This illustrated volume was published in 1887.
Excerpt from the Preface:
To the general reader the Romances of Chivalry are
very little known, some of them not at all ; and the
reason of this is, that no efforts have been made to
popularize them. Originating, as they did, with the pro-
fessional story-tellers of Norman times, they were, first of
all, metrical histories of the deeds of heroes, like those
which the Minstrel Taillefer sung at the Battle of Hastings,
when he went before William, chanting of Charlemagne
and Roland. Soon these were garnished with tales of
love, and, after a time, imagination was called into play,
and the Romance was written. They were the Novels of
the thirteenth to the seventeenth centuries, and must ever
be thought of in that light ; they were highly sensational,
and full of incident, never prolix, or with long-winded
speeches, till they were on the wane, at the end of the
sixteenth and beginning of the seventeenth centuries ; and
many of them have survived to our days in a condensed
form, as chap-books, or books for children — a fact which
sufficiently shows the hold they had upon the people.
Some, nay most of them, have been edited and reprinted
for the learned societies ; but then only the oldest, or
rarest MSS., or printed copies, have been thus treated,
and they have seldom travelled far from the bookshelves
of the subscribers to these societies. And the reason is
not far to seek. The language in which they are written
is far too archaic for the ordinary reader, and requires a
special antiquarian education. The language of the four-
teenth and fifteenth centuries is totally different from the
English of to-day, and no ordinary person would care
about sitting down to read a book which would be unin-
telligible to him, were he not to refer to a glossary at every
line.
Another reason why these Romances have not been so
popular as they might have been is, that they have never
been illustrated ; there has never been an attempt to
reproduce the contemporary engravings, which are so
deliciously quaint, and which throw so much light on the
manners and costumes of the period. Many of these
wood blocks are far older than the date of the books
which they adorn, as may be seen by the broken edges
and worm-holes, and have probably illustrated some pre-
vious edition now lost to us. To render these Romances
more interesting to the general reader, I have facsimiled
the engravings, and, as they are my own work, I can
guarantee their fidelity.
In making this selection, I have carefully avoided those
relating to Charlemagne, believing that the Carlovingian
Romances ought to be made into a series of their own ; and
I have not touched on the Arthurian legends, which might
well make another ; but I have taken those which were
thoroughly independent, each of which could stand on its
own merits, without reference to another.
The advanced student may possibly grumble at the
number of foot-notes I have appended, in order to elucidate
the text, but my object has been, that every one, of average
intelligence, who reads the book, may thoroughly under-
stand it, and that without constantly referring to a glossary,
which, however, will be found at the end.
JOHN ASHTON.
Contents:
Melusine.--Sir Isumbras.--Sir Degoré.--Sir Bevis of Hampton.--Sir Tryamoure.--The squyr of Iowe degre.--The knight of the swanne.--Valentine and Orson.--Sir Eglamoure of Artoys.--Guy of Warwick.--Robert the Devyll.--Howleglas
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