Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
This thirteen-volume series, published for the Yorkshire Archaeological Society between 1914 and 1965, is an extensive collection of the pre-thirteenth-century deeds and charters of Yorkshire, which had previously remained largely unpublished. The first three volumes were expertly edited by William Farrer (1861-1924), after whose death Charles Travis Clay (1885-1978) took up the task. The series was well respected for the quality of Farrer's editing, which was only surpassed by that of Clay in the later volumes. Volume 1 (1914) contains nine pre-Norman documents, with extensive commentary by the historian and philologist William Henry Stevenson (1858-1924). It also contains royal charters and deeds relating to the city of York, arranged by barony. Farrer has attempted to provide a date for each document, and has added extensive annotation throughout which relates to the content, background and manuscript sources of the texts.