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Membership of the Society is open to libraries and to individuals interested in the study of medieval English literature. In return for their subscription members receive new publications in the Original Series and are entitled to buy titles in the Supplementary Series or from the back-list at a discount. Non-members may buy the Society's publications through the publishers or through booksellers at the listed prices.
The SocietyOfficers and CouncilMembershipMembership Application FormsPublicationsGuidelines for EditorsContacts
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Anyone who reads Old and Middle English literary texts will be familiar with the mid-brown volumes of the EETS, with the symbol of Alfred's jewel embossed on the front cover. Most of the works attributed to King Alfred or to Aelfric, along with some of those by bishop Wulfstan and much anonymous prose and verse from the pre-Conquest period, are to be found within the Society's three series; all of the surviving medieval drama (with the exception of the York Plays, due for publication within the next three years), most of the Middle English romances, much religious and secular prose and verse including the English works of John Gower, Thomas Hoccleve and most of Caxton's prints all find their place in the publications. Without EETS editions, study of medieval English texts would hardly be possible.
As its name states, EETS was begun as a 'club', and it retains certain features of that even now. It has no physical location, or even office, no paid staff or editors, but books in the Original Series are published in the first place to satisfy subscriptions paid by individuals or institutions. This means that there is need for a regular sequence of new editions, normally one or two per year; achieving that sequence can pose problems for the Editorial Secretary, who may have too few or too many texts ready for publication at any one time. Details on a separate sheet explain how individual (but not institutional) members can choose to take certain back volumes in place of the newly published volumes against their subscriptions. On the same sheet are given details about the very advantageous discount available to individual members on all back numbers. In 1970 a Supplementary Series was begun, a series which only appears occasionally (it currently has 22 volumes within it); some of these are new editions of texts earlier appearing in the main series. Again these volumes are available at publication and later at a substantial discount to members. All these advantages can only be obtained through the Membership Secretary (the books are sent by post); they are not available through bookshops, and such bookstores as carry EETS books have only a very limited selection of the many published.
Editors, who receive no royalties or expenses and who are only very rarely commissioned by the Society, are encouraged to approach the Editorial Secretary with a detailed proposal of the text they wish to suggest to the Society early in their work; interest may be expressed at that point, but before any text is accepted for publication the final typescript must be approved by the Council (a body of some twenty scholars), and then assigned a place in the printing schedule. The Society now has a stylesheet to guide editors in the layout and conventions acceptable within its series. No prescriptive set of editorial principles is laid down, but it is usually expected that the evidence of all relevant medieval copies of the text(s) in question will have been considered, and that the texts edited will be complete whatever their length. Editions are directed at a scholarly readership rather than a popular one; though they normally provide a glossary and notes, no translation is provided.
EETS was founded in 1864 by Frederick James Furnivall, with the help of Richard Morris, Walter Skeat, and others, to bring the mass of unprinted Early English literature within the reach of students. It was also intended to provide accurate texts from which the New (later Oxford) English Dictionary could quote; the ongoing work on the revision of that Dictionary is still heavily dependent on the Society's editions, as are the Middle English Dictionary and the Toronto Dictionary of Old English. In 1867 an Extra Series was started, intended to contain texts already printed but not in satisfactory or readily obtainable editions; this series was discontinued in 1921, and from then on all the Society's editions, apart from the handful in the Supplementary Series described above, were listed and numbered as part of the Original Series. In all the Society has now published some 475 volumes; all except for a very small number (mostly of editions superseded within the series) are available in print. The early history of the Society is only traceable in outline: no details about nineteenth-century membership are available, and the secretarial records of the early twentieth century were largely lost during the second world war. By the 1950s a very large number of the Society's editions were out of print, and finances allowed for only a very limited reprinting programme. Around 1970 an advantageous arrangement was agreed with an American reprint firm to make almost all the volumes available once more whilst maintaining the membership discounts. Though this arrangement was superseded towards the end of the twentieth century and the cost of reprinting has reverted to the Society, as a result of the effort then it has proved possible to keep the bulk of the list in print.
