{
    "id": 450633,
    "slug": "chaucer-geoffrey-chaucer",
    "nstc": null,
    "title": "Chaucer",
    "subtitle": null,
    "collection_title": null,
    "collection_part_number": null,
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    "description": "Colophon<br />Author: Geoffrey Chaucer<br />Print adaptation: William Caxton, Thomas Godfray<br />Editors: William Thynne, Frederick Startridge Ellis, Rev. Walter William Skeat<br />Design: William Morris<br />Illustrations: Edward Burne-Jones<br />Engraving: William Harcourt Hooper <br />Cover design: Francis Sangorski<br />Desktop publishing: Lars Remer<br />Printing: Pumbo BV<br />The Workes of Geoffrey Chaucer published by the Kelmscott Press is what the celebrated poet William Butler Yeats calls the most beautiful of all printed books with the richest and most detailed illustrations ever drawn and with the longest history of any book ever written and published in English.<br />This work of literature is a splendid exposition of the typography, illustrations, and design of the book often cited by authors and publishers not just as the most beautiful book ever made but also as one of the crowning achievements of the art of printing.<br />At various times a large number of authors, editors, illustrators and designers cooperated over the last seven centuries on the production of this great work of literature, paragon of scholarship and true work of art.<br />The history of this book begins when at the end of the 14th century from 1387 until 1400 Geoffrey Chaucer writes The Canterbury Tales, that is one of the best loved and most reputable works in the history of English literature.<br />Geoffrey Chaucer, who is so historically important in the sense that for the first time ever an English author made the audacious decision to write in English and not in Latin, introduces us to a vivid cast of characters, that come from all corners of 14th century society and give the author the chance to speak in many different voices.<br />Written in Middle English, The Canterbury Tales tells the story of a group of pilgrims, who meet travelling the long journey from London to Canterbury Cathedral, that decide in order to pass the time on the journey to tell the assembled company two tales each, some of which are humorous and frivolous, while others are deeply moral and reflective.<br />The Canterbury Tales was the first major work of literature written in English, that represents a collection of stories held together by composition in such a way, that several narratives evolve in parallel at the same time within the work.<br />This formal variation is matched by contrasts in genre and tone, racy fables alternate with sombre descriptions of martyrdom, the compound narrative in which they result is a shimmering variation, that reflects medieval society as depicted by Geoffrey Chaucer. <br />The interaction between the individual tales and the frame narrative is a layered and masterful exercise in characterisation, that is one of the great virtues not just of Geoffrey Chaucer's work but also of early English literature in general. <br />The Canterbury Tales is traditionally dated to the end of the 14th century although some tales appear to have been composed before then but the poem as we know it is the work of 15th-century scribes that survives as 92 manuscripts while no existing manuscript dates from Geoffrey Chaucer\u2019s lifetime.<br />In 1476, William Caxton introduced the printing press to England, revolutionising forever the means books were created.<br />Published in the same year, this book is the first printed edition of Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales and also the first book ever printed in England.<br />Thanks to the invention of printing, books became quicker to produce and cheaper to purchase but were still a luxury.<br />An ever-increasing number of writers were able to publish their work, literacy rates rose, language gradually became more uniform, and an early form of modern English began to emerge.<br />While The Canterbury Tales constitute the main corpus of Geoffrey Chaucer's work, it is not the only work of literature which issued from the author's pen.<br />In 1532 the editors William Thynne and Thomas Godfray published T...",
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    "imprint": null,
    "language_code": "eng",
    "original_language_code": null,
    "page_count": null,
    "duration_seconds": null,
    "publication_date_first": "2022-11-15",
    "publication_date_latest": "2022-11-15",
    "cover_url": null,
    "editions": [
        {
            "isbn": "9789464438147",
            "product_form": "BB"
        }
    ],
    "ratings_count": 0,
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    "rating_average": null,
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    "created_at": "2025-09-19T13:52:46+00:00",
    "updated_at": "2025-11-06T00:39:21+00:00",
    "publisher": {
        "id": 6663,
        "slug": "pumbonl",
        "name": "Pumbo.nl",
        "created_at": "2025-09-19T12:34:41+00:00",
        "updated_at": "2025-09-19T15:13:47+00:00"
    },
    "contributors": [
        {
            "id": 278912,
            "slug": "geoffrey-chaucer-2",
            "key_names": "Chaucer",
            "names_before_key": "Geoffrey",
            "prefix_to_key": null,
            "contributor_role": "A01",
            "readable_contributor_role": "Author"
        }
    ],
    "genres": [],
    "subjects": [
        {
            "scheme_identifier": "32",
            "scheme_version": null,
            "main_subject": false,
            "subject_code": "304",
            "created_at": "2025-09-19T13:52:46+00:00",
            "updated_at": "2025-09-19T13:52:46+00:00"
        }
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