Early Yiddish Texts 1100-1750 With Introduction and Commentary

This volume is the first comprehensive anthology of early Yiddish literature (from its beginnings in the twelfth century to the dawn of modern Yiddish in the mid-eighteenth century) for more than one hundred years. It includes the broad range of genres that define the corpus: Arthurianromance, heroic epic, satire, lyric, drama, biblical/midrashic epic, devotional literature, biblical translations, glosses, medicine, magic, legal texts, oaths, letters, legends, autobiography, travelogue, fables, riddles, and adventure tales. One hundred and thirty texts in the original Hebrewalphabet, edited anew from the earliest extant sources, are provided with introductory headnotes that include detailed information concerning sources, author (if known), the research literature, and the place of the text in the literary tradition.

Jerold C. Frakes is Professor of Comparative Literature, University of Southern California.