{"product_id":"written-work-9780812233964","title":"Written Work","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eCritics of \u003ci\u003ePiers Plowman\u003c\/i\u003e have often behaved as if the great fourteenth-century English poem were written by committee, \u003ci\u003eWritten Work\u003c\/i\u003e marks a major shift in orientation by focusing on William Langland instead of \u003ci\u003ePiers Plowman\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003cbr\u003eThe five original historicist studies collected here are less concerned with searching for Langland''s identity in medieval records than with examining the marks, even scars, left on him by the history he touched. Derek Pearsall studies what Langland knew about London—its geography, economics, and social life—and the way his focus on the city shifted in the course of revising the poem. Kathryn Kerby-Fulton examines the conditions for authorship and publishing in late fourteenth-century England and uncovers evidence of Langland''s struggles to attract patronage and maintain control over the text and circulation of Piers.\u003cbr\u003eAnne Middleton''s stunning chapter explores how the long shadow of fourteenth-century labor laws fell\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"University of Pennsylvania Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52090744635735,"sku":"9780812233964","price":49.3,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9780812233964.jpg?v=1762273298","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/written-work-9780812233964","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}