The anonymous early thirteenth-century guide for anchoresses, the Ancrene Wisse, is one of the most important Middle English prose texts. Divided into eight parts, it provides instruction, in a lively and witty style, on a variety of matters,from prayer to everyday life, including diet, clothes, and possessions. Part IV, dealing with temptations and depicting as animals the Seven Deadly Sins, is especially vivid and entertaining; but, perhaps because of its great length, this section of Ancrene Wissehas previously been edited and annotated only in extracts. Here, for the first time, is an edited and annotated text, in two volumes. This, the first, consists of the text from Cambridge, Corpus Christi College MS 402., with a modern English translation on the facing page; there is also a scholarly introduction which covers many points of critical debate, including the textual history of Ancrene Wisse, the question of authorship, and its use by other writers. A second, forthcoming, volume will contain notes and a glossary.
YOKO WADAis Professor of English at Kansai University, Osaka, Japan.