Langland, William

The Vision of Piers Plowman: A Critical Edition of the B-Text Based on Trinity College Cambridge MS B.15.17 (Everyman's Library (Paper))
Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • Relatively accessible edition
  • An epic journey
  • Has everything you need and more
  • For those who can read Middle English only!
The Vision of Piers Plowman: A Critical Edition of the B-Text Based on Trinity College Cambridge MS B.15.17 (Everyman's Library (Paper))
William Langland
Manufacturer: Tuttle Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0460875094

Book Description

Piers Plowman is the greatest poem of the Middle English Alliterative Revival. Langland (perhaps c. 1330-c. 1386) writes passionately about social justice and religious integrity, weaving into the dream of a weary wanderer the whole of humanity's struggle against sin. This edition of the B-Text has been described as "a landmark in Langland studies."

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars Relatively accessible edition.......2007-06-05

That is, compared to, say, Skeat's multi-volume monstrosity. PP is a great text, but, as an earlier unfortunate reviewer noted, this is not an edition (or really a text, whether it's translated or not) to tackle without at least an introductory class on Middle English literature. If you haven't had any experience with MidE, don't beat yourself up if you can't deal with Schmidt's edition. If you have a little MidE and you want a decent basic text, this is the most affordable and accessible way to go. Just take notes in pencil-- the paper's not of the best quality.

5 out of 5 stars An epic journey.......2005-10-05

The poem of 'Piers the Ploughman' is often considered to be anonymously composed, as the name William Langland was less an authorial designation as it was an inscription on the back of a manuscript - it would be as if I would be assigned the authorship of the O.E.D. because, in some future time, the only remaining copy was missing the title pages, but still had the hard-cover with my 'ex libris' impression on it. Be that as it may, Langland is considered at least as likely an author as any other, and becomes a sort of stand-in, an 'everyman' for his time period. A few details of this Langland are known - he was a wanderer, a constant reviser (the poem goes through several revisions that scholars have designated as texts A, B, and C (and some argue for Z). This is not a spiritual autobiography, as J.F. Goodridge states in an essay about Langland in another edition, but there are no doubt autobiographical elements in the text. That the lead character is named 'Will' helps in this identification.

This poem stands alongside Chaucer's 'Canterbury Tales' as one of the great products of Middle English; this also has the character of being a different sort of Middle English than Chaucer's more courtly, continental influenced variety. Thus, it gives breadth to the history of the English language. Langland is often ranked as a great English poet on a par with Spenser, Milton, Wordsworth and Yeats, as representative of his age both in topics as well as language facility.

This epic poem deals with themes familiar for the time - like Dante and Milton, Langland deals with the grand ideas of the meaning of life and the destiny of humankind. However, unlike Dante and Milton, Will and Piers the Ploughman do not go through a mystical, otherworldly adventure or journey, but rather stays rooted to the earth. These are dream sequences, but these too need not be otherworldly - they are things that can happen to every person. The ideas of the seven deadly sins, the virtues, the church, and the images of heaven and hell are very much rooted to regular society images of the same. The discussion of the allegorical characters, aptly named Do-Well, Do-Better, and Do-Best, does much for the moral teaching of this poem, which would have been of primary concern to the author.

Langland's text is often more Old English than Chaucerian in ways. It is far more alliterative, a strong component taken from Old English. Also, it is less metrical in rhythm than Chaucer - there is a pause in each line akin to older English poetry, but the metre is less secure.

This is a translation of the B-text, a text that is a revision of Langland's own (most likely). Translator and editor A.V.C. Schmidt provides an introduction and chronology, with lots of detail about the manuscript variations and textual issues. Schmidt gives examples of the original language for the student to compare the modern translation with a snapshot of the original.

This is one of the classics of English literature, perhaps the least known among them.

5 out of 5 stars Has everything you need and more.......2005-08-04

Personally I don't see the point of translating English into English, so if you want to read The Vision of Piers Plowman as it was written (well, one version anyway!), this is the edition to get. However, I do concede that our language has changed to the extent that reading such a text is difficult without aids - of which this book is chock full. You have (a) footnotes and translations of the Latin quotes (b) notes on lexical elements of the text (c) notes notes on the meaning of the text. (a) is presented alongside the text whilst (b) and (c) are at the back, which does mean flicking to and fro as you read, but the rewards are worth it! This is the standard to which all modern print editions of medieval manuscripts should aspire. Outstanding work.

