The Anglo-Saxon Physiologus (ASP) is a text that no longer exists in its entirety. Much of its critical study, therefore, has fixated upon the question of how many pages of the work was lost between the beginning and end of the poem commonly titled 'Partridge', when the Exeter Book was damaged by fire. Critics are found to make their own judgement by analysing the work's possible sources and the surviving text. Examination of a facsimile edition of The Exeter Book makes it highly likely that at least two leafs of 'Partridge' are missing, merely from examining the lengths of the other two poems in comparison to the terribly short 'Partridge', beginning grandly at the bottom of the page with a large illustrated 'H' for 'Hyrde' and ending on the next page with only nine lines more. - [Author]

Language: English