Medieval Authors: Christine de Pizan
The most exciting and recently developed source for the works of Christine de Pizan in Middle French is 'Christine de Pizan: the Making of the Queen's Manuscript (London, British Library Harley MS 4431)'. This AHRC-funded project, in partnership with the British Library and based in the University of Edinburgh where it is directed by James Laidlaw, gives on-line access to high resolution digital images and full transcription of the thirty works included in the Harley manuscript, as well as supplying a concordance; a detailed study of Christine's language is also forthcoming on the site. Complementing this resource is the 'Christine de Pizan Database' which draws on a corpus of scholarly editions of her works and includes a word list, rhyme-word list, and a concordance. All but nine of Christine's works are featured.
Less extensive on-line resources are also available, in particular Project Gutenberg's dissemination of her Œuvres po´tiques and Livre des trois vertus and a Middle French-English parallel text of the Diti´ de Jehanne d'Arc (link beneath picture on homepage). Selected works are also published by the subscription database 'Corpus de Litt´rature M´di´vale des origines à la fin du XVè siècle', which includes electronic versions of Champion editions.
An extensive bibliography of all Christine's works, including a list of general secondary reading as well as references to manuscripts, editions, translations, and critical studies for each individual work, is provided by Arlima-Archives de Litt´rature du Moyen Âge. For general reference and updates on new resources, one may also consult the Christine de Pizan Society website, housed by the University of Auckland.
Helen Swift, January 2009
