (Eric Samuelson)
    4. ‘The Times and Place of God’s Story’ (Joseph D. Parry)
    5. ‘The Wakefield or Towneley Cycle of Corpus Christi Plays’ (Paul Thomas)
    6. ‘The Pageant Wagon Question’ (Derise Error)

Kathleen Campbell: ‘Notes on the English mystery plays’
     A very good introductory article with supplementary information on topics including the Easter trope Quem Quaeritis and What is Mumming?   

Robert L. A. Clark & Claire M. Sponsler: ‘Queer Play: The Cultural Work of Crossdressing in Medieval Drama’
     A paper considering the cross-dressing of both men and women in medieval plays.

Andrzej Dàbrówka: ‘Quando sagittari sagittaverunt papegay. Der Medienstreit im mittelniederländischen Theaterbetrieb’
     An article, in German, that discusses 15th-century terminology used for plays, players and theatre productions.

Mary P. Freier: ‘Woman as Termagant in The Towneley Cycle’
     An academic article that considers the characterisation of women (including Gill and Noah’s wife) in this cycle.

Jesse D. Hulbert: ‘From Functional Feast to Frivolous Funhouse – Two Ideals of Play in the Burgundian Court’
      Paper about two early fifteenth-century Burgundian plays that was delivered to the 5th Annual Indiana University Symposium on Medieval Studies, April 1992.

Don King, ‘Notes on Medieval Drama’
     Useful introduction by the Professor of English at Montreat College NC.

Steven
Muhlberger: ‘Religion in Fifteenth-Century England’  
     An interesting background article written by an Associate Professor of History atNipissing University.

Jack Wolcott: ‘The English Court Masque: An Introduction’ 
A superb study (like all those produced by Jack Wolcott of the School of Drama at the University of Washington). It presents a clear general introduction to the staging of English Court Masques with a detailed study of Florim?ne, the penultimate masque presented at the court of England’s Charles I in 1635.

Karoline Manny: Spain – ‘Medieval Castilian Drama’
     A fascinating and most informative collection of articles that includes:
    1. Spectacle in Early Medieval Castile
    2. Early Religious Castilian Drama in the Vernacular
    3. The Corpus Christi Celebration
There is also a most useful appendix listing:
    Appendix:
List of Extant Vernacular Castilian Drama (1100-1530)

University of Victoria: ‘Moralities and Mysteries’
     An excellent series of informative articles on

The suppression and rebirth of the drama
The mystery cycles

Morality plays

The Vice
The expectations of the audience
Interludes

Really worth a read.
 

BOOKS, BIBLIOGRAPHIES and PUBLICATIONS

Adam de la Halle – Bibliography
     Comprehensive bibliography of the thirteenth-century French writer, prepared by Jesse Hurlbut of Brigham Young University.

Bibliographie des miracles et mystères français,
par Graham A. Runnalls
     A detailed and most informative bibliography (written in French) by Graham A. Runnalls of the University of Edinburgh and presented as part of Jesse Hurlbut’s French Medieval Drama Database Project.

Bibliography of Cornish Medieval Drama, by Sydney Higgins

This bibliography lists the major articles and books
dealing with the medieval plays written in Cornish.

Le Corpus du Théâtre religieux français du Moyen Âge
    A detailed and most informative bibliography (written in French) by Graham A. Runnalls of the University of Edinburgh and presented as part of Jesse Hurlbut’s French Medieval Drama Database Project.

Robbins Library Bibliography – Medieval English Drama
     A useful list of critical studies and texts of medieval plays.

Early Drama, Art and Music (EDAM) Publications
     From the Medieval Institute, University of Western Michigan, a complete catalogue of publications, including the monographs and reference books in the Early Drama, Art and Music (EDAM) project (edited by Clifford Davidson) that has been called ‘The major American scholarly enterprise focused on medieval drama …’ A most important list.

Early European Drama Translation Series
Three most useful books are included in this series
- edited by Martin Stevens (CUNY Graduate Center)
and Stephen K. Wright (Catholic University of America):

• "The Mystery of the Passion by Arnoul Greban: The Third Day", translated by Paula Giuliano

• "Antichrist and Judgment Day: The Middle French Jour du Jugement", translated with Introduction and Commentary by Richard K. Emmerson and David F. Hult, with a Note on the Music by Keith Glaeske

• "Medieval Dutch Drama: Four Secular Plays and Four Farces from the Van Hulthem Manuscript", translated with an Introduction by Johanna C. Prins

Early Theatre: A Journal
     This journal, associated with the Records of Early English Drama, is published from McMaster University. It will be published annually, the first volume appearing in Autumn, 1998.

Saint Plays and Pageants of Medieval Britain
     A useful list that is part of ‘Early Drama, Art, and Music’ – a research project at the Medieval Institute, Western Michigan University.

University of Victoria: Bibliographies   
     Two useful lists of books: Moralities and Mysteries and
Medieval Drama.