John Lydgate, The Dance of Death, and its model, the French Danse Macabre

Clifford Davidson, Ph.D. (Wayne State University, 1966), Professor Emeritus of English and Medieval Studies, former director of the Early Drama, Art, and Music project, Western Michigan University, and a founding editor of Comparative Drama. Publications include many books, editions, and articles.Sophie Oosterwijk, Ph.D. in Art History (Leicester, 1999) and English Literature (Leiden, 2009), Honorary Research Fellow at the University of St Andrews. She has published two edited volumes and numerous articles on the Danse Macabre, medieval tomb monuments and commemoration.

• PrefaceList of FiguresBiographical Information1 IntroductionThe Dance of Paul’sIconographic Representations of DeathThe Dance of Death and the Popular ImaginationThe Role of Death in LifeA Topical and Adaptable MotifThe Origins of the Dance of DeathThe Danse Macabre Mural in ParisFurther Dissemination of the Danse MacabreManuscripts and Printed TextsManuscripts of the A–GroupManuscripts of the B–GroupEditorial PrinciplesPart 1: John Lydgate’s Dance of Death2 Edited Texts: John Lydgate’s Dance of DeathMS. Bodleian Selden Supra 53Lansdowne MS. 699, fols. 41–50Oxford, Douce BB533 Textual Notes: John Lydgate’s Dance of DeathA-Group (Bodleian Library, MS. Selden Supra 53)B-Group (British Library, MS. Lansdowne 699)Textual Notes to Douce BB.53 (Fakes Edition)4 Critical Notes: John Lydgate’s Dance of DeathStanzas Only in the B–Group, Following the Order of Lansdowne MS. 699Part 2: The French Danse Macabre5 Edited Text and Translation: Guy Marchant’s Danse Macabre (1485)6 Woodcuts and Comments: Guy Marchant’s Danse Macabre (1485)7 Textual Notes: Guy Marchant’s Danse Macabre (1485)8 Critical Notes: Guy Marchant’s Danse Macabre (1485)Appendix: Transcription of the “Chambéry roll”, a French Dramatized Danse Macabre Text of the Late Fourteenth or Early Fifteenth Century (Collection Claudius Bouvier, Archives départementales de Savoie, Chambéry, France)BibliographyGlossaryIndex

"[…], Davidson’s and Oosterwijk’s volume [...] offers a deeply researched, wide-ranging, and profoundly valuable overview of major Anglo-French contributions to the broader danse macabre tradition." - Elizaveta Strakhov, University of Marquette, USA, in Speculum, 2023"[…] this volume is a tour-de-force and there can be little doubt that it will stand the test of time and be widely accepted as a standard work." - Sally Badham, in: Peregrinations: Journal of Medieval Art and Architecture, 7, 4, 2021