Many comparable societies, with different areas of interest, were founded in the nineteenth century (several of them also by Furnivall); not all have survived, and few have produced as many valuable volumes as EETS. The Society's success continues to depend very heavily on the loyalty of members, and especially on the energy and devotion of a series of scholars who have been involved with the administration of the Society - the amount of time and effort spent by those who over the years have filled the role of Editorial Secretary is immeasurable. Plans for publications for the coming years are well in hand: there are a number of important texts which should be published within the next five years. At present, notably because of the efforts of a series of Executive and Membership Secretaries, the Society's finances are in reasonable shape; but certain trends give concern to the Council. The Society's continuance is dependent on two factors: the first is obviously the supply of scholarly editions suitable to be included in its series; the second is on the maintenance of subscriptions and sales of volumes at a level which will cover the printing and distribution costs of the new and reprinted books. The normal copyright laws cover the Society's volumes. All enquiries about large scale reproduction, whether by photocopying or on the internet, should be directed to the Executive Secretary in the first instance. The Society's continued usefulness depends on its editors and on its ability to maintain its (re)printing programme - and that depends on those who traditionally have become members of the Society. We hope you will maintain your membership, and will encourage both the libraries you use and also other individuals to join. Membership conveys many benefits for you, and for the wider academic community concerned for the understanding of medieval texts.
Anne Hudson, Honorary Director
Honorary Director
Professor Anne Hudson, Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford OX2 6QA
Editorial Secretary
Dr H.L. Spencer, Exeter College, Oxford OX1 3DP
Executive Secretary
Professor Vincent Gillespie, Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford OX2 6QA
Membership Secretary
Mrs Jane Watkinson, 12 North End, Durham DH1 4NJ
| Professor J. Bately | Mr T.F. Hoad |
| Dr R. Beadle | Dr William Marx |
| Professor N.F. Blake | Professor B. Millett |
| Professor J. Boffey | Professor M.B. Parkes |
| Professor J.A. Burrow | Professor D. Pearsall |
| Dr A.I. Doyle | Dr O.S. Pickering |
| Professor M.R. Godden | Professor J. Thompson |
| Mr R.F.S. Hamer | Professor T. Turville-Petre |
| Professor R. Hanna III |
Anyone wishing to join the Society should contact the Membership Secretary. The subscription to the Society for 2009 is £20.00 (or for US members $40.00), due in advance on 1 January, and should be paid by cheque, postal order, or money order made out to 'The Early English Text Society', and sent to the Membership Secretary. Payment of this subscription entitles the member to receive the new book(s) in the Original Series for the year. The books in the Supplementary Series do not form part of the issue sent to members in return for the payment of their annual subscription, though they are available to members at a reduced price; a notice about each volume is sent to members in advance of publication.
Private members of the Society (but not libraries) may select in place of the annual issue past volumes from the Society's list. The value of such texts allowed against one annual subscription is £30.00, and all these transactions must be made through the Membership Secretary. All members of the Society may purchase copies of earlier publications for their own use at a discount of 30 per cent. All such orders must be sent to the Membership Secretary.
Details of the books, the cost of membership, and its privileges are revised from time to time. The prices of books are subject to alteration without notice.
Forms open in a separate window:
Click here for an Individual Membership application form.
Click here for an Institutional Membership application form.
Click here for Publications for 2010, and here for Supplementary Series order form.
The Original Series began in 1864 and continues to the present. In 1867 an Extra Series was started, of texts already printed but not in satisfactory or readily obtainable editions. In 1921 the Extra Series was discontinued and all publications were subsequently listed and numbered as part of the Original Series. In 1970 the Supplementary Series was initiated: volumes in this series are issued only occasionally and as suitable texts become available.
New volumes are published on behalf of the Society by the Oxford University Press, which also holds the stock of recent publications in the Original Series and Supplementary Series. The back-list is held by Boydell and Brewer.
Current publicationsBack-listForthcoming publications
The Guidelines for Editors are in a pdf file. Click here to open this file in a separate window.
For enquiries about future editions or proposals for publications, contact the Editorial Secretary: Dr H.L. Spencer, Exeter College, Oxford OX1 3DP. Prospective editors are advised to submit any proposals to the Editorial Secretary by the end of April in any year.
For enquiries about membership or members' orders, contact the Membership Secretary: Mrs Jane Watkinson, 12 North End, Durham DH1 4NJ (janemwatkinson@hotmail.com)
For other enquiries, contact the Executive Secretary: Professor Vincent Gillespie, Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford OX2 6QA (vincent.gillespie@ell.ox.ac.uk)
Editing Medieval Texts from Britain in the Twenty-First Century
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Page created 12 March 2001
Updated 30 November 2009