To my [critical edition] of manuscripts of the Roman de Renart, published in Basel in 1872, I originally wanted to add a branch, Pelerinage Renart (Méon's 23rd), with the readings of all the manuscripts, in order to show by example how the various traditions differ and how useless it would be to publish the entire critical apparatus I had collected on all the branches. When external circumstances, which currently do not seem to be favorable to editions of Old French poems, thwarted this intention, I promised at the end of my investigations to print the 21st branch with all the readings in a future edition of the novel, while for the others only the main manuscripts would be taken into account. However, I prefer to use the opportunity presented to produce a special edition of the pilgrimage, especially since I must definitely refrain from publishing my complete edition this year. In this I will only repeat the variants of the main manuscripts and subject the text, which now follows A [Bibliothèque Nationale de France, fr. 20043] as closely as possible, to a stricter orthographic regulation. ... For the branch of the pilgrimage, N [Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Reg. lat. 1699] is closest to L [Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal, Ms-3335] and, together with this manuscript, offers a number of additions, displacements and changes, such that only b [Bibliothèque Nationale de France, fr. 837] deviates greatly from the original text. - [Author]

Language: German