Kemble J.M. The Poetry of the Codex Vercellensis: With an English Translation (parts I and II)

London: Aelfrics Society, 1843-1856. — 256 p.In the year 1832 a German man of letters, Dr. Blum, in the course of his inquiries into the contents of the Italian libraries, discovered at Vercelli, in the Milanese, a thick volume of Anglosaxon homilies. The interest which this very unexpected piece of good fortune excited both in England and Germany, was soon increased to the very utmost by the announcement that the Manuscript contained, in addition to and interspersed with the homilies, a collection of sacred poems, hitherto unknown and of great beauty. In the hope of bringing these valuable remains to England, and publishing them here, I set out in the summer of 1834 for Vercelli ; but having spent some months in traversing Germany, I found myself, at the commencement of winter, still on this side the Alps, and cut off from all hope of crossing them by the storms which had broken up the passes. On returning to England, however, I found that one portion of my plan was already executed. The then existing Record Commission had employed Dr. Blum to copy the Manuscript, and had caused the poems to be extracted and printed under the care of Mr. Thorpe. Circumstances prevented the publication of the book, but a few copies of it found their way into the hands of persons interested in the subject, both here and in Germany. One of them had been placed at my disposal (through the courtesy of Mr. Cooper), and had furnished important aid during the preparation of the second volume of Beowulf ; but in general the contents remained inaccessible and unknown. In 1840 James Grimm, feeling that this was a wrong done to the world of letters at large, and apparently under a mistake respecting the number of copies printed by the Commission, and their intention of ultimately publishing their book, extracted from Dr. Lappenberg's copy the two longest poems, which he published at Cassell under the title of " Andreas und Elene," together with an introduction and very copious notes. It would not be fair to institute a comparison between two works composed with very different aims, or to make Thorpe responsible for the meagre form in which his appeared. It was intended as an Appendix, or rather as part of an Appendix, to another and very different composition, and was consequently compressed into the smallest possible space, without introduction, translation or notes of any description. On the other hand, Grimm's edition, expressly intended to supply a want which was loudly complained of in Germany, was executed with all the skill and care that might have been anticipated from the eminent qualifications of its amiable editor, and forms at this moment one of the most valuable monuments for the student of our ancient tongue.