Codex Diplomaticus Aevi Saxonici

Published in six volumes between 1839 and 1848, this was the first collected edition of the surviving corpus of Anglo-Saxon charters, comprising royal diplomas in Latin and a variety of documents (wills, writs, etc.) in the vernacular (Old English), dating from the seventh century to the Norman Conquest. John Mitchell Kemble (1807-57) collected his material from many different places (the British Museum, the Tower of London, cathedral archives, college libraries, and private collections), and arranged it as best he could in chronological order. He believed passionately that he was laying foundations for a new history of the English people, and his research formed the basis for The Saxons in England (1849), also reissued in this series. The Codex includes Kemble's pioneering account of the principles for assessing the authenticity of Anglo-Saxon charters. Volume 1 of this reissue features a new preface by Simon Keynes introducing this landmark work.