3 out of 5 stars For those who can read Middle English only!.......2003-02-14

I remember having to recite the prologue of the Canturbury Tales in Middle English in high school but this is a couple hundred pages. I have read some 'Middle English' books where it wasn't difficult to understand at all, only the spelling was slightly off. THIS IS NOT THE CASE HERE!

For example:

But of coket or clermatyn or ellis of clene whete

That sentence is translated as follows:
But only loaves made of fine wheat flour, or at least only out of wheat unmixed.

There is a lot of latin thrown in as well, so if you are a curious reader who has no background in germanistics or medieval literature, this might not be the book for you. You will probably understand 60-70 percent of what is going on, but a modern English translation might be better.

The story itself is awesome and far superior to Pilgrim's Progress. Like that story, the narrator has a vision and encounters various aspects of human nature in his quest for salvation. The characters are more complex than in Pilgrim's Progress and you have a beautiful tale of a man trying to adhere to his Christian faith amidst clerical and secular corruption.
Highly recommended.
William Langland's Piers Plowman: The C Version : A Verse Translation (Middle Ages Series)
Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
  • A great translation of a great vision
  • an excellent translation
William Langland's Piers Plowman: The C Version : A Verse Translation (Middle Ages Series)
William Langland
Manufacturer: University of Pennsylvania Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0812233239

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars A great translation of a great vision.......2005-10-07

The poem of 'Piers the Ploughman' is often considered to be anonymously composed, as the name William Langland was less an authorial designation as it was an inscription on the back of a manuscript - it would be as if I would be assigned the authorship of the O.E.D. because, in some future time, the only remaining copy was missing the title pages, but still had the hard-cover with my 'ex libris' impression on it. Be that as it may, Langland is considered at least as likely an author as any other, and becomes a sort of stand-in, an 'everyman' for his time period. A few details of this Langland are known - he was a wanderer, a constant reviser (the poem goes through several revisions that scholars have designated as texts A, B, and C (and some argue for Z). This is not a spiritual autobiography, as J.F. Goodridge states in his introduction to another edition, but there are no doubt autobiographical elements in the text. That the lead character is named 'Will' helps in this identification.

This poem stands alongside Chaucer's 'Canterbury Tales' as one of the great products of Middle English; this also has the character of being a different sort of Middle English than Chaucer's more courtly, continental influenced variety. Thus, it gives breadth to the history of the English language. Goodridge ranks Langland as a great English poet on a par with Spenser, Milton, Wordsworth and Yeats, as representative of his age both in topics as well as language facility.

This epic poem deals with themes familiar for the time - like Dante and Milton, Langland deals with the grand ideas of the meaning of life and the destiny of humankind. However, unlike Dante and Milton, Will and Piers the Ploughman do not go through a mystical, otherworldly adventure or journey, but rather stays rooted to the earth. These are dream sequences, but these too need not be otherworldly - they are things that can happen to every person. The ideas of the seven deadly sins, the virtues, the church, and the images of heaven and hell are very much rooted to regular society images of the same. The discussion of the allegorical characters, aptly named Do-Well, Do-Better, and Do-Best, does much for the moral teaching of this poem, which would have been of primary concern to the author.

Langland's text is often more Old English than Chaucerian in ways. It is far more alliterative, a strong component taken from Old English. Also, it is less metrical in rhythm than Chaucer - there is a pause in each line akin to older English poetry, but the metre is less secure.

There are over 50 non-related texts of the poem that have survived the Middle Ages, that vary from minor to major changes throughout. Reconciling these is rather like attempting to reconcile the gospels of the Bible, and then adding to that task the discovery of other non-canonical gospels. It leads to rich discussion, but less agreement.

George Economou, who has translated ancient and medieval poetry from many different langauges, has taken as his base text the lesser-used C text for this translation. Economou includes a good introductory essay, a selected bibliography, and a good verse translation that preserves many elements of the original, such as alliteration.

