La Voie de Povreté et de Richesse

Edited by Glynnis M. Cropp

Critical Texts 51

Modern Humanities Research Association

11 May 2016  •  148pp

ISBN: 978-1-781882-14-6 (paperback)  •  RRP £14.99, $19.99, €17.99

ISBN: 978-1-781882-77-1 (JSTOR ebook)

ISBN: 978-1-781882-78-8 (EBSCO ebook)

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FrenchTranslationPoetry


The allegorical dream-vision poem, La Voie de Povreté et de Richesse, has been known mainly from its incorporation in Le Mesnagier de Paris (1392-94), an anonymous compilation of advice on good living and household management. Composed as an individual work by Jacques Bruyant, probably about fifty years earlier, the poem has now been edited on the basis of the text in the manuscript Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, fr. 1563, fols 203r-221r.

It is a first-person account of the dream of a newly-wed husband, who worries about the financial consequences of marriage and the threat of poverty. In long didactic monologues, allegorical figures (Raison, Entendement, and Barat) address the protagonist. He receives the choice of two pathways, one leading to Poverty, the other to Riches. He chooses the path of Diligence, paved with Perseverance, and reaches the château de Labour, for the solution to his problem lies in working to gain sufficiency. In 2634 verses, Jacques Bruyant combined the protagonist’s dream and return home to his credulous wife, with allegorical didactic discourse, and description of work experience.

Common sayings and stock pieces, such as an account of the Seven Deadly Sins, are included. Pierre Gringore’s Le Chasteau de Labour, first printed in Paris in 1499, is an adaptation of the poem, marking continued interest in the subject in the fifteenth century.

Glynnis Cropp, Professor Emeritus and Honorary Research Fellow in the School of Humanities, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand, has research interests and publications in medieval French and Occitan literature, especially in the field of the vernacular translations of Boethius’s Consolatio Philosophiae.

Reviews:

  • ‘As Glynnis Cropp notes in her foreword, while historians have made reference to La Voie de Povreté et de Richesse, a vernacular fourteenth-century dream-vision poem, the text itself has never received a critical edition. That omission has now been impressively rectified... this is an impressive and accessible edition, justifying why La Voie de Povreté et de Richesse deserves recognition in its own right.’ — Bridget Riley, Modern Language Review 116.2, April 2017, 506 (full text online)
  • ‘L’edizione di Cropp... ha il merito incontestabile di far progredire in maniera sostanziale la nostra conoscenza di un testo e di una tradizione no ad oggi completamente trascurati. Il testo critico è stabilito con criteri chiari e le scelte operate sono controllabili. Si tratta di un lavoro di grande peso e impegno, che offre delle basi di partenza solide a chi vorrà approfondirne la complessa situazione testuale della Voie de la Pouvreté et de la Richesse.’ — Maria Teresa Rachetta, Revue de Linguistique Romane 82.325-26, January-June 2018, 278-81
  • ‘This slim but attractively produced volume is part of the enormously useful MHRA Critical Texts series... The volume contains a useful introduction followed by the edited text based on MS Paris, BnF, fr. 1563, fols 203r–221r. An index of proper names, a glossary, and a thorough bibliography are compiled with that meticulous attention to detail we are accustomed to nd in Cropp’s work... An invaluable edition.’ — Anne M. Scott, Parergon 36.1, 2019, 238-39

Contents:

i-iv
Front Matter
Glynnis M. Cropp
doi:10.2307/j.ctt1c99b85.1
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v-vi
Table of Contents
Glynnis M. Cropp
doi:10.2307/j.ctt1c99b85.2
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vii-viii
Foreword
Glynnis M. Cropp
doi:10.2307/j.ctt1c99b85.3
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1-24
Introduction
Glynnis M. Cropp
doi:10.2307/j.ctt1c99b85.4
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25-97
La Voie De Povreté Et De Richesse
Glynnis M. Cropp
doi:10.2307/j.ctt1c99b85.5
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98-103
Variants
Glynnis M. Cropp
doi:10.2307/j.ctt1c99b85.6
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104-112
NOTES ON THE TEXT
Glynnis M. Cropp
doi:10.2307/j.ctt1c99b85.7
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113-114
Appendix
Glynnis M. Cropp
doi:10.2307/j.ctt1c99b85.8
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115-119
TABLE OF PROPER NAMES
Glynnis M. Cropp
doi:10.2307/j.ctt1c99b85.9
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120-134
Glossary
Glynnis M. Cropp
doi:10.2307/j.ctt1c99b85.10
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135-138
Select Bibliography
Glynnis M. Cropp
doi:10.2307/j.ctt1c99b85.11
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139-140
Back Matter
Glynnis M. Cropp
doi:10.2307/j.ctt1c99b85.12
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Bibliography entry:

Cropp, Glynnis M. (ed.), La Voie de Povreté et de Richesse, Critical Texts, 51 (Cambridge: MHRA, 2016)

First footnote reference: 35 La Voie de Povreté et de Richesse, ed. by Glynnis M. Cropp, Critical Texts, 51 (Cambridge: MHRA, 2016), p. 21.

Subsequent footnote reference: 37 Cropp, p. 47.

(To see how these citations were worked out, follow this link.)

Bibliography entry:

Cropp, Glynnis M. (ed.). 2016. La Voie de Povreté et de Richesse, Critical Texts, 51 (Cambridge: MHRA)

Example citation: ‘A quotation occurring on page 21 of this work’ (Cropp 2016: 21).

Example footnote reference: 35 Cropp 2016: 21.

(To see how these citations were worked out, follow this link.)


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