The Context of Sir Orfeo in a Miniature Library, Harley 3810, Section I.

Derek Pearsall wrote influentially about the contexts in which Middle English romances were transmitted, paying particular attention to large manuscript "libraries" offering mixed edification and diversion. Two copies of Sir Orfeo, a romance in which he was especially interested, survive in just such contexts, in capacious anthologies. The third copy, however, in London, British Library MS Harley 3810, section I, is rather different, and has attracted less attention. This article discusses the features of this section of Harley 3810, its relationship to the other sections of the manuscript, and what can be hypothesized about its early readership and circulation. Unlike the other manuscripts in which Sir Orfeo appears, this small-format anthology has the characteristics of a pocket-book. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]