This is one of the classics of English literature, perhaps the least known among them.

5 out of 5 stars an excellent translation.......2000-03-31

Though a difficult work, Piers Plowman is definitely worth reading for anyone studying English literature. This allegorical dream-vision follows the narrator, Will, on his journey though the world and into the depths of the human consciousness. Always vivid and imaginative, sometimes even humorous, this poem is a fascinating glimpse into mid fourteenth century England. Economou's translation of the lesser-read C text is often poetically quite beautiful and always easy for a modern reader to understand.
Piers Plowman (Norton Critical Editions)
Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
  • A great translation and edition of an epic journey
  • Enjoyable
  • The most inspirational book besides the Bible
Piers Plowman (Norton Critical Editions)
William Langland , and Elizabeth Ann Robertson
Manufacturer: W. W. Norton & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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  5. The Vision of Piers Plowman: A Critical Edition of the B-Text Based on Trinity College Cambridge MS B.15.17 (Everyman's Library (Paper))

ASIN: 0393975592

Book Description

Piers Plowman is one of the most significant works of medieval literature. Astonishing in its cultural and theological scope, William Langland's iconoclastic masterpiece is at once a historical relic and a deeply spiritual vision, probing not only the social and religious aristocracy but also the day-to-day realities of a largely voiceless proletariat class.

E. Talbot Donaldson's translation of the text has been selected for this Norton Critical Edition because of its skillful emulation of the original poem's distinct alliterative verse. Selections of the authoritative Middle English text are also included for comparative analysis.

"Sources and Backgrounds" includes a large collection of contemporary religious and historical documents pertaining to the poem, including selections from the Douai Bible, accounts of the plague, and legal statutes.

"Criticism" includes twenty interpretive essays by leading medievalists, among them E. Talbot Donaldson, George Kane, Jill Mann, Derek Pearsall, C. David Benson, and Elizabeth D. Kirk.

A Glossary and Selected Bibliography are also included.

<B>About the Series</B>: No other series of classic texts equals the caliber of the <B>Norton Critical Editions</B>. Each volume combines the most authoritative text available with the comprehensive pedagogical apparatus necessary to appreciate the work fully. Careful editing, first-rate translation, and thorough explanatory annotations allow each text to meet the highest literary standards while remaining accessible to students. Each edition is printed on acid-free paper and every text in the series remains in print. Norton Critical Editions are the choice for excellence in scholarship for students at more than 2,000 universities worldwide.

Download Description

Cesseth!' seide the Kyng, I suffre yow no lenger. Ye shul saughtne, forsothe, and serve me bothe. Kis hire,' quod the Kyng, "Conscience, I hote!' "Nay, by Crist!' quod Conscience," congeye me rather! But Reson rede me therto, rather wol I deye.

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars A great translation and edition of an epic journey.......2005-10-04

The poem of 'Piers the Ploughman' is often considered to be anonymously composed, as the name William Langland was less an authorial designation as it was an inscription on the back of a manuscript - it would be as if I would be assigned the authorship of the O.E.D. because, in some future time, the only remaining copy was missing the title pages, but still had the hard-cover with my 'ex libris' impression on it. Be that as it may, Langland is considered at least as likely an author as any other, and becomes a sort of stand-in, an 'everyman' for his time period. A few details of this Langland are known - he was a wanderer, a constant reviser (the poem goes through several revisions that scholars have designated as texts A, B, and C (and some argue for Z). This is not a spiritual autobiography, as J.F. Goodridge states in an essay about Langland in another edition, but there are no doubt autobiographical elements in the text. That the lead character is named 'Will' helps in this identification.

This poem stands alongside Chaucer's 'Canterbury Tales' as one of the great products of Middle English; this also has the character of being a different sort of Middle English than Chaucer's more courtly, continental influenced variety. Thus, it gives breadth to the history of the English language. Langland is often ranked as a great English poet on a par with Spenser, Milton, Wordsworth and Yeats, as representative of his age both in topics as well as language facility.

