08-12-2022, 01:52 AM
The statistics on manuscript survival are an Ozymandian terror. For example, almost all Old English poetry survives in just four manuscripts written within about 50 years of each other (maybe more, but likely a single lifespan). All the other poetry from all the other generations? Who knows. The fates of these four manuscripts were not always secure: one was simply left behind in Italy 800 years ago by an unknown traveller, another was nearly burnt to ashes three hundred years ago.
Some of the most valuable works in Middle English also barely made it through: the Ormulum, the Ayenbite of Inwit, the Book of Margery Kempe, civic Mystery Plays, all survive in single manuscripts. Brut and Owl and the Nightingale survive in just two copies each. The earliest known description of an English parliamentary sitting (rather than just the clerk's record) survives in a single manuscript, from an abbey library which is known to be 95% lost.
(However, speaking from an English position, I understand that survival of administrative records is actually pretty good. If you're interested in knowing whom Richard Tattles of Bumby bequeathed his third best heifer in 1415, then you're in luck.)
Some of the most valuable works in Middle English also barely made it through: the Ormulum, the Ayenbite of Inwit, the Book of Margery Kempe, civic Mystery Plays, all survive in single manuscripts. Brut and Owl and the Nightingale survive in just two copies each. The earliest known description of an English parliamentary sitting (rather than just the clerk's record) survives in a single manuscript, from an abbey library which is known to be 95% lost.
(However, speaking from an English position, I understand that survival of administrative records is actually pretty good. If you're interested in knowing whom Richard Tattles of Bumby bequeathed his third best heifer in 1415, then you're in luck.)
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