The Paston Letters. A Selection in Modern Spelling edited, with Introduction, Notes and Glossary by Norman Davis

By Norman Davis

Book Overview

The Pastons of Norfolk left behind them an incomparable picture of life in fifteenth-century England in the earliest great collection of family letters in English. The letters span three generations... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• ISBN: B004AO7258
• Release Date: January 1963
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, 1963
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Family life

England on the eve of the modern period was a troubled place, but the Pastons made the most of it, rising from Norfolk farming to national celebrity. Their letters (covering a period from about 1420 to 1503) give a remarkably modern idea of their characters and much fascinating information about daily life, society, commerce and the law. The women as well as the men in the family come over as extremely well informed. This seems to be the only edition in print at the moment. The entire collection was last published in two parts in 1971 and 1976, edited by Norman Davis, but the letters included here have been well selected. The Paston Letters make an eventful and informative read.