This epic poem deals with themes familiar for the time - like Dante and Milton, Langland deals with the grand ideas of the meaning of life and the destiny of humankind. However, unlike Dante and Milton, Will and Piers the Ploughman do not go through a mystical, otherworldly adventure or journey, but rather stays rooted to the earth. These are dream sequences, but these too need not be otherworldly - they are things that can happen to every person. The ideas of the seven deadly sins, the virtues, the church, and the images of heaven and hell are very much rooted to regular society images of the same. The discussion of the allegorical characters, aptly named Do-Well, Do-Better, and Do-Best, does much for the moral teaching of this poem, which would have been of primary concern to the author.

Langland's text is often more Old English than Chaucerian in ways. It is far more alliterative, a strong component taken from Old English. Also, it is less metrical in rhythm than Chaucer - there is a pause in each line akin to older English poetry, but the metre is less secure.

This translation is done in alliterative verse by E. Talbot Donaldson (the 'E' stands for the very olde Englishe sounding name of Ethelbert). There are notes, essays and other helpful material provided by Elizabeth Kirk and Judith Anderson. There are over 50 non-related texts of the poem that have survived the Middle Ages, that vary from minor to major changes throughout. Reconciling these is rather like attempting to reconcile the gospels of the Bible, and then adding to that task the discovery of other non-canonical gospels. It leads to rich discussion, but less agreement.

The introductory material helps set the stage for reading, and the appendix gives a more thorough development of 'The Dreamer' from the C text.

Perhaps one of the reasons I like this text so much is that the persons involved were known to me, or friends of friends. Donaldson was the founding editor of 'The Norton Anthology of English Literature', a broad, wide-ranging text. However, it was 'Piers Plowman' that was to be a continuing favourite study for him.

This is one of the classics of English literature, perhaps the least known among them.

5 out of 5 stars Enjoyable.......2004-01-03

This poem is very unique. Langland conveys many moral issues that will always be part of human existence. The poem is written in the beautiful, alliterative style. It is not quite a standard allegory and perhaps this is why I enjoyed it so much. It is masterfully composed and Piers' vision is accutely realized. Langland has an artistic touch that grabs hold of a reader and also manages to import a message. I would recommend a version that has both the original text, with all the idosyncratic spellings, and a modern English translation. Reading this is like reading Dante, Chaucer, or the Gawain Poet. A lot to chew on but well worth the trouble.

5 out of 5 stars The most inspirational book besides the Bible.......2003-04-20

This poem is one of the most beautiful things I have ever read. I am not a specialist in Middle English, so I cannot say what was lost in the translation into Modern English. I have a copy of the B-Text version which is in Middle English, and if you are like me and have no background therein, this is definitely the version to possess.

It was written circa 1380 and gives an excellent account of life in Plantagenent England and the behavior of the people. The money economy was relatively new, and he saw the negative effects that it had upon both the secular authorities and the Church. The poem is written as an allegory in which the author tries to reconcile the needs of human society with satisfying our Lord our God. Similar to Pilgrim's Progress, the author has a vision, in which he is encounters different aspects of humanity (Covetousness, Sloth, Soul, Knowledge, etc.) on his attempt to find Truth (or God). It is definitely not light reading, and there is so much deep thought that one has to spend a lot of time reading it slowly, as I am sure it was done in the 'Middle Ages'.

The author thought that End Times were near after the Black Death and the utter corruption amongst secular and clerical authorities at the time. The fact that something so penetrating and inspirational was written and found such an appreciative audience that it has survived till now shows that the society then was not so bad. Highly recommended.
Piers Plowman: A New Translation of the B-text (Oxford World's Classics)
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    Piers Plowman: A New Translation of the B-text (Oxford World's Classics)
    William Langland
    Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
    ProductGroup: Book
    Binding: Paperback

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    ASIN: 0192836463

    Book Description

    This new translation of the B-text is provided with an Introduction and extensive Notes which place the work in its contemporary setting and offer a full interpretative commentary on the poem.
    Piers the Ploughman (Penguin Classics)
    Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    • Great Poem from Middle Ages
    • A journey of the simple man
    • Unlocking the gates to Piers Plowman
    Piers the Ploughman (Penguin Classics)
    William Langland
    Manufacturer: Penguin Classics
    ProductGroup: Book
    Binding: Paperback

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    Customer Reviews:

