Preface to the Adaptation

Canterbury Tales Public House in Gillingham England.

This cloned Pressbook brings together Medieval, Renaissance, as well as Restoration and 18th Century British Literature, spanning from the epic poem Beowulf on through Shakespeare’s King Lear. It concludes with the beginnings of the English novel, offering excerpts from Fanny Burney’s Evelina.

The written texts, which comprise its chapters, either appeared before copyright law was formally codified or have already entered the Public Domain. However, some translations and versions in this anthology are copyrighted and licensed. Thus, while this cloned collection holds a CC BY 4.0 license, individual chapter licenses will vary. Relatedly, several chapters are not yet visible as they’re in the process of adaptation. We’ve tried to include prologues and/or opening sections of these texts to provide a sense of coverage. Over time, we expect to publish additional chapters.

In terms of transformations we have completed, the cover image has been updated from the original source, and we’ve added both an Acknowledgements page as well as this Adaptation Preface. This version uses a different translation of Marie de France’s Prologue than in the original version of the anthology, and we’ve altered the order of a few works. Furthermore, we’ve aimed to make authors, translators, and sources more visible. Finally, the penultimate chapter, Eliza Haywood’s delightful narrative Fantomina, has several additions: a social annotation prompt, images, and H5P activities.

We greatly appreciate Joy Pasini, Ph.D.’s work in compiling all of these texts in one anthology.