The Early English Text Society is a text publication society dedicated to the reprinting of early English texts, especially those only available in manuscript. Most of its volumes are in Middle English and Old English. It was founded in England in 1864 by Frederick James Furnivall; its stated goal in a report of the first year of their existence was "on the one hand, to print all that is most valuable of the yet unprinted MSS. in English, and, on the other, to re-edit and reprint all that is most valuable in printed English books, which from their scarcity or price are not within the reach of the student of moderate means." It is known for being the first to print many English manuscripts, including Cotton Nero A.x, which contains Pearl, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and other poems. By its own count, the Society has published 344 volumes.
Famous members of the society when it was formed in 1864 include Furnivall himself, Alfred Tennyson (poet laureate), Warren de la Rue (inventor of the lightbulb), Richard Chenevix Trench (Irish ecclesiastic), Stephen Austin (a Hertford-based printer), Edith Coleridge (granddaughter of Samuel Taylor Coleridge), and others.
Famous quotes containing the words early, english, text and/or society:
“Although good early childhood programs can benefit all children, they are not a quick fix for all of society’s ills—from crime in the streets to adolescent pregnancy, from school failure to unemployment. We must emphasize that good quality early childhood programs can help change the social and educational outcomes for many children, but they are not a panacea; they cannot ameliorate the effects of all harmful social and psychological environments.”
—Barbara Bowman (20th century)
“There being in the make of an English mind a certain gloom and eagerness, which carries to the sad extreme; religion to fanaticism; free-thinking to atheism; liberty to rebellion.”
—George Berkeley (1685–1753)
“Don Pedro. But when shall we set the savage bull’s horns on the sensible Benedick’s head?
Claudio. Yes, and text underneath, “Here dwells Benedick, the married man?””
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“Is it impossible not to wonder why a movement which professes concern for the fate of all women has dealt so unkindly, contemptuously, so destructively, with so significant a portion of its sisterhood. Can it be that those who would reorder society perceive as the greater threat not the chauvinism of men or the pernicious attitudes of our culture, but rather the impulse to mother within women themselves?”
—Elaine Heffner (20th century)