    5 out of 5 stars Great Poem from Middle Ages.......2007-03-20

    Notes from the Penguin Classics website: "Piers the Ploughman, a blending of prophecy and satirical comedy, is the great representative English poem of the late Middle Ages.
    The work of an obscure fourteenth-century cleric, Piers the Ploughman is concerned with the largest of all poetic themes, the meaning of man's life in relation to his ultimate destiny. This spiritual allegory is set against a colorful background of teeming medieval life between the 'Tower of Truth' and the 'Dungeon of Falsehood'. With an Introduction, Notes and a book-by-book Commentary on the allegory, J.F. Goodridge's modern translation of the poem captures the flavour of Langland's vivid pictures and vernacular expressions."

    5 out of 5 stars A journey of the simple man.......2005-10-03

    The poem of 'Piers the Ploughman' is often considered to be anonymously composed, as the name William Langland was less an authorial designation as it was an inscription on the back of a manuscript - it would be as if I would be assigned the authorship of the O.E.D. because, in some future time, the only remaining copy was missing the title pages, but still had the hard-cover with my 'ex libris' impression on it. Be that as it may, Langland is considered at least as likely an author as any other, and becomes a sort of stand-in, an 'everyman' for his time period. A few details of this Langland are known - he was a wanderer, a constant reviser (the poem goes through several revisions that scholars have designated as texts A, B, and C (and some argue for Z). This is not a spiritual autobiography, as J.F. Goodridge states in his introduction, but there are no doubt autobiographical elements in the text. That the lead character is named 'Will' helps in this identification.

    This poem stands alongside Chaucer's 'Canterbury Tales' as one of the great products of Middle English; this also has the character of being a different sort of Middle English than Chaucer's more courtly, continental influenced variety. Thus, it gives breadth to the history of the English language. Goodridge ranks Langland as a great English poet on a par with Spenser, Milton, Wordsworth and Yeats, as representative of his age both in topics as well as language facility.

    This epic poem deals with themes familiar for the time - like Dante and Milton, Langland deals with the grand ideas of the meaning of life and the destiny of humankind. However, unlike Dante and Milton, Will and Piers the Ploughman do not go through a mystical, otherworldly adventure or journey, but rather stays rooted to the earth. These are dream sequences, but these too need not be otherworldly - they are things that can happen to every person. The ideas of the seven deadly sins, the virtues, the church, and the images of heaven and hell are very much rooted to regular society images of the same. The discussion of the allegorical characters, aptly named Do-Well, Do-Better, and Do-Best, does much for the moral teaching of this poem, which would have been of primary concern to the author.

    Langland's text is often more Old English than Chaucerian in ways. It is far more alliterative, a strong component taken from Old English. Also, it is less metrical in rhythm than Chaucer - there is a pause in each line akin to older English poetry, but the metre is less secure.

    There is much to dispute in Goodridge's introductory essay and notes, because this is that kind of text that invites such disputation. There are over 50 non-related texts of the poem that have survived the Middle Ages, that vary from minor to major changes throughout. Reconciling these is rather like attempting to reconcile the gospels of the Bible, and then adding to that task the discovery of other non-canonical gospels. It leads to rich discussion, but less agreement.

    Goodridge does a good job at introducing the text and translating the text into a prose style. The one drawback of this is that the sense of the poem is lost. However, as an introduction and student/study version of the epic, it is a good text. The notes are generous and useful.

    This is one of the classics of English literature, perhaps the least known among them.

