The Yale Edition of the Shorter Poems of Edmund Spenser
The expressed purpose of this volume is "to make available to students the texts of Spenser's shorter poems with introductions and notes which respond to developments in Spenser criticism over the past forty years." Thus, it is an update of the Variorum Minor Poems, published in the 1940s, and a successful one. It surpasses the Everyman edition (now out of print) in not modernizing spellings and in glossing difficult or arcane terms. The print is attractive and the book a pleasure to read; the paperback version should find wide use in Renaissance literature courses. The price of the hardcover version, however, will present problems for many libraries. Still, libraries wanting an update of the Variorum , or lacking it while having an active Spenser audience, should consider this strongly.- Robert E. Brown, Onondaga Cty. P.L., Syracuse, N.Y.Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.