AUG 8 1977 



MEDIEVAL SERMON-BOOKS AND STORIES AND 

 THEIR STUDY SINCE 1883. 



By T. F. crane. 

 (Read April 12, 1917.) 



Just thirty-four years ago (March 16, 1883) I had the honor of 

 presenting to the American Philosophical Society a paper on 

 " Mediaeval Sermon-Books and Stories." The hospitable reception 

 of this paper determined the subsequent scholarly career of the 

 writer, and opened up a new field of investigation to the student of 

 mediaeval culture. It has seemed to me not inappropriate at this 

 time to express to the Society my grateful appreciation of its en- 

 couragement, and to trace as briefly as possible the progress of 

 studies in this field since the presentation of the paper in question. 

 That the influence of this paper was so much greater in Europe 

 than in this country may be explained by the difficulty of obtaining 

 materials for such studies in American libraries. The incunabula 

 used by me in the preparation of my paper were collected in an 

 unusually short time, and I did not make use of European libraries 

 until after 1883.^ 



^ The paper was reviewed at length in the following scientific journals: 

 Literarisches Centralblatt, 1883, No. 12 (E. Stengel) ; Zcitschrift fiir deutsches 

 Alterthum, N. F. (1884), XVI., 286 (P. Strauch) ; Giornale storico della 

 litteratura italiana, IV. (1884), p. 269; Romania, XII. (1883), p. 416; 

 Melusine, II. (1885), No. 23 (H. Gaidoz). I mentioned my predecessors 

 in the field, Thomas Wright and Karl Goedeke, and should have given greater 

 credit to Hermann Oesterley, who in his editions of Pauli's " Schimpf und 

 Ernst," 1866, Kirchhof's " Wendunmuth," 1869, and " Gesta Romanorum," 

 1872, showed himself a master of this field of study. But, unfortunately, his 

 erudition is confined to the comparative notes and not displayed in any gen- 

 eral work. His innumerable references to mediaeval sermon-books and stories 

 were of great use to me in all my studies. The impetus to my work was 

 given by Goedeke's article, "Asinus vulgi " in Benfey's "Orient und Occi- 

 dent," 1861, and Thomas Wright's mention of the subject in the introduction 

 to " A Selection of Latin Stories," Percy Society, Vol. VIII., 1842. I do not 

 know how I overlooked this writer's essay " On the History and Transmission 



PROC. AMER. PHIL. SOC, VOL. LVI, Y, JULY I3, I917. 