    5 out of 5 stars Unlocking the gates to Piers Plowman.......2001-03-10

    Langland's masterpiece, "Piers Plowman", is Middle English poetry that uses language that is more opaque that that of Chaucer, while expression ideas that are at the same time less translucent than Chaucer's. Whereas Chaucer writes to entertain and incidentally edify, Langland's writing aims squarely at the reform of society: his poetic genius is ever bent on conveying his message in the most effective ways it can devise. That those ways are diverse, and that the poem entwines itself around the reader's mind with a fine webbing of delicate strands, makes a first acquaintance with this work for the student of Middle English a potent, provocative, but somewhat overpowering experience. Help is needed. Goodridge's translation into modern English beautifully renders the sense of the poem in a direct and lyrical way. This may be contrasted with most verse translations that tend to be glosses rather than translations. Consider one fragment from the prologue: "Ac of the cardinales atte courte that caught of that name / And power presumed in hem a pope to make, / To han that power that Peter hadde inpugnen I nelle: / For in loue and letterure the eleccioun bilongeth -- / Forthi I can and can naught of courte speke more." What are we to make of "can and can naught"? A verse translation by Donaldson renders this as follows: "But as for the cardinals at court that thus acquired their name / And presumed they had power to appoint a pope / Who should have the power that Peter had -- well I'll not impugn them. / For the election belongs to love and to learning: / Therefore I can and cannot speak of court further." No doubt this has merit as poetry, but of what value is it as a translation? Any student could replace the Middle English words with the modern equivalent, and be no better off in understanding the sense of the piece. Consider, on the other hand, Goodridge's prose translation: "But as to those other cardinals at Rome who have assumed the same name, taking upon themselves the appointment of a Pope to posses the power of St. Peter, I will not call them in question. The election of a pope requires both love and learning. There is much more I could say about the Papal Court, but it is not for me to say it." While one may disagree with Goodridge's interpretations, one is never in doubt as to what they are. His prose is perfectly lucid, and often poetic. This is a wonderful introduction to Piers Plowman, and the notes and commentary that accompany the translation further enhance the value of this book, and serve even more as a key to unlocking the gates to this magical poem.
    The Vision of William Concerning Piers the Plowman: In Three Parallel Texts, Together with Richard the Redeless 2 Vols. (Oxford University Press Academic Monograph Reprints)
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      The Vision of William Concerning Piers the Plowman: In Three Parallel Texts, Together with Richard the Redeless 2 Vols. (Oxford University Press Academic Monograph Reprints)
      William Langland
      Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
      ProductGroup: Book
      Binding: Hardcover

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      ASIN: 0198113668
      Pier's Plowman: An Edition of the C-Text (Exeter Medieval Texts and Studies)
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        Pier's Plowman: An Edition of the C-Text (Exeter Medieval Texts and Studies)
        William Langland
        Manufacturer: University of Exeter Press
        ProductGroup: Book
        Binding: Paperback

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        THE VISION OF PIERS THE PLOWMAN (MEDIEVAL LIBRARY)
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          THE VISION OF PIERS THE PLOWMAN (MEDIEVAL LIBRARY)
          WILLIAM LANGLAND
          Manufacturer: CHATTO AND WINDUS
          ProductGroup: Book
          Binding: Hardcover
          ASIN: B000SEJ3KG
          THE VISION OF WILLIAM CONCERNING PIERS THE PLOWMAN, TOGETHER WITH VITA DE DOWEL, DOBET, ET DOBEST, SECUNDUM WIT ET RESONN. IN FOUR PARTS. PART II.
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            THE VISION OF WILLIAM CONCERNING PIERS THE PLOWMAN, TOGETHER WITH VITA DE DOWEL, DOBET, ET DOBEST, SECUNDUM WIT ET RESONN. IN FOUR PARTS. PART II.
            William. (Edited by Rev. Walter W. Skeat). Langland
            Manufacturer: Oxford
            ProductGroup: Book
            Binding: Hardcover
            ASIN: B000HHIYF4
            Will's Visions of Piers Plowman, Do-Well, Do-Better, and Do-Best
            Average customer rating: Not rated
              Will's Visions of Piers Plowman, Do-Well, Do-Better, and Do-Best
              William Langland
              Manufacturer: Athlone Press
              ProductGroup: Book
              Binding: Hardcover

              GeneralGeneral | Poetry | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
              British & IrishBritish & Irish | Single Authors | Poetry | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
              Langland, WilliamLangland, William | ( L ) | Authors, A-Z | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
              ASIN: 0485114089

              Authors:

              1. Langton, Jane
              2. Lanier, Sidney
              3. Lansdale, Joe R.
              4. Lanyer, Aemilia
              5. Larkin, Philip
              6. Else Lasker-Schüler
              7. Lasker-Schüler, Else
              8. Lau, Evelyn
              9. Laumer, Keith
              10. Laurence, Margaret

              Authors